Champagne Charles Orban is a another fantastic grower/producer Champagne to offer simply amazing value-for-money for authentic Champagne. From a hands-on producer who have been tending their vineyards for decades, Charles Orban Blanc de Blanc is made from 100% estate grown Chardonnay that has a discrete nose of butter and nuttiness rounded by a palate with hints of brioche. A complex, mouth-filling boutique Champagne perfect as an aperitif or alongside many heartier meals.

House of Arras Grand Vintage is at the pinnacle of Australian sparkling wine! The fruit is sourced from the cool climate region of Tasmania where Ed Carr (Gourmet Wine Traveller Winemaker of the Year 2011) and his team produce an outstanding wine of incredible complexity and character resulting from extended maturation on yeast lees. Outstanding.

Drawing its inspiration from the Bordelaise tradition of blending multiple compatible grape varieties; This Levantine Hill Melange Traditionnel Blanc is a complex, aromatic wine that is crafted for its ageing ability. It displays subtle fruit characters of blood orange, musk, ginger, apricot and gooseberry on the nose with well-integrated savoury oak and acidity on the palate. It has a textural silky finish. A perfect foil for Munster or similar washed-rind cheese.

Champagne Duperrey has been the runaway success of the year with its elegance and complexity all wrapped up with a price tag that belies belief. Here is the more stately, Vintage Brut. Hand selected from the classic Champagne town of Reims, Champagne Duperrey Vintage Brut speaks to the terroir magnificently. On the nose this beautiful sparkling is delicate with vibrant citrus notes with a subtle touch of brioche and almond. Delicate notes of dried fruits can also be detected. Once on the palate, this Champagne truly sings with deep, robust, yet refined flavours of wild peach, pear and citrus. A Champagne that is full of charm and character.

Fruit for this wine is sourced from nine rows of P58 clone chardonnay planted on East West rows directly outside the winery doors. Once harvested the fruit was whole bunch pressed to French oak barriques (50% new) with Indigenous yeast fermenting the un-clarified juice. Barrel maturation took place on lees over the next ten months during which the chardonnay was stirred fortnightly.

Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier are blended to create this finely orchestrated cuvee aged for a minimum of 3 years. Joseph Perrier has a powerful attack and rich mouth feel is balanced by a long finish.

Made by Ed Carr arguably the best sparkling wine maker in Australia. The Arras Brut Elite is another success story for the House of Arras with its amazingly clean and elegant flavours and textures. This is a wine that express sheer quality.

WinemakingAll fruit was hand-picked and whole-bunch pressed. The cuvee taille (first cut free-run juice) was settled naturally overnight prior to racking to a mix of stainless steel tank and large format old barrels for fermentation.Fermented and aged separately in small batch lots on settled lees for nine months. The blended wine then underwent secondary fermentation in the bottle. This wine has been aged for an extended period on its autolysing yeast lees for more than four years to garner richness and complexity to its innate elegance and finesse.Winemaker's notesThe protracted growing season allowed a drawn-out ripening, resulting in an uncommon richness of flavour tempered by the abundant natural acidity contributed by the season.A bouquet of nashi pear, glazed brioche, lemon cheesecake and Amaretti buscuit. Flavours of nougat, lemon rind, jasmine and chestnut underpin a palate of steely acidity with delicated bubble, fruit weight and earthy 'sur lie' characters providing textural accompaniement, richness and creaminess to the finish. An excellent match for freshly-shucked oysters or semi-hard cow's milk cheeses.

This unfiltered Chardonnay was made at Giaconda by Rick Kinzbrunner using traditional techniques. Quite sublime buttery richness with perfect balance of acid and oak integration.

Pale, straw colour with insinuations of green. Overt, ripe varietal fruit characters on the nose - pineapple, citrus and nectarine derived are from the warm vintage conditions. Mineral characters, orange blossom and almond meal along with some lees derived creaminess are all balanced within this multi-dimensional palate.