WITH TONY LOVE

In September last year, renowned sparkling wine and Champagne expert Tyson Stelzer took over a restaurant in downtown Manhattan to present 22 Tasmanian sparklings for wine, tourism trade and lifestyle media.

With the support and encouragement of the Tasmanian makers, he poured them beside four elite French Champagnes with price tags up to 10 times greater.

“No small risk,” Tyson says, in his justreleased Australian Sparkling Report 2018, a 77-page in-depth report featuring reviews of 120 of his best sparkling wines of the year across every price and style.

“How would the tiny state of Tasmania stand up in the middle of one of the most cut-throat markets of all?” he wondered.

Sitting in the audience was Carol DuvalLeroy, the matriarch of her eponymous family Champagne house, and at the end she thanked Tyson for introducing her to the best sparkling wines of Tasmania.

“I almost said ‘Champagnes’,” she exclaimed. “They are on that level.”

Tyson was gobsmacked. This had followed a leading grower telling the Australian presenter previously that: “Tasmania now makes the best sparkling wines on Earth, outside Champagne.”

In his report, which is free to read online at tysonstelzer.com, he states emphatically that Tasmania goes from strength to strength as Australia’s hero sparkling state, with 45 highlights shortlisted in the report.

“The diversity and dexterity of the island state are exemplified in my list of sparkling wines of the year, snaring Wine of the Year Under $25, Wine of the Year Over $50, Blanc de Blancs of the Year and Rosé of the Year,” Tyson concludes.

In his overview ratings of the major sparkling producers – expressed in a oneto-seven star system – in the top three classes, Tasmanian houses score six of the top eight places, led by House of Arras, Bellebonne, Clover Hill, Jansz Tasmania, Pirie, and Stefano Lubiana.

Ot Other highlights from the repor report are: Ninth Island Tasm Tasmania Rosé NV awarded Spark Sparkling Wine of the Year Unde Under $25; House of Arras Grand Gran Vintage 2007 Magnum ($249) ($24 awarded Sparkling Wine W of the Year Over $50; Blanc B de Blancs of the Year being the House of Arras Blanc de Blancs 2008 ($87); and Sparkling Rosé of the year going to Bellebonne Natalie Fryar Vintage Rosé 2015 2 ($65).