BOTTLE STOP
From decadent French fizz to bubbles sourced closer to home, all mums deserve a sparkling moment on their special day tomorrow.
MOSQUITO HILL 2015 BRUT BLANC DE BLANCS, $39 Region: Southern Fleurieu, SA Best with: white cheeses
A popular domestic fizz on many restaurant wine lists, this traditional method chardonnay is in its third disgorgement so remaining fresh even though there is some opulence to the style. Sweet lemon and nectarine fruit rule the flavour profile with a fine froth adding lift and mouth-watering chalky finishing textures to what is a convincing all-rounder. More judgmental palates will be pleasantly surprised.
VEUVE FOURNY & FILS, $65 Grande Reserve Vertus Region: Champagne, France Best with: shared lunch platters
One of the best value Champagne houses available in Australia. This multi-vintage premier cru cuvee is an 80:20 mix of chardonnay and pinot noir with 40 per cent reserve wines from older vintages included for complexity. The key to this delicious drink is the freshness at first, then deeper biscuit/bread brioche-like richness, followed finally by a pleasing minerality.
HONEY MOON VINEYARD BRUT ROSE 2013, $45 Region: Adelaide Hills Best with: smoked salmon nibbles
An under-the-radar producer from South Australia, and one definitely to keep eep an eye on as the sparklings are made and released with great artisanal respect, in traditional, bottle-fermented manner. The fruit notes sit between strawberry/ raspberry and peach, with seductive bready/ roasted-nut-like complexities which have developed as the wine sat on its yeast solids before disgorgement.
BRIMONCOURT BRUT REGENCE, $84 Region: Champagne, France Best with: bread sticks, fondue
From a producer who’s relatively new to the Australian market, this chardonnay-dominant cuvee is more about a lifted freshness than more challenging funky character. It sits well in the glass, with grapefruit and lemon senses, a citrus curd and baked good/yeast-bun-feel, then those salivating tonic bitters that drive the palate to desire.