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Sparkling Wines Facilitator Guide Australian Wine Discovered Education Program

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SPARKLING WINES FACILITATOR GUIDE AUSTRALIAN WINE DISCOVERED EDUCATION PROGRAM The comprehensive, free education program providing information, tools and resources to discover Australian wine. To access course presentation, videos and tasting tools, as well as other programs, visit Wine Australia www.australianwinediscovered.com supports the responsible service of alcohol. For enquiries, email [email protected] SPARKLING WINES Deviation Road, Adelaide Hills Adelaide Road, Deviation AUSTRALIAN WINE DISCOVERED Kate Laurie, Kate Australia’s unique climate and landscape have fostered a fiercely independent wine scene, home to a vibrant community of growers, winemakers, viticulturists, and vignerons. With more than 100 grape varieties grown across 65 distinct wine regions, we have the freedom to make exceptional wine, and to do it our own way. We’re not beholden by tradition, but continue to push the boundaries in the pursuit of the most diverse, thrilling wines in the world. That’s just our way. Sparkling wines / Facilitator guide TO DAY - The history and rise of sparkling wine in Australia WE’LL - How sparking wine is made - Sparkling wine styles - Australia’s sparkling wine regions - Drinking and enjoying COVER… sparkling wine VIDEO But times are changing. Prestige sparkling Now is a great time to play the wines from cool-climate, high-altitude ‘Sparkling wine’ loop video in the regions are taking their place as the background, as you welcome people. celebratory wine of choice for occasions both big and small. From bright and fresh Prosecco styles and sweet Moscatos FIRST TASTE! to creative pétillant-naturels, authentic sparkling Shiraz and complex and powerful THIS MAY BE A GOOD OPPORTUNITY traditional-method styles, Australia boasts TO GIVE EVERYONE A TASTE OF A a great diversity of sparkling wine. These CLASSIC SPARKLING WINE. wines rely on pristine wine-growing regions, expert winemakers and a culture of THE FULL TASTING COMES innovation to create some of the world’s LATER IN THE PROGRAM. finest sparkling wines. THE JOY OF SPARKLING WINE The pop of a cork, the splash of foam, FUN FACT the bead of fine bubbles – nothing says A STANDARD BOTTLE OF celebration like a bottle of sparkling wine. And for a long time, the only kind that SPARKLING WINE CONTAINS signified a very special occasion was AROUND 49 MILLION BUBBLES. sparkling wine from Champagne. Sparkling wines / Facilitator guide HISTORY AND RISE OF SPARKLING WINE IN AUSTRALIA 1893 Winemaker Edmund Mazure begins using Shiraz grapes to produce Australian sparkling reds in South Australia. 1881 1918 The Victorian Champagne Hans Irvine retires; Company produces its first Seppelts takes over Great Sparkling Burgundy. Western winery, with Colin Preece as winemaker. 1930s 1980s Cool-climate, high-quality & ’40s sparkling reds make a comeback, while Champagne Preece produces iconic and sparkling wine producer sparkling reds that Moët & Chandon settles in the winemakers still try to Yarra Valley to make Australian emulate today. sparklings. 1950s TO DAY Sparkling wine gains Australian sparklings are momentum as a trendy, shining brighter than ever. celebratory drink. Sparkling wines / Facilitator guide HISTORY AND RISE OF SPARKLING decided to try it out in Australia. He enlisted WINE IN AUSTRALIA the help of Günter Prass, a German Australia has a rich and storied history of sparkling specialist, to create ‘Barossa sparkling winemaking that dates back to the Pearl’. This was a light sparkling made 19th century. from Eden Valley Riesling, Barossa Semillon and Muscat. (Instead of sugar, Prass used 1800s Muscatel and Frontignan juice to kickstart As far back as 1881, the state of Victoria the sparkling wine’s secondary fermentation, was home to the Victorian Champagne a technique that resulted in lower alcohol Company, an entrepreneurial endeavour and sweeter flavours.) The result was a between a Melbourne doctor and French pretty, fruity, warm-climate sparkling that winemaker Auguste D’Argent. The Victorian thrilled the wine-drinking public. Champagne Company didn’t last long, but other winemakers soon followed suit and Many imitations followed, and it remained a began experimenting with sparkling styles. popular choice for Australian wine drinkers Another winemaker, Edmund Mazure, used who enjoyed these fruity, warm-climate Pinot Noir grapes to make sparkling reds at sparkling wines for nearly 30 years. Auldana, near Adelaide in South Australia, Sparkling reds re-emerged in the 1980s before making the groundbreaking choice due to a number of influences, including to use Shiraz grapes for sparkling reds Australia’s shift to cooler climates and beginning in 1893. higher-quality sparkling wines of finesse 1900s and style. It also helped that cellar hands Hans Irvine in Victoria’s Great Western also at Seppelt Great Western had hidden started making Sparkling Burgundy, with his away a collection of Colin Preece’s iconic winemaker, Charles Pierlot, winning awards sparkling reds, showed them to the current for his sparkling wines. Benno Seppelt winemaker and reinvigorated the style. took ownership of the winery in 1918 and Also during this time, renowned put Great Western on the map, not only Champagne producers Moët & Chandon with the magnificent sparkling wines but scouted for a location in Australia to start also exceptional table wines, particularly making their own fine Australian sparkling Shiraz. Legendary winemaker Colin Preece wine. They enlisted the help of wine expert took over in 1932 and pursued excellence Tony Jordan, who ran a wine consultancy in winemaking for the next three decades. business with Brian Croser, famed founder Preece’s headily rich, evocative and long- of Petaluma winery. lived sparkling reds of the 1930s and ’40s Jordan and the French eventually settled have inspired many other producers to on Victoria’s beautiful Yarra Valley. It was a create their own take on this incomparable successful venture, and Domaine Chandon Australian style – one that is still sought out celebrated 30 years in Australia by winning by connoisseurs today. the national trophy for Best Australian Great Western continued to make good- Sparkling Wine for its Chandon Prestige quality sparkling wines in both white and red Cuvée 2005 at the 2016 Champagne and varieties, but it wasn’t until the mid-1950s Sparkling Wine World Championships. that sparkling really became popular as A shift in climate – and quality a celebratory drink in Australia. It started The success of Domaine Chandon (and with Colin Gramp at the Barossa region’s the considerably higher prices it could renowned Orlando winery. The Gramps command for its quality product) inspired were great innovators, always on the wine producers across Victoria and around lookout for the next big thing. Colin noted Australia to explore other regions that the phenomenal success of perlwein, or could produce quality sparkling wine, and semi-sparkling wine, in Germany, and Sparkling wines / Facilitator guide smaller regions with high altitudes, including Tasmania, Adelaide Hills and the King Valley started to emerge. Australian fizz today Today, sparkling wine represents a small but significant proportion of the Australian grape and wine community’s total production, and it’s a market niche for which there is excited consumer interest. Indeed, in the past few years, sparkling wine consumption has seen considerable growth. Sparkling wines / Facilitator guide H O W SPARKLING Predominant sparkling wine grapes WINE IS - Chardonnay - Pinot Noir MADE - Pinot Meunier HOW SPARKLING WINE IS MADE sugar levels of approximately 9–11° Baumé Grape varieties (a unit measure of sugar ripeness) and high A number of grape varieties go into making natural acidity. Australian sparkling wines. Chardonnay, Sparkling winemakers then press whole Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier are the most bunches of grapes gently to avoid extracting common grapes, while other grapes include any colour or undesirable phenolics, such Semillon, Chenin Blanc, Riesling, Crouchen, as tannins, from the red varieties. The Trebbiano and Muscat Gordo Blanco. Red must (pressed grape juice) then undergoes grapes, such as Shiraz and Merlot, usually regular alcoholic fermentation to produce go into medium to full-bodied sparkling reds. a base wine that is high in acidity and has Processes a very neutral fruit flavour. Techniques Making sparkling wine is more complex and such as malolactic fermentation and time-consuming than still winemaking, as barrel fermentation are sometimes used, there are additional, often labour-intensive depending on the style of base wine desired. steps. Winemakers then produce a cuvée, or base Sparkling winemaking begins with wine, by blending different batches of wine. winemakers carefully and selectively A cuvée often comes from more than one harvesting the wine grapes. For high- grape variety. quality sparkling wine, winemakers look for premium grapes with high natural acidity, such as those in cool-climate regions. Sparkling wine grapes are also generally harvested earlier to ensure they have low Sparkling wines / Facilitator guide Vintage and non-vintage Sparkling wines are either vintage or non- vintage (NV). The vintage is the year the winemaker harvests the grapes. Vintage wines are those produced from grapes from an excellent single-vintage harvest. For these wines, the year typically appears on the wine’s label. NV wines comprise blends from different years (usually from two or three vintages) – this is to promote a consistency of style and
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