Sparkling wines
Not all sparkling wine is made the same way and understanding the different methods helps explain the variety of styles, textures and flavours you'll find in a glass. From rich and complex to light and fresh, there's a sparkling wine for every occasion and every price point. Here's a plain-English guide to the methods you'll encounter.
Traditional Method
The most time-intensive way to make sparkling wine and the same method used to make Champagne. After an initial fermentation, the wine undergoes a second fermentation inside the bottle itself, trapping carbon dioxide naturally and creating fine, persistent bubbles. The wine then ages on its lees, the spent yeast cells, developing creamy texture, toasty complexity and biscuit-like characters. The longer it ages, the more complexity it develops.
Croser, our best-selling sparkling wine, made using the traditional method, a philosophy established by founder Brian Croser in 1987 on the belief that Australia could produce sparkling wine to rival Champagne. The NV range highlights cool climate regions across Australia for a lifted, elegant style. The Vintage and Late Disgorged releases draw exclusively on Piccadilly Valley fruit, considered one of the finest sparkling wine sites in the country. Grant Burge's Sparkling Pinot Noir Chardonnay NV is also traditional method, aged on lees for an average of 28 months. Yarra Burn's Premium Cuvée and Vintage releases are made the same way, as is Campo Viejo Cava from Spain, traditional method using the classic Cava varieties of Macabeo, Parellada and Xarel·lo.
Tank Method (Charmat Method)
Rather than fermenting in individual bottles, the second fermentation takes place in a large pressurised tank. The result is a fresher, fruitier style with lively bubbles and aromas of pear, apple and citrus, made to be enjoyed young. Prosecco is the best-known wine made this way, though the method is used for a range of sparkling styles around the world. Grant Burge, Yarra Burn, Petaluma and Da Luca all produce wines using the tank method in our range.
Transfer Method
Similar to the traditional method in that secondary fermentation begins in bottle, but the wine is then transferred into a pressurised tank for filtering and rebottling. This avoids the time and cost of individual bottle disgorgement while retaining some of the complexity that comes from bottle fermentation.
Ancestral Method - Pét-Nat
The oldest sparkling wine method of all and recently back in fashion. The wine is bottled before its first fermentation is complete, which finishes naturally in the bottle creating gentle, natural bubbles. Often unfiltered and sometimes cloudy, Pét-Nat wines tend to be lighter, more textural and a little unpredictable, which is exactly why people love them.
Carbonation Method
The simplest and most straightforward approach, carbon dioxide is injected directly into still wine, similar to how soft drinks are made. Produces larger bubbles that dissipate more quickly. Used for entry-level sparkling wines.
Sparkling Shiraz - Uniquely Australian
Australia's greatest contribution to the world of sparkling wine. Made from Shiraz, sometimes blended with Cabernet, this rich, complex style is unlike anything produced anywhere else. St Hallett Black NV Sparkling Shiraz blends Barossa and Eden Valley fruit, including components up to 10 years old, delivering black forest cake, cedar, dark cherry and chocolate with a dry, elegant finish. The Grant Burge NV Sparkling Shiraz Cabernet is aged on tirage for 24 months and finished with vintage port, extraordinary complexity in every glass. Both are spectacular at Christmas but deserving of a place at any table throughout the year.
Lower Alcohol and Mid Strength
A growing style and one we expect to see more of over the coming year. Grant Burge Pinot Noir Chardonnay Mid Strength Sparkling and Petaluma Lumos Prosecco are made for those who want to enjoy great sparkling wine with less alcohol, all the occasion, none of the compromise.
