House of Arras Blanc De Blancs Tasmania – 2014

“Bright light-medium yellow colour, with butter and toast, shortbread, croissant aromas, the palate rich and multi-layered but also shot through with mouth-watering acidity. A scintillating wine with rapier like cut and thrust but also superb richness and amplitude, all lingering very long in the aftertaste. Refreshing dryness and great balance. A top wine.” 97pts The Real Review August 2022

Winemaker Ed Carr’s notes

A wine that truly expresses the elegance and sophistication of Tasmanian Chardonnay when paired with meticulous winemaking and extensive ageing in tirage. The House of Arras Blanc de Blancs is a tribute to Chardonnay; a variety often considered the pinnacle of classic sparkling wine varieties for its elegance and longevity.

GRAPE VARIETY
Chardonnay

COLOUR
Light to medium straw, with a yellow gold lustre. An exceptionally fine bead and persistent mousse.

NOSE
Fragrant aromas of citrus blossom, freshly baked pastries and oyster shell.

PALATE
A densely structured wine with great presence and minerality. Flavours are reminiscent of baked Granny Smith apple, white peach, lime essence and brioche. The firm natural acid backbone melds all the characters together to express power, poise and a fantastic vibrancy.

VINEYARD REGION
Tasmania (East Coast, Derwent Valley & Coal River and Pipers River).

VINTAGE CONDITIONS
The winter and spring for this year were quite cold and wet and these adverse conditions continued into the time of flowering for the vines. This significantly reduced the yield and resulted in a high incidence of ‘hen and chicken’ in the bunches. Due to the uneven ripening within the bunches, the hang time of the fruit was increased to avoid unripe characters in the larger berries. This approach was very successful and full ripe flavours are exhibited throughout the wines of this year. The low yield has resulted in wines of high intensity and viscosity.

WINEMAKING
A sophisticated Blanc de Blancs style that is always crafted from the best Chardonnay of the vintage. Pristine Chardonnay fruit was hand-picked and gently bunch pressed to ensure the extraction of the finest juice. Primary fermentation was in stainless steel (88%) and first use French oak barriques (12%), and then underwent malolactic fermentation to add further softness and character to the wine. After seven years of lees maturation the disgorged wine is completed with a tailored dosage to create a style of great sophistication and poise.

TIRAGE
7 years

DOSAGE
3.0 g/l

Alc:13.2% 

FOOD MATCH
Fresh seafoods, natural or with a hint of exotic spice.