Welcome to Liquor Barons On the Vine Edition 3.

In this edition we’ve been looking for quality, value for money sparkling wines to help you prepare for the warmer months, especially Christmas and New Year’s Eve which are not far away. The tasting for this edition covered a broad range of wines, from simple Aussie non-vintage styles, to more complex vintage wines, to prosecco and French bubbles, including the real deal champagne. Oh, and there were also some sparkling reds, a style that always gets me excited at this time of the year.

One of the highlights was the quality of the Australian bubbles at all price points. Australian bubbles have been on the rise for some years now, and consistently deliver quality that is true to style and in many cases on a par with French nonvintage champagnes. One of the surprises in this edition was finding a quality French champagne that wouldn’t break the bank.

I am delighted and confident to endorse this six-pack of wines to help you race through the festive season.
Good drinking!

On The Vine Edition Three $140 Premium Wine Six Pack:

• Bird in Hand | Sparkling $24.99
  This is a thoroughly delightful pale pink but quite brilliant rosé style sparkling wine. There’s a beautifully engaging aroma of fresh strawberries and cherries with light floral notes. The palate is fresh and vibrant with a delicious middle palate appeal. Long finish with a wonderful mouthfeel lifted with fine mousse and bead.
• Swings and Roundabouts | Sparkling NV $24.99
  This WA sparkling wine has developed into quite a crowd pleaser. It’s made from chenin blanc, a variety that has really started to reveal its qualities in both still and sparkling wines from WA. It’s creamy and soft with a fine lingering acidity providing the focus and support for a sustained and refreshing finish. These chenin blanc based sparkling wines have so much appeal.
• Pirie | Sparkling NV $31.99
  This excellent sparkling wine comes from an extensive vineyard in Tasmania. It’s made from chardonnay and shows that wonderful secondary autolysis character that adds so much to the palate and the aroma. It’s biscuitty with a slightly minerally finish providing a defining touch to the palate. Never disappoints.
• De Bortoli | Este Cuvée NV $21.99
  A simply beautiful wine for this price. It’s fine and quite delicate yet there is an underlay of crumbled biscuit and light fresh bread adding a complex intrigue to the middle palate. It’s a predominantly chardonnay blend with contributions from pinot noir, pinot meunier and a little pinot blanc. There’s a distinctive yeasty autolysis character with other notes of nuts and minerals. Soft pleasing mousse. A remarkably sophisticated wine with brilliant packaging.
• Victoire Brut Prestige | Champagne $49.99
  This was one of the highlights of the tasting. It’s a dry and complex champagne showing excellent mid palate structure. Dry and biscuitty with a trace of secondary development adding to the complex mix of flavours. A little toasty bread, roasted nuts and florals lift on the nose. It’s mighty impressive to get a genuine French champagne at this price.
• Bleasdale | Sparkling Shiraz NV $22.99
  Well, if you’re thinking of something to drink around the Christmas table then a sparkling shiraz is just the ticket. I have always found that when the weather gets warm…er…hot (as it’s likely to be on Christmas Day) then sparkling red wine, served nice and chilled is perfect. It also makes that dry turkey taste so much better. This one is plush, plummy and generous with a delicious mouth filling flavour.