After this year, I won’t be buying sparkling wine in quite the same way again. I’ve always said there’s a very simple rule for choosing a bottle of bubbles in Australia. If you’re spending under $50, buy Australian fizz every time. If you’re shelling out more, always buy champagne. Not any more.

My cellar is still stacked with Lanson NV (three for $99 last year) and now my local has Piper Heidsieck NV for $30. You can pick up four different Gimonnets from Vintage Cellars in a mixed dozen for less than $45 each. Even Bollinger Special Cuvée has been slashed to $60 recently. Happy days!

There’s never been a better time to buy champagne in Australia. Champagne lovers around the country raised their glasses in celebration when the Australian dollar reached parity with the US dollar. Wheeling and dealing was done behind the scenes as parallel importers scrambled to land our favourite fizz at lower prices than ever. Depressed demand in competing export markets has further fuelled the opportunities. This spells bargains in the bubbly world!

Pre-Christmas sales are always enticing, so watch the ads closely, but there’s a lesser known side to champagne in Australia that’s racing ahead at the moment and it’s time you got on board. An eclectic line of small importers are bringing in a great diversity of grower producers at prices that often leave the large house discounts for dead. Tracking these down is a little more involved than walking down to your local Liquorland, but I’ve done all the hard work for you.

Introducing the first ever retail guide to champagne in Australia! The Champagne Guide 2011 presents not only all the details for Australia’s best champagne shops but also an up-to-date list of every cuvée from this guide that they stock. It’s never been this easy to track down the best champagnes in Australia.

This is an excerpt from The Champagne Guide 2011. Read more…