In years to come we will look back on the past year as a dramatic watershed for champagne in Australia. We have witnessed a fundamental shift: never before has our champagne drinking evolved so far, so fast. Australia has transformed into one of the most important and dynamic champagne markets on earth, stepping into a […]

Did you know that Champagne pays its growers the highest grape price in the world, an average €6.20 per kilogram, more than 60% up on 15 years ago? It takes 1.2 kilograms of grapes to make a bottle of champagne, not to mention a production process more complex, more labour-intensive and more time-consuming than any […]

When I met Vincent Géantet for the first time in 2007, I discovered that this local fireman and bikie with a love for Harleys makes some of the smoothest, freshest, most pure wines in his village – who would have thought?! Gevrey-Chambertin is the most northerly of the truly great communes of Burgundy, making wines […]

The rise and rise of Charles Heidsieck over the past decades and especially the last seven years is unparalleled in the sparkling universe. Three years ago I announced its cuvées to be its finest yet. This year, these deeply contemplative yet thrillingly engaging cuvées have ascended yet another leap and now confidently rank among the […]

Readers of my Australian Sparkling Report 2018 will appreciate that it’s at the affordable end of the market that it pays to be most discerning in your sparkling choices. Sparkling wines are among the most complex, labour-intensive, time-consuming and hence expensive of all wine styles to produce, and it takes an outfit of considerable expertise to […]

I am alarmed and dismayed to report that the positive trend that I observed last year in the effects of natural corks proved to be short lived, and my tastings for my Australian Sparkling Report this year have seen a stark and dramatic return to abominable levels of detrimental influence of corks on wine bottles. […]

The vast continent of Australia boasts an immense diversity of terroirs that give birth to its extensive plethora of sparkling styles. Again in my tastings this year, Tasmania has set the benchmark on every measure. And the diversity even within this one region has never been more pronounced. We don’t much speak of the subregions […]

It’s the week before Easter, the sales are in full force, Bollinger is $64, Taittinger is $50, Lanson is $40 and Piper-Heidsieck is $39. Last year, Australia clocked in as the fastest-growing champagne market on earth by both volume and value. At the height of our champagne frenzy, should we even bother with Aussie fizz? […]

I am very proud to launch my Australian Sparkling Report 2018, the most in-depth report I’ve ever filed on this dynamic category, a 77 page trawl through all the hot topics in Australian sparkling, featuring full reviews of my 120 best sparkling wines of the year of every price and style. As always, I am […]

Australia’s thirst for champagne seemingly knows no bounds, and after fifteen years of strong growth, 2017 has hit a new high as a record-smashing year for champagne consumption down under. An all-time record 8.53 million bottles were popped in 2017, a huge 16% up on 2016. The explosion in ex-cellar value was larger still, mushrooming […]