House of Arras Grand Vintage is at the pinnacle of Australian sparkling wine! The fruit is sourced from the cool climate region of Tasmania where Ed Carr (Gourmet Wine Traveller Winemaker of the Year 2011) and his team produce an outstanding wine of incredible complexity and character resulting from extended maturation on yeast lees.

It is a remarkably good value sparkling that can be enjoyed at any occasion. Crisp, sharp refreshing and full of flavor. Enjoy the fun and convenience of this piccolo size 200 mL bottle at any time.

As with the white Prosecco, this Rose from the leading Spanish producer, Freixenet, is also available in the cute, yet extremely convenient size of just 200mls. An Italian classic, it also offers those delightfully refreshing notes of florals, apples and red berries in an extra-dry style. What picnic or lazy summer afternoon would not be made even better by a few of these chilled gems?

Pale sunshine yellow color and slight frizzante, this Moscato d'Asti has intense aromas of peaches, rose petals and ginger. On the palate, it is delicately sweet and sparkling with balanced acidity, good complexity and a finish of fresh apricots. The grapes are selected from small vineyards located in Castiglione Tinella. The vineyards are planted with 4,500 vines per hectare, which are almost 40 years old. Only the best Moscato grapes with extended maturation are used for the Cascinetta. The grapes are crushed, pressed and naturally clarified. Must is kept without sulfites in a cold storage, at low temperature in order to naturally prevent fermentation. Before the bottling, we add yeast and temperature is increased to 12°-14° C. Alcoholic fermentation occurs in stainless steel pressured tanks to preserve natural CO2 from the fermentation. The fermentation is stopped at 5% Alc. by reducing the temperature. There is no malolactic fermentation to preserve acidity, varietal fruit character and freshness. The history of the Vietti winery traces its roots back to the 19th Century. Only at the beginning of the 20th century, however, did the Vietti name become a winery offering its own wines in bottle. From 1919 Patriarch Mario Vietti began making the first Vietti wines, selling most of the production in Italy. His most significant achievement was to transform the family farm, engaged in many fields, into a grape-growing and wine-producing business. Then, in 1952, Alfredo Currado (Luciana Viettis husband) continued to produce high quality wines from their own vineyards and purchased grapes. The Vietti winery grew to become one of the top-level producers in Piemonte and was one of the first wineries to export its products to the USA market. Alfredo was one of the first to select and vinify grapes from single vineyards (such as Brunate, Rocche and Villero). This was a radical concept at the time, but today virtually every vintner making Barolo and Barbaresco wines offers single vineyard or cru-designated wines. Alfredo is also called the father of Arneis as in 1967 he invested a lot of time to rediscover and understand this nearly-lost variety. Today Arneis is the most famous white wine from Roero area, north of Barolo. Setting such a fine example with Arneis, even fellow vintners as far away those on the west coast of the United States now are cultivating and producing Arneis!

House of Arras sounds French and it would be easy to mistake this Brut Elite for a NV Champagne. Arras winemaker Ed Carr has spent the last 15 years on a quest to produce a world class sparkling. With this wine, we considered it mission accomplished! Vanilla, nougat and exotic spices on the nose, followed by a palate bursting with lychee, truffle and cinnamon flavours, this is a complex, elegant wine. Australian sparkling has come a long way in the past decade, but this is a wine that really excites us.

Effortless harmony and elegance is the simplest way to describe the sublime Henri Laurent Champagne. Rich in character and texture with dried apricot and honeyed notes, this is remarkable value non-vintage Champagne.

The guiding principles of blending are the achievement of harmony and consistency. The White Foil blend is traditionally composed from around 80 still base wines, drawn from different vineyard sites (crus), grape varieties and vintage years. The blend contains approximately one third of each three grape varieties of Champagne. Pinot Noir contributes body, depth of character and life extending tannins, Pinot Meunier adds youthful freshness, vigour and plump fruit character while Chardonnay gibes lightness, elegance and firmness.

As the only Tasmanian specialist devoted to the traditional methods from Champagne, this is a unique offering from a great region for sparkling. Honeysuckle and citrus scents are immediately apparent, with slight aromas of nougat, roasted nuts and a hint of strawberry from the Pinot Noir. Delicate fruits and creaminess fills the mouth with a lingering finish of citrus and nougat.