A champagne year

While the rest of the wine-drinking world ploughed through a tough recession in 2012, Australians lived the champagne life. Literally.

In the 2012 calendar year, 5.4 million bottles of champagne were imported into the country, an increase of 11.2 per cent on the previous year.

Sales in France and the EU went down but Australia caught the slack with a strong dollar and economy contributing to one mighty thirst, bumping the country up from eighth spot to become the seventh largest champagne market in the world.

"Historically, we've always been an important market to the Champenois, so I don't put everything down to the Aussie dollar," says Elisabeth Drysdale, director of Champagne Bureau Australia.

Australians love their champagne, always have, ever since the colonial days of the 1850s, when plenty of fortunes were found on the goldfields and lost living it up in the drinking salons of Melbourne.

Our taste tends towards the dry, the non-vintage and the big houses.

No one is bigger than Moet et Chandon, who reportedly produce around 40 million bottles of champagne annually and who, with makers such as Veuve Clicquot, Laurent Perrier, Roederer among others, has nurtured and invested heavily in the Australian market over the decades.

Traditionally, we've remained loyal to a house style – hence the love of non-vintage bubblies that are house style driven not vintage driven – although the rise of cut-throat discounting makes many of us increasingly loyal to only price. Just weeks ago, a major chain brought out Bollinger non-vintage for the low, low price of $49.90 – a bottle signalling the start of the annual racing season champagne wars.

Cue the grower champagne producer.

The discounters are arguably changing the way we view champagne, giving rise to a "what's on special?" buying mentality. Curiously, they are probably behind the rise of grower champagne makers on wine lists and in independent wine stores.

Unable to compete on price, stockists are choosing to promote the little guy in Champagne, growers who would have supplied the bigger houses in the past before branching out on their own. Some names now feel almost mainstream: Andre Clouet, Larmandier-Bernier, Egly-Ouriet, Agrapart.

"When you are looking at grower champagne, this is where you find real character with the reflection of individual villages and crus. That's where the excitement is today," says Ross Duke of the Ross Duke Wine Company, a major importer of grower champagnes.

The segment has risen in volume from 1.5 per cent of the market in Australia in 2007 to 3.9 per cent, or around 180,000 bottles, in 2012.

They offer a distinct and separate voice to the big houses, tending to be less predictable and consistent – but that can be a good thing. And drier too. Grower dosage levels are often lower than at the big houses – that is the sugar wine mixture added to champagne before release that determines the category the wine can be listed under: extra brut, brut, demi-sec.

However, the growers' biggest-selling factor, the thing that makes an introduction so easy, is price, with many selling around the $40-$50 mark.

Take your pick ...

The Houses

Charles Heidsieck Brut Reserve: This is what the big houses do brilliantly, digging into reserve stocks to build complexity and depth in their non-vintage champagnes. Reserve wines represent 40 per cent of this wine. The average age is eight to 10 years. A rich, full-flavoured wine that slowly builds, gaining texture and real finesse. Distributor: Robert Oatley Vineyards

Louis Roederer 2008 Rose: Made by the saignee method (drawing off surplus pinot noir liquid from the press and vat), this rose is blended with a little chardonnay, delivering an extremely pale blush of colour and a lightness of flavour: strawberry, spice, a touch of sweetness counter-balanced by keen acidity. Distributor: Red + White, Melbourne

Bruno Palliard Premiere Cuvee: The Paillard style is distinctive: super dry, crisp, firm and fine. This is a wine mostly about line (bright acidity driving the wine through the mouth) and length (intense finish). An excellent aperitif champagne. Distributor: World Wine Estates, Sydney

Pol Roger Brut 2002: Intense lemony fruit, pear, succulent fruits, developing toastiness, creamy with a smooth finish, it's all here in this brisk champagne from an excellent vintage year. Distributor: Negociants

Taittinger Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs 2004: A supremely elegant wine rich and ripe that saturates the mouth with flavour: citrus, florals, white flowers, oyster shell and a hint of developing biscuityness. A wine for the present and the well-into-the-future. Distributor: McWilliam's Wines

Grower Champagnes

Andre Clouet Rose: Pretty 100 per cent pinot rose: fresh, perfumed with cherry fruit aromas followed by soft red fruits on the palate and firm acidity. A charming aperitif wine. Distributor: Beaune and Beyond, South Melbourne

Gaston-Chiquet Brut Tradition Non-Vintage: Mouth-filling and easy drinking, Gaston-Chiquet Tradition is pinot meunier-led (45 per cent) lending a gentle confection note to the citrus, appley, delicacy. Distributor: Ross Duke Wine Co. South Melbourne

Lallier Grand Cru Grande Reserve: A mouth full of smoked oysters, yeasty dough, brioche and pear, Lallier runs smooth and buttery across the palate. Pinot noir takes the lead. Dosage is on the lower side with a snap of acidity that cleanses. Distributor: Vernet Group, Sydney.

Launois Quartz Blanc de Blancs: Hails from the Cote des Blanc and is mostly a blend of chardonnay from 2007 and 2008. The name Quartz indicates not only its terroir but its underlying taut structure supporting some substantial, long-lasting flavours. Distributor: Ross Duke Wine Company

Le Brun-Servenay 2004 Exhilarante: Sourced from 60 to 70-year-old vines and chardonnay based, Exhilarante is Le Brun-Servenay's top cuvee. Minerals, oyster and rockpool aromas with marked acidity define the wine. Emerging savouriness augurs well for the future.

Champagne In Australia 2012

Imports: The Players
Champagne Houses 96%
Growers/ Co-Ops 3.9%

Imports: Styles
Brut/Non Vintage 89%
Brut/Vintage 4.3%
Rose 3.0%
Demi Sec 0.9%
Prestige Cuvee 2.1%
Others (blanc de blancs, etc) 0.6%

Source: Champagne Bureau Australia