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Best bubbly for the festive season 2015

Jeni Port

Party starter: Karen Martini's rosewater and raspberry popsicle with champagne.
Party starter: Karen Martini's rosewater and raspberry popsicle with champagne.Marina Oliphant

There's good and bad news for Aussie makers of sparkling wines. According to consumer research conducted by marketing strategists Wine Intelligence, we are now turning to sparkling wine for everyday drinking, not just for special or celebratory occasions.

It was bound to happen. The high Aussie dollar was of great assistance (while it lasted, that is). The busting out, let-me-entertain-you exuberance of Italian newcomer prosecco continues to aid sparkling's everyday appeal, as does Spanish cava.

Yep, it's all good, except some of the drivers responsible for us drinking bubbly more often – especially those enticements from overseas – are affecting sales of Australian-born bubblies.

Competition from France, Italy, Spain and even New Zealand is cited as the reason why sales of Aussie-made sparklings are slowing down. And that's bad news if you are an Australian maker.

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Imported sparklings, including champagnes, now account for 25.5 per cent of all sparkling wine consumed in Australia. Compared to 10 or 15 years ago, that's momentous.

For one thing, 15 years ago Australia was about the 11th or 12th largest champagne market in the world. Today it is sixth, importing 6.5 million bottles in 2014.

"I personally don't think you're going to see the figures dropping," says Elisabeth Drysdale, director of the Champagne Bureau in Australia. "People think it's something that happened overnight but it's been a really slow progression. The Champagne Bureau started here in the '70s and a lot of champagne houses have put investment into this country for the last 30 years.

"It's not all of a sudden. They have been here slowly increasing the category."

Australia's most awarded sparkling winemaker, Ed Carr of The House of Arras, continues to put faith in cool-climate Tasmania – notably the Coal River Valley and new sites on the east coast and Derwent Valley – as the best foil to counteract the powerful allure of champagne and newcomers.

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He's also seeing a lot more interest in vintage releases at the premium end of Aussie sparklings.

"We've got a more reliable climate (than Champagne)," he says. "We don't have the kind of climate that would make us rely on non-vintage."

AUSSIE SPARKLING

10 top sparklings

(not in order of preference)

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1. Arras Tasmania Grand Vintage 2006 – Tasmania ($70)

Nougat, spiced apple, grilled nuts and generosity to the fore on this wine of precision, the palate focusing on a powerful aged-wine complexity. A wine to fill the mouth and the imagination.

2. Bird In Hand sparkling pinot noir – South Australia ($25)

Don't know if harvesting pinot noir at night in the Adelaide Hills is part of this wine's success but it might explain the racy acidity driving it. A summer refresher in cherry, confection and wild strawberries with cream(iness).

3. Blue Pyrenees Estate 2012 Midnight Cuvee – Victoria ($32)

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Midnight Cuvee has been attracting some major awards of late. Winemaker Andrew Koerner's little one-per-centers are really paying off with increased persistence, fineness and depth of flavour. His signature "baked confection" and "apple Danish" characters are a standout.

4. Bream Creek 2009 Cuvee Traditionelle – Tasmania ($39)

No surprise such a stellar pinot noir and chardonnay table winemaker turns in a fine sparkling effort: confection, bright florals, honey on the nose following on the palate with pinot noir-led intensity of flavour, biscuit, lemon, barley.

5. Clover Hill Tasmanian Cuvee – Tasmania ($32)

Always elegant, Clover Hill offers one of the great value Aussie sparklings. Uplifting scent of citrus blossom and honeysuckle, tastes of almond meal, citrus zest and crunchy apple. Concentrated energy.

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6. Deviation Road Altair sparkling rosé NV – South Australia ($30)

Deviation Road in the Adelaide Hills continues to climb in the estimation of sparkling drinkers. The rosé is a wine of enormous charm: perfumed with cherry fruit, pomegranate aromas, followed by fine textured red berry flavours that last.

7. Domaine Chandon Blanc de Blancs 2012 – Victoria ($32)

Chandon looks to delicacy and almost filigree-fine acidity as the backdrop to this understated chardonnay with nectarine, white peach, preserved lemon, spring blossom within a taut frame.

8. Heemskerk pinot noir chardonnay NV – Tasmania ($60)

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Youthful exuberance to the fore with focused apple and citrus scent and flavours, this non-vintage impresses mightily with well-defined acid line and persistence.

9. Longview W. Wagtail chardonnay pinot noir 2013 – South Australia ($30)

The label is a bit of fun but the wine is deadly serious: dry to the bone, lean and lemony sharp, acid hounds will find much to admire. Pale pink in the glass, dusty pinot confectionery notes, red apple, lemon zest and grapefruit juicy, it finishes super taut.

10. Tahbilk Coueslant sparkling marsanne 2011 – Victoria ($27, cellar door)

The honeysuckle/jasmine freshness of the grape is front and centre in this delicious sparkling that doesn't attempt to be anything other than a conduit for the grape's fresh citrus, floral prettiness.

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FRENCH BUBBLES

10 top champagnes

(not in order of preference)

1. Agrapart Terroirs Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru – Avize ($118)

Agrapart is about sustainable growing, barrel fermentation, extended lees ageing and low dosage (ie. dry), which with Terroirs translates to dry and lean with lemon curd, grapefruit, preserved fruits and arresting texture.

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2. Andre Clouet Brut Rosé NV – Bouzy ($75)

Love the crunch, the bright cranberry, pomegranate, red berried-ness of this fun rosé, with fruit characters and overall fineness emphasised by the low dosage.

3. Billecart-Salmon Cuvee Nicolas-Francois Billecart 2002 – Mareuil-Sur-Ay ($325)

An indulgence but great champagne is often that, no? Cuvee Nicolas-Francois astounded at this year's Domaine Chandon Sparkling Summit with its quiet elegance, silky polish and flavours that build in the mouth.

4. Bollinger Grand Annee 2005 – Ay ($190)

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The 2004 vintage was always going to be a hard act to follow. Thankfully, Bollinger '05 goes for a direct contrast to the seriousness of '04 with something altogether livelier, brighter in fruit while retaining signature grilled nuts, biscuit complexity.

5. Egly-Ouriet Grand Cru Brut Tradition NV – Ambonnay ($147)

Often regarded as the grower's grower in Champagne, Egly-Ouriet offers singular individuality with wild yeasts and oak fermentation, contributing to a wine rippling with spice, almond, earth, macerated cherries. Love the detail.

6. Charles Heidsieck Brut Reserve NV - Reims ($100)

Heidsieck chef de cave, Regis Camus, describes the house style as "autumnal". That's code for generous and rich. There are fresh and preserved fruits – pear, nectarine, peach – while the exploration of secondary fermentation characters is best captured in three words: buttery French pastries.

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7. Nicolas Feuillatte Brut Reserve NV – Chouilly ($50)

A producer of steady, workmanlike wines, Feuillatte's brut reserve offers ripe white fleshy peach, bruised apple and jasmine notes, brioche, closing with a flash of bright acidity.

8. Pol Roger Blanc de Blancs Brut 2008 – Epernay ($150)

Pol Roger's quiet achiever, the blanc de blancs reveals fineness and delicacy. The scent of white flowers, summer peaches and honeysuckle abound – highlighting the purity of chardonnay –finishing with spices and fresh baked pastry.

9. Ruinart Blanc de Blancs NV – Reims ($110)

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Ruinart is a chardonnay dominant house making one of the biggest selling blanc de blancs in Australia: nectarine, stone fruits, citrus, ginger snap and creamy generosity are the key to its lively personality.

10. Taittinger Prelude Grands Cru NV – Reims ($130)

Created to celebrate the new millennium, Prelude highlights the role of Grand Cru vineyards. Complex and mature (the base is 17 years old) with honeysuckle, lantana, grilled nuts, almond nougat and biscuit, the brisk lemonyness to finish adds a fine flourish.

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