Watching the boom in wine & viticulture transform the King Valley throughout the 1990s, Eminence winemaker Clare’s parents joined the cavalcade of farmers investing in vines towards the end of the decade. The demand for grapes was insatiable and it turned out to be a profitable gamble. To the original 20 acres, another 20 was added in 2006 but it wasn’t until 2010 that they began producing their own wine. Clare insists she is not a natural winemaker, but she does really try to do everything in her power to get the wine into the bottle with as little adjustment as possible. Her guiding principle is that she aims to make wines that taste and feel like they came from the Whitlands with regard to their character, texture and process. This means keeping things pretty simple in the winery and letting the fruit do the talking.

The fruit for this wine was handpicked and gently whole bunch pressed, before being transferred to old French oak for fermentation before being rested overwinter on the fine yeast lees. 6 months later, they assembled the blend of 40% pinot noir, 30% Pinot Meunier and 30% Chardonnay, and bottled this, along with some yeast and nutrient to create a secondary ferment in the bottle. After fermenting again (creating the bubbles!) It was then aged on lees for 55 months before being disgorged.

The ‘vinous’ nature of this wine is where the layers and complexity come in with the fruit core wrapped with yeast ageing influence, which is further wrapped with bottle age. It’s got a lovely fine mousse, heaps of texture and all in all is an immensely satisfying, premium sparkling wine that commands your attention. We think this is some of the best Australian, Champagne-like sparkling wine available. Seriously good!