Twinkle, twinkle little stars: Australia’s best sparkling wines

Posted on Dec 20, 2017

Christmas is so close we can smell it! The tree is up, the lights are twinkling and the supermarkets are starting to wonder if it’s not too early to start selling Hot Cross Buns.

So, not a moment too soon, we name our list of Australia’s best sparkling wines. And we have a silly season surprise for you: a Yarra Valley wine has knocked off the Tasmanians for our top pick as the country’s best sparkling wine.

The Coldstream Hills Pinot Noir Chardonnay 2013 is wearing more bling from this year’s wine show circuit than the Vinloco Christmas tree. It has picked up seven gold medals and three silvers without dropping even one dreaded “no score”. That’s an impressive haul that handily beats the category’s Tasmanian champions.

But there’s something for everyone on this year’s list. A sparkling red has made it to third (Blue Pyrenees Sparkling Shiraz NV), a sparkling rose takes out sixth place (Sidewood Isabella Rose 2013) and a prosecco sneaks into the top 10 (De Bortoli King Valley Prosecco NV).

Victorian wines took out six of the Top 10 places – an interesting development considering sparkling’s traditional strongholds in Tasmania and the Adelaide Hills. Exhibits were evenly split between non-vintage and vintage this year with medal awards slightly favouring vintage labels overall.

Our lists are drawn from more than 1500 sparkling scores awarded to 677 wines by the Australasian wine show system this year. It’s the widest, deepest and most objective consideration of Australasian sparkling wine available anywhere. Here’s our Top 50 list:

1 Coldstream Hills Pinot Noir Chardonnay 2013
2 Pirie Sparkling NV
3 Blue Pyrenees Sparkling Shiraz NV
4 Taltarni Blanc De Blancs 2013
5 House of Arras Brut Elite C1301 NV
6 Sidewood “Isabella Rose” Sparkling Rose 2013
7 House of Arras Grand Vintage 2008
8 Domaine Chandon Blanc de Blancs 2013
9 De Bortoli King Valley Prosecco NV
10 Brown Brothers Pinot Noir Chardonnay Pinot Meunier NV
11 Tempus Two Pewter Sparkling Pinot Noir Chardonnay 2012
12 Clover Hill Cuvee Rose NV
13 Heemskerk Chardonnay Pinot Noir 2012
14 Taltarni Cuvee Rose 2012
15 Brown Brothers Patricia Pinot Noir, Chardonnay 2010
16 Domaine Chandon Late Disgorged Sparkling 2006
17 Blue Pyrenees Midnight Cuvee 2013
18 House of Arras A by Arras NV
19 Brown Brothers Sparkling Brut Rose NV
20 Shingleback Black Bubbles Sparkling Shiraz NV
21 Blue Pyrenees Brut Rose NV
22 d’Arenberg Pollyanna Polly NV
23 Taltarni Brut Chardonnay Pinot Noir Pinot Meunier 2012
24 42 Degrees South Sparkling NV
25 Grant Burge Blanc de Noirs NV
26 Pinnacle Drinks Riversdale Crux Tasmania Sparkling NV
27 House of Arras Blanc de Blancs 2008
28 Grant Burge Helene Grande Cuvee 2006
29 Sidewood Sparkling Pinot Chardonnay NV
30 Sidewood ‘Chloe Cuvee’ Chardonnay, Pinot Noir 2014
31 Domaine Chandon Vintage Brut 2013
32 Innocent Bystander Prosecco NV
33 Blue Pyrenees Midnight Cuvee 2014
34 Seppelt Salinger Pinot Noir Chardonnay 2013
35 Taltarni Tache Sparkling Rose 2012
36 Pirie Sparkling Rose 2011
37 Bay of Fires Tasmanian Cuvee Brut NV
38 Domaine Chandon Whitlands Blanc De Blancs 2013
39 Jacob’s Creek Reserve Chardonnay Pinot Noir 2016
40 Pepperjack Sparkling Shiraz NV
41 Swings & Roundabouts Sparkling Chenin Blanc NV
42 Patritti, Dover Pinot Chardonnay NV
43 Swings & Roundabouts Backyard Stories Pinot Noir, Chardonnay NV
44 Blue Pyrenees Luna NV
45 Blue Pyrenees Vintage Brut 2012
46 Yellow Tail Bubbles NV
47 Jacob’s Creek Sparkling Shiraz NV
48 Yarra Burn Vintage Brut 2015
49 Printhie Swift Cuvee Sparkling NV
50 Printhie Swift Cuvee Sparkling 2011
< Back to Blog
Top