Tasmania is known for the freshness of its wines and an ideal place to produce sparkling wines.
House of Arras was founded in 1995, but its true beginnings were in 1988 when winemaker and sparkling wine specialist Ed Carr began his quest to make world class bottle fermented sparkling wines in Australia.
He homed in on the island of Tasmania, off Australia’s south coast, surrounded by the cold water of the South Pacific. The wines grown there are just so vivid, bright and brisk, they make an ideal base for fine sparkling wine.
Just in time for the colder months – or an Indian summer – Arras have now released two more wines: their Brut Elite, which is their multi-vintage blend. The Arras Brut Elite 1601 is the tenth release of this style and based predominantly on base wins from the 2016 vintage. It spent four years ageing on its lees in bottle before being disgorged with a dosage of just 3.5g/l to highlight its vivid freshness.
The Grand Vintage 2013 is the fifteenth release of a Grand Vintage. 2013 “produced an exceptional balance of sugar, acidity and flavour”, said Carr. The wine spent seven years maturing on lees and was disgorged with just 2.7g/l of dosage. 10% of the base wines were fermented in French oak barrels which gave lovely depth to this predominantly Chardonnay-based wine.
Both wines are real ambassadors of Tasmania, they seem to carry the ocean spray of that remote and pristine island coastline.
