Austin’s Cuvee 2017

Appearance: pale straw tones with a refined mousse and lasting bead. Nose: fresh and fragrant notes of white linen and a hint of lemon zest. Palate: a finely constructed palate with an interplay of acid, sweetness and nuanced flavours that echo the nose and finish crisp and clean

Canapés Ceviche and seafood Hams and lighter meats While you can’t go past sparkling and canapés to begin an evening, we also recommend pairing our cuvée with dishes such as kingfish ceviche and seafood. It’s also perfect with lighter meats such as your festive season ham

Appearance: pale straw tones with a refined mousse and lasting bead. Nose: fresh and fragrant notes of white linen and a hint of lemon zest. Palate: a finely constructed palate with an interplay of acid, sweetness and nuanced flavours that echo the nose and finish crisp and clean

The Moorabool Valley produces wines of great power and concentration with precise varietal definition and deft balance. Continental in nature, we’re close to the Southern Ocean and dry in summer. The cool climate gives our wines full ripeness and beautiful finesse. Moorabool Valley has a rich history, with ancient volcanic soils containing a tough limestone and basalt base. This gives the sub-region its unique terroir and provides the ideal free-draining soil for our grapevines. The Austin’s Vineyard Austin’s has been located in the heart of the Moorabool Valley since 1990, a cool climate wine region steeped in rich history. Nestled between Geelong & Ballarat, the Moorabool Valley’s small, family run vineyards provide rich and intense low yield fruit, an ideal terroir for producing award-winning wines. The Austin’s Estate is across 1,500 acres, with 150 under vine. The land boasts rich volcanic, limestone soils and a terrain that sits in a rain shadow. Sitting on the ocean floor some 20,000 years ago this land has been reclaimed by millennia of volcanic activity. Geelong’s Moorabool Valley sub-region has a tough limestone and basalt base. This gives the sub-region its unique terroir and provides the ideal free-draining soil for our grapevines. Moorabool Valley’s cool climate is continental by nature but still moderated by its proximity to the ocean. This provides perfect conditions to grow world-class wines. All vines are planted north–south and trained vertically. The canopies are managed to provide enough light and air into the fruit zone to maximise vine quality and health. Careful irrigation during the growing season to maintain healthy vine growth for even ripening which is the key to quality fruit.

The growing season of 2016/17 was an ideal year to make this cuvée sparkling wine. We only create this wine in years where the fruit is optimal for a sparkling base. We only produced 600 bottles, making it an in-demand limited-edition variety. Made using the traditional method, the wine is fermented in bottle over two years. The chardonnay and pinot noir were both harvested on 23 February 2017 and blended for the impressive sparkling wine numbers; 20.7 brix, 11.5 g/L TA, 3.16 pH. After handpicking, fruit was loaded as whole bunches into the press and gently squeezed. The juice was racked to aged oak puncheons for fermentation and left for 22 weeks. It was then racked to tank, stabilised and filtered before tirage bottling in September for the second ferment. The bottles were stored at 15ºC to enhance the mousse and bubble size. After 22 months the bottles were riddled and disgorged in July 2019. After handpicking, fruit was loaded as whole bunches into the press and gently squeezed to yield 600 L/tonne. The juice was racked to aged oak puncheons for fermentation and left for 22 weeks. It was then racked to tank, stabilised and filtered before tirage bottling in September for the second ferment. The bottles were stored at 15ºC to enhance the mousse and bubble size. After 22 months sur lie* the bottles were riddled and disgorged in July 2019 with a very light addition of liqueur. *Wondering what we mean by sur lie? It’s from the French ‘on the lees’. This means the wine remains in contact with the dead yeast cells rather than being racked or filtered. This enriches the wine and gives it the lovely toasty flavours you’d expect from cuvée sparkling. Season The growing season of 2016/17 was subject to wild weather fluctuations, yet the Moorabool Valley held steadfast throughout. Summer and autumn were generally warm but a few above-average rainfall events ensured happy, healthy vines. There was minimal disease pressure due to the windy, well-drained nature of the Moorabool Valley. The chardonnay and pinot noir were both harvested on 23 February 2017 and blended together for the impressive sparkling wine numbers; 20.7 brix, 11.5 g/L TA, 3.16 pH.