Kreglinger Vintage Brut 75cl

Pale, yellow gold with a very fine and persistent bead. Classic vintage sparkling nose with traces of bakers yeast and mineral notes balanced by subtle tones of honey and citrus. Very sophisticated palate with a beautifully defined mousse (Cordon de Mousse). The addition of our Liqueur de dosage at disgorgement has added complexity and richness to a multi-layered palate that combines a creamy, biscuity richness with a crisp, dry finish. Likely life span to 2010 with storage in optimal conditions.

Producer Details
One of Australias groundbreaking cool climate pioneers, the first Pipers Brook vineyards were planted in 1974 on carefully selected sites along the north coast of Tasmania. Situated on the banks of the Tamar and Pipers Brook rivers, the winerys stellar reputation is justified by uniformly high quality across the range. Their Pinot Noirs really excel, ranking among the very best, not only in Australia, but in the world. The wines continue to improve with each vintage in the very capable hands of long-term winemaker Ren Bezemer and viticulturalist Bruce McCormack. Pipers Brook remains at the forefront of innovation as home to one Australias most ambitious research projects, studying existing and new clones of Pinot and gauging the suitability of each to Tasmania's unique conditions.

In the Vineyard
Located in Northern Tasmania at latitude of 41 South, the cool coastal slopes of the Pipers Brook region produce truly exceptional sparkling wine. This wine is sourced from specific sparkling vineyard sites in the Pipers Brook and Pipers River districts. All the sites are based on basaltic soils and are east-southeast facing. This aspect in the Pipers River district gives a ripening potential expressed in day-degrees summation of around 9501050 day-deg C. This compares favourably with conditions in the French district of Champagne (1030 day-deg C). Grapes were harvested late March between 10 and 11 Baume and with 10-14 gm/litre of titratable acidity. Despite this high acid structure, the grapes have undergone a full ripening process and as a result have restrained but fully developed flavours. The natural acidity of the grapes also confers considerable ageing potential to the wine. Trellising: All grapes are grown on narrow spaced vineyards (1.5m-1.9m row spacing). The vines are vertically shoot positioned (VSP), hand pruned in winter and hedge trimmed in summer.

In the Winery
Modern computer controlled Bucher airbag presses are used with a modified champagne cycle to produce around 500 litres per tonne of free run juice from whole bunch pressed grapes and only this free run component is used. Base wines were fermented in both barrel and tank, and a percentage was aged on lees until the first blend took place at the end of the calendar year. The base wine was then tiraged and the 1998 Kreglinger Vintage Brut was disgorged in mid 2004