One of New Zealand’s best bubbles and one of its most consistent, complex handmade wines; it's typically a 70/30 blend of toasty flavours from Pinot Noir with crisp citrus creamy ones from Chardonnay. It comes from one of the country's oldest producers of traditional method sparkling wine - Rudi Bauer in Central Otago, who pioneered Quartz Reef Brut NV in the early days of Otago as a wine region.

Quartz Reef Brut NV began life when winemaker Rudi Bauer teamed up with a visiting French winemaker Clothilde Chauvet (daughter of champagne maker Marc Chauvet). Together they pioneered this high quality, traditional method sparkling wine, using mostly Pinot Noir (now 72% of the blend) with the balance being Chardonnay. The wine is typically aged for two years on lees in bottle following its second fermentation - longer than most champagnes. No wonder it massively over delivers on both taste and price. This is a stunning sparkling wine. Ignore at your peril.

Cloudy Bay Wines first made its name with inimitable Sauvignon Blanc and has since forged a reputation for top quality wines made in a range of styles, of which Pelorus bubbly punches significantly above its weight. It’s made using the same winemaking methods as champagne, which provides this wine with its creamy, rich, flavoursome style, full body and dry finish. It is typically aged on lees for two years before the bubbly is disgorged, corked and labelled. It contains 8 grams of dosage per litre, which makes it taste dry with the balance of fresh acidity in the wine.

It offers stunning value at this price.  

Delicious complex champagne with great depth and super fresh flavours; amazing value for money. Andre Clouet Grand Reserve is aged on lees for four years before disgorgement. It's made from 100% Pinot Noir, which is where all its rich, deliciously toasty aromas come from and the style is a complex blend of wine from the 2015 vintage with depth of flavour coming from the 50% proportion of older reserve wines from 2014, 2013, 2012, 2008, 2005, 2004 and 2002. 

The dosage is 8 grams per litre, which makes it dry in taste and in style. 

This wine offers substantially more flavour than most champagnes at this price on the market today - and kicks many more expensive bubbles to touch too.

Champagne AndreClouet dates back to 1741. Today the family owns eight hectares of estate vines in the best middle slopes of Bouzy and Ambonnay in the Champagne region from which it makes (along with purchased grapes) great wines of richness and depth. André  Clouet Grand Reserve is one of our staff faves here at Regional and is made from 100% Pinot Noir grapes, all grown on grand cru vineyards and aged on lees for four years before disgorgement. That is significantly longer than the legal minimum of 18 months aging on lees, pre release, in the Champagne region. 

This long aging time provides great depth and complex flavours to this deliciously flavoursome non vintage champagne. It offers incredible taste and richness.

* The André Clouet Grande Reserve is also available in half bottles.

If you’re after a complex champagne made from the great Pinot Noir grape, try this.

Moët Impérial is one of the biggest volume champagnes in the world from the vast house of LVMH (Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessey) and is typically a blend of 30 to 40% Pinot Noir, 30 to 40% Pinot Meunier with 20 to 30% Chardonnay for balancing crispness and freshness. It's made from Moët & Chandon's vineyards in all of the five main grapegrowing areas in the Champagne region.

Daniel le Brun is the first person to make traditional method sparkling wine (that's code for made the same way as champagne) in New Zealand. He has since sold his own brand name and created another sparkling wine company. 

This wine remains one of New Zealand's most loved and well known bubbles from Chardonnay and Pinot Noir grapes grown in Marlborough. It has extended lees aging time to gain its fresh bakery flavours and long finish. A well known wine that delivers on body, dryness, depth of flavour - and all at such a modest price. No wonder it's a fave for so many New Zealanders.

Veuve Clicquot is one of the world's biggest selling champagnes and is produced by Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessey in a range of styles and packaging. 

Veuve is named after the late, great Widow Clicquot, who was left not only a widow aged 27 but also in charge of running a champagne house. Her legacy is to have left both the brand and the region in better condition than she found them, mostly famously by inventing riddling; the turning of the bottle to remove the yeast sediment into its neck, prior to disgorgement. This resulted in higher quality, cleaner, fresher bubbles in both look and taste. Her quest was quality and she is widely credited with having raised it significantly in the Champagne region and in the bottles it produces.

The yellow label non vintage (NV) blend is typically made up of 55% Pinot Noir, 30% Chardonnay and 15% Pinot Meunier.

Chardonnay and Pinot Noir grapes are gently pressed into production to make this dry, medium bodied bubbly from Marlborough, which was fermented with wild yeasts and aged for 18 months in bottle on lees; the decomposing yeast cells following fermentation in the bottle. It contains 8.8 grams of residual sugar per litre and alcohol of 12.5% ABV, giving it a medium body and lovely balanced flavours. It’s made by Allan Scott and his winemaking team.

Member of Methode Marlborough.

Chardonnay with bubbles combines two of the wine world's most popular things and this wine comes from Limoux in the southern French region of Languedoc. This is a fresh, crisp wine made using the Champagne method. Extended ageing on the lees adds toasted notes and a rich texture. This wine is exceptionally good for the price.

A beautiful Blanc de Noir made entirely from lightly pressed Pinot Noir grapes and made by Clos Henri in Marlborough. The light pressing provides no colour to the wine but retains all the savoury, earthy, toasty flavours you'd hope for and expect from this great red grape variety. 

All grapes are hand picked grapes and the wine is aged on fine lees for 10 months, partially in stainless steel and partially in old oak. The wine was stored in the winery's cellar to allow a slow bottle fermentation and secondary aging on yeast lees for a minimum of 18 months. A few hundred bottles are disgorged at a time to release onto the market, leaving the remainder aging on its lees (sur lattes). 

Clos Henri began 22 years ago in Marlborough when the French Bourgeois family expanded their winemaking from the heart of Sancerre in the tiny village of Chavignol to Blenheim, in 2001. Now that their vines are 22 years of age , the family feels that they are only now starting to reflect and express the taste of the land. This family retains their land and winemaking in Chavignol where they have made wine for 11 generations.

Pierre Emmanuel Taittinger runs this famous champagne house with his son Clovis and daughter, Vitalie, who both work beside him in the day to day running of Champagne Taittinger. It is one of the grand marques champagnes. This means it is one of the top tier, best known and most highly respected producers in the Champagne region and it has built its reputation on Chardonnay dominant bubblies, with the Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blanc being the pinnacle of its production.

This non vintage (NV) champagne is also Chardonnay dominant, which is where its bright, clean, fresh and refreshing acidity and creamy notes come from. 

It is a beautiful and classic champagne. One of our favourites.

A creamy, full bodied, deliciously complex bubbly made from a blend of two of the classic grapes used to make Champagne - Pinot Noir makes up 58% of this wine and the grapes were lightly pressed so that no colour is extracted from the Pinnacles Vineyard and 42% Chardonnay from the Om Santi Vineyard, fermented to 12.5% ABV. 

This big, creamy, full bodied sparkling wine made in the traditional method - the same way as champagne. The Chardonnay went through malolactic fermentation, which adds  the creamy notes. It was aged for two years on lees in bottle and given six grams of dosage at disgorgement, which makes this wine dry, fresh and long on taste thanks to the cool climate acidity which adds length and zesty drive. 

Laurent-Perrier Brut NV is enjoyed for its creamy softness which comes from Chardonnay, the dominant grape in this elegant sparkling wine.

The Laurent-Perrier Champagne house was founded in 1812 and is the main company of the Laurent-Perrier Group, whose other flagship brands include the houses of Salon, De Castellane and Delamotte. Laurent-Perrier Group also acquired Chateau Malakoff in 2004.

One of the world's great value sparkling wines, made the same way as champagne, often from the same grape varietiess and in France, only it is not aged for as long in the bottle. That said, the complex yeasty rich flavours and dry taste of this lovely Alsatian bubbly definitely give more than a hint of the depth of taste in a good champagne. 

Veuve Clicquot is one of the world's biggest selling champagnes and is produced by Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessey in a range of styles and packaging. 

Veuve is named after the late, great Widow Clicquot, who was left not only a widow aged 27 but also in charge of running a champagne house. Her legacy is to have left both the brand and the region in better condition than she found them, mostly famously by inventing riddling; the turning of the bottle to remove the yeast sediment into its neck, prior to disgorgement. This resulted in higher quality, cleaner, fresher bubbles in both look and taste. Her quest was quality and she is widely credited with having raised it significantly in the Champagne region and in the bottles it produces.
This rose is typically a blend of base wines with 12% of still red Pinot Noir.

A cracking sparkler from Marlborough's Cloudy Bay. This has more weight and fruit sweetness than the standard Pelorus thanks to a higher percentage Pinot and offers strawberry and biscuit elements on the nose and palate. 

94/100 Bob Campbell
“Reasonably deep copper colour. Full-flavoured wine with hints of biscuit and strawberry. Dry, but not austere, with a rich texture and lengthy finish. Classy sparkler with character.”