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.

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

Amisfield Brut is one of Central Otago's great Pinot Noirs, only in this case the grapes were gently crushed and the skins removed immediately in order to make a white wine with bubbles, modelled on champagne. 

All of the grapes were hand picked and the wine went through its second fermentation in bottle where it spent 18 months on yeast lees, retaining freshness, gaining full bodied, yeasty, toasty aromas. It's dry with five grams of residual sugar per litre and a long, refreshing finish thanks to crisp acidity which adds drive and length to every tasty sip. 

This wine represents outstanding value for money and shines another light on Pinot Noir from the deep south.

Falmet Brut NV is a bright and lively Champagne from the Cotes des Bar. This is a Pinot dominant blend (80% Pinot Noir, 20% Chardonnay) with great floral characters on the nose. Juicy acidity and brioche notes on the palate are complemented by a fine, energetic bead.

Rich, tasty and refined South Island bubbly, made as a tribute to Dawn Ibbotson, the matriarch of Saint Clair, who lived to be 104 and still resided in her own home. This sparkling wine was first made for her 100th birthday and it is a multi vintage blend made 100% from Marlborough grapes and using 63% Chardonnay with 37% Pinot Noir. The finished wine spent 30 months lees aging on tirage in bottle pre disgorgement.

Blanc de Blancs champagnes are a Chardonnay lover's dream with nougat, vanilla, fresh cream and nutty flavours combining in a smooth textured dry, full bodied bubbly.

It's made from Grand Cru vineyards in the villages of Avize and Ogier in the Côte des Blanc; the Champagne region's epicentre of Chardonnay. 

This high quality sparkling wine is a dry style with 9 grams per litre of residual sugar and it is fresh, soft and rich in style. The wine was disgorged in July 2019. 

The House of Ruinart makes one of the most delicious champagnes we stock here in store; this sensationally full bodied, creamy blanc de blancs. This champagne is made 100% from Chardonnay and is a multi vintage blend with notes of intense white floral and peach aromas intermingled with hints of golden ripe yellow fruit and a complexity of white nutty notes on the finish. Crisp refreshing acidity adds length and tension to every great sip, which finishes with a lingering flavour. 

Most of the grapes in this wine and those in all Ruinart champagnes are grown in the Côte des Blancs and Montagne de Reims terroirs in Champagne.

* The House of Ruinart was first established in the Champagne region in 1729 and was inspired by a monk. 

A lovely fruit forward and pure sparkling wine made in the same way as Champagne from 45% Chardonnay, 35% Pinot Noir and 20% Gamay. Nine months on the lees gives this real depth with subtle notes of brioche combining with its citrus and stone fruit flavours.

A great champagne made by father-son grower-winemaker team. The pair are based in Ay, also home to Champagne Bollinger, to which they sell approximately half of their grapes each year. The vineyards around Ay in the Champagne region are focussed strongly on Pinot Noir, which makes this wine taste toasty and rich. These alluring savoury qualities are softened, mellowed and added to in the autolytic process of ageing the bubbles in the bottle while the lees (decomposing yeast cells) break down, releasing deliciously rich flavours on the journey. 

A great champagne made in relatively small volumes, pushing boundaries of great flavour to new heights. 

One of our absolute faves here at Regional Wines. Central Otago based, Austrian born and bred winemaker Rudi Bauer is the mastermind behind the stunning wines at Quartz Reef winery, which he founded and then furthered his own career by studying biodynamics and organics. All of his Quartz Reef wines are certified by both BioGro and Demeter for biodynamic production.

The grapes for this Blanc de Blanc were hand picked and had their second fermentation in bottle followed by 60 months aging on lees. It was riddled and disgorged by hand and has refreshing citrus notes and irresistible bakery aromas which highlight the great suitability of world's southernmost wine region for sparkling wine production.

This is a great example of world class méthode traditionnelle.

This great Champagne is made by the Epernay based producer, Champagne Lombard, and it is staggeringly good quality with amazing balance and complexity for this price. 

Smooth, zingy, citrusy and beautifully toasty. A rare good deal. 

Winery notes 
"This wine pays tribute to David Herd, who established Marlborough’s first commercial vineyard and winery at Auntsfield in the 1870s. Using David’s original vineyard site and specific Muscat Clone, this wine is made by applying the Methode Ancestrale technique, which can be traced to production of the first sparkling wine “Blanquette de Limoux” in 1531. As in the 153o’s, and 1870’s, fermentation with natural yeast is completed in bottle. The result is a wine that honours the foundational work of our ancestors and celebrates continued discovery and pleasure.

With each bottle being it’s own fermentation no two bottles are exactly the same. With little sulphur in bottle, this wine evolves in the glass. Initially this wine has fresh aromas of fresh apple, elderflower, nashi pear with hints of mint, and wild honey. In the glass, the brighter apple and pear notes dissipate and reveal more of the Muscat floral and exotic spice aromas. The palate has a fresh and crisp acidity, with tangy green apple. It is light and lively. With a slight brioche and almond complexity giving some generosity to the palate at this early stage of life.

The historic Petits Grains Muscat block is exactly where it all started at Auntsfield in 1873. These vines are trained along the old wire and Manuka posts as they historically were. This block has the potential for heavy crops, so we spend a lot of time carefully removing leaves very early in the season before flowering to reduce the bunch sizes and number of berries that set. Each bunch is carefully tended to during the growing season as this variety is fragile and requires optimum conditions to fully express the incredible aromatics of Muscat.

Limited Edition of just 820 bottles produced."

Vintage rose champagne is one of our favourite things and this one comes from arguably the most popular producer, Veuve Clicquot, owned by Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessey.

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 and aged for three years prior to disgorgement.