If you like Chardonnay, you'll love this sparkling Hawke's Bay blancs de blancs made from  Alpha Domus winery. 

All of the grapes in this wine were hand picked, whole bunch pressed and fermented to bone dry (one gram of residual sugar). It was made from 26 year old Clone 6 Chardonnay vines grown at Bridge Pa in Hawke’s Bay and disgorged at Soljans in West Auckland, which has all the gear for making high end sparkling wine. 

This beautiful creamy, full bodied bubbly over delivers big time, showing yet again just how good New Zealand's best sparkling wines can be. 

One of the best bubblies made in New Zealand, and always a vintage wine with the grapes 100% from one year and 100% Pinot Noir. Tastes dry, yeasty fresh with notes of red berry flavours in a full bodied bubbly with a long finish.
Long ageing on tirage – aka lees (decomposing yeast cells) in bottle - provides depth, body and a lingering finish. 

Winemaker Clive Jones launched Nautilus Winery's sparkling wine programme and is on a constant mission to refine these already outstanding wines, which comes through in the two different sparkling wines he makes. The rose is always a single vintage wine and expresses the depth and richness of Pinot Noir made in the traditional method of sparkling winemaking with long lees aging. This wine is super fresh flavour, has a full body and long, crisp, refreshing finish. 

Gorgeous dry sparkling rose made the same way as champagne by French born, Marlborough based wine pioneer, Daniel le Brun, who marked 40 years of winemaking in New Zealand in 2000. 

Le Brun pioneered methode traditionelle sparkling wines in New Zealand in the early 1980s, releasing his first bubbly in 1985 and marketing it as made the same way as champagne, only at a fraction of the cost. 

This toasty rich, full bodied pink number is made 100% from Pinot Noir grapes which were fermented to 12.5% ABV with 7.5 grams of residual sugar per litre ? almost bone dry and it tastes like it too, with that smidgeon of grapeyness adding beautiful balance. It was aged for 18 months on lees prior to disgorgement. Ongoing disgorgement means fresh wines remain on the market. 

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.

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."

One of Marlborough's best bubblies, Nautilus is modelled on Bollinger Special Cuvee and aged for three years before release - a long ageing time that provides depth, complexity of yeasty flavours and it retains freshness... This dry, full bodied, deliciously yeasty sparkling wine is a blend of 71.4% Pinot Noir and 28.6% Chardonnay. All grapes are hand picked, fermented with a champagne yeast with only the first run of juice going to fermentation to retain a fineness in flavour and texture. The wine typically contains 5 to 15% of reserve wines, held back from previous vintages, to add complexity and consistency to the wine. 

It is aged on lees in bottle for three years prior to disgorgement, which takes place regularly to ensure every bottle on the market remains fresh in flavour. 

Winemaker Clive Jones creates a consistently vibrant sparkling wine here which has pronounced yeasty, fresh bread aromas and rich savoury flavours. 

Nautilus is a member of Methode Marlborough, a group of quality minded winemakers in the country's biggest wine region, who have dedicated themselves to producing sparkling wines with a minimum of 18 months aging in the bottle and made 100% from grapes grown in their region.

Bendigo Hills, Central Otago, New Zealand.

The clone 10-5 Pinot Noir from Trig Hill vineyard was hand harvested and whole bunched pressed. The free run juice was then settled for 24 hours before being racked into a mix of seasoned oak barrels and stainless-steel barrels for fermentation. After a short warm fermentation, the wine was left on full lees and underwent indigenous MLF in spring. The wine was then tirage bottled and matured for 3.5 years prior to disgorging.

Shows aromas of wild berry, smoke. biscuit, five spices, and cinnamon on the nose with a complex palate of red berry and toast flavours.  Excellent fruit weight and a long finish. 

Kumeu River Pinot Noir and Chardonnay blend together to create a deliciously dry and perfectly pink crémant. The aromas of summer sparkle from the glass, freshly picked strawberries and white stone fruit build the texture and mouth feel we really enjoy from our Kumeu Crémant.

The perfect aperitif for the festive season.

The vineyards selected for this wine are Huia Rapaura vineyard and Rose family Kennedy vineyard. 

The grapes were hand-harvested, whole bunch pressed. Juice was racked off to barrels for fermentation  where a warm, fast ferment was encouraged. Base wine underwent full malolactic fermentation. Aged on gross lees in neutral French oak for 14 months. Wine is put on tirage where yeast and sugar is added before bottling. Second fermentation occurred in bottle and the  wine aged on lees for a further 20 months. Hand riddled over 5 weeks and disgorged on 6th December 2021. 

Senses 

Sight: cured salmon pink. 

Smell: Strawberries, cherries and baked bread. 

Taste: Fresh, wild strawberries and strawberry shortcake with a crisp finish. 

Food Matches: Goats cheese platters. Saffron risotto. Proper Crisps with Marlborogh Seasalt

Beautiful complex sparkling wine made in the same way as champagne, only in the heart of the Wairarapa. This is one of our staff faves and we eagerly await its return in store - with a new fresh vintage from Johner Estate in Gladstone.

Late Whitehaven co-founder Greg white was immensely proud of his three daughters, a legacy that Sue White has continued at the helm of Whitehaven Wines. And this new dry pink sparkling wine is made in honour of the daughters, as its name suggests. As is fitting of them, it is a beautiful expression of a sparkling wine made using the same winemaking methods as champagne - the second ferment is in the bottle; the blend is Chardonnay and Pinot Noir and the wine is incredibly elegant, crisp and bone dry in taste. Flavours of fresh summer berries lead into a gentle creaminess in a sparkling wine with a long, precise, cleansing finish.

Drink it with lightly grilled tuna or smoked salmon.

An alluring bouquet of wild strawberries and cream with a touch of spice, followed by delicate cranberry, ruby grapefruit and and a hint of shortbread.  Vibrant, focused and beautifully balanced. 

Vineyard This wine is from our BioGro certified organic and Demeter certified biodynamic estate vineyard located in the Bendigo sub-region of Central Otago. The vineyard was planted in 1998 after careful site selection and is the pioneer vineyard in Bendigo New Zealand. The soils on the beautiful north facing slope are Waenga fine sandy loam and Molyneux shallow sandy loam soils. The Pinot Noir clones 10/5 and 5 have been used for the production of this Methode Traditionnelle sparkling wine. Planted with a vine density of 3,800 vines per hectare on 44.55° south. 

Cuvee 100% Pinot Noir, hand-picked on the 8th March 2022 in ideal condition. Bottle fermented and aged on lees for a minimum of 24 months. Riddled and disgorged by hand at Quartz Reef.

94/100: "Delicious, fresh, crisp and dry with a core bouquet of strawberry and fruit spice, fresh brioche and cherry, there’s a lees and miso moment, apple and floral complexity. Dry, salivating, crisp and dry with a firm mousse, finesse and charm and flavours that reflect the bouquet. A lovely example, well made, lengthy and fine. Great drinking from day of purchase through 2029." Cameron Douglas 2023 

5 Stars: “The distinctive, non-vintage wine (5*) I tasted in mid 2021 was estate-grown and hand-picked at Bendigo, in Central Otago. Made entirely from Pinot Noir, it is pink/red, with strong peach, strawberry and spice flavours, yeasty, dry (2 grams/litre of residual sugar) and lingering. A very harmonious wine, it shows excellent maturity.” By Michael Cooper, NZ Wines (Aug 21) 

As if Lake Wanaka isn't enough of an allure to drink this beautiful bubbly, made from grapes grown in the vicinity, the flavours of this crisp lemony sparkling wine are outstanding. 

Winemakers Sarah-Kate and Dan Dineen describe the flavours in this sparkling wine as "Lemon blossom, brioche and biscuit with hints of almond nuttiness."
They make the base wine from Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, blending the current season wine with a portion of the previous vintage’s bubbly base, matured for an extra 12 months in oak. They add 15% of reserve wine from back vintages, dating back to 2004 to produce complex assemblage, pure and persistent with hints of nuttiness and biscuit. After tirage and secondary fermentation in bottle, the wine is aged on yeast lees for a further 12 to 18 months prior to riddling and disgorging.

A blend of 66% Pinot Noir and 34% Chardonnay this Methode Traditionnelle has had a minimum 3 years aging on lees to produce a finely structured wine rich in complex yeasty aromas and flavours.  Finished in a brut savage style, (4g/l residual sugar) it will enhance any celebration.