When: 31 December 2022
Where: My balcony
Purchased: From Blackhearts & Sparrows Braddon, I think $45?
With: The keen beans who arrived on time to our New Year’s Eve party and not the standard 2 hours after the start time. To the victors go the spoils.
The Producer:
Full disclosure; I have not visited Delamere or reached out to the producer for their story or specifics of their vineyard. It is New Year’s Eve and I am in Canberra writing this while listening to friends discuss their wedding plans. If you are reading this, I have researched all this from googling while actively discussing other people’s weddings and the associated drama.
So back to the producer. Delamere is located in the Pipers River region in Tasmania (unsure if it is actually a noted wine region but definitely a region where there is a concentration of wineries in north eastern Tasmania). Located slightly inland of the Bass Strait, the slopes of Delamere vineyard experiences a cool maritime climate allowing for a long cool ripening season which is ideal for their plots of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. The soils in this region are rich with deep red Ferrosol soils and ironstone which apparently offer great fertility, good water drainage and moisture retention, alleviating the need for irrigation. Delamere notes they utilise very hands on growing methods such as hand harvesting and pruning. The climate and sea winds from the Bass protect the delicate chardonnay and pinot noir grapes from frost.
Delamere, this Rosé NV is 100% hand harvested Pinot Noir and made in the traditional method with around two years lees time. Non vintage (NV) means wines incorporate portions of previous vintages. Delamere notes this wine is a 2016 base with 21% reserve over blended. The reserve component is 2014 parcel that was aged in bottle under low gas pressure as a trial.
Fran Austin and Shane Halloway are co-owners and winemakers, and as with many Australian winemakers, both Shane and Fran have made wine all in the Adelaide Hills, Yarra Valley, Western Australia and internationally in the US and Europe including Oregan and Burgundy. Fun fact, Fran was the 2005 Gourmet Traveller Young Winemaker of the Year.Fran and Shane both have a strong passion for cool climate wines and a strong affinity for Chardonnay and Pinot Noir through their respective experiences.
In the glass:
Super effervescent into the glass, the colour reminds me of the inside of strawberries when you cut them open, that soft pinky hew. Clear and classic sparkling.
Nose:
Not sure how to sniff sparkling without inhaling the bubbles and burning the inside of my nose despite drinking wine for over a decade.
The bubbles that burnt the inside of my nose reminded me of musk, lanolin and green strawberries.
Taste:
First up, big burst of fresh under ripe strawberries, red currants and raspberries balanced with some savoury lingering acidity. Dry and crisp, it reminds me of biting into a slightly green strawberry that you rinsed but didn’t dry before taking a bite. Finishes up clean, with some soft toasty notes at the end. Classic.
Would have been delicious with some cured meats, like prosciutto and maybe some cheddar to complement the subtle toasty notes and the red berry notes.
Never been a big sparkling drinker, something I have traditionally reserved for ‘special occasions’ or weddings, this was a great little number to kick off the start of my new years. My 2022 New Year resolution was not to deny myself of the nicer things in life and Tasmanian sparkling feels like one of those niceties. Will drink again.
