Pinot Noir Chardonnay is the term the rest of the world, outside Champagne, use to describe a sparkling wine.

With the European Union protecting the rights of wine producing regions, including the region in France known as, Champagne, (and rightly so), sparkling wine is also commonly called a Pinot Chardonnay, based on the fact that a sparkling wine is produced from these two grape varieties.

Don’t be fooled, the quality, texture and taste of a Pinot Chardonnay can be just as alluring and exciting as any Champagne. Most Pinot Chardonnays are produced in the same way as many of the French Champagnes.

Moet and Chandon, the King of Champagnes and the distribution of them, has many a Pinot Chardonnay gem hidden in their portfolio.  Some are produced in a fine estate in the prestigious wine growing area of the Yarra Valley of Australia.

Some seriously good ‘Sparklers’ emanate from New Zealand, particularly the north island.

Many attempts over the years to combine various grape varieties have resulted in some fantastic successes and some tragic failures.  Semillon Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon Shiraz, in fact, most of the red variety grapes combine well.  You don’t see a Sav Blanc Chardonnay around, do you? there is good reason for that.  But the mix of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay with the sparkling fermentation process has been a tremendous success.

The Pinot Chardonnay is also available in 375ml and 200ml size bottles for the convenience factor, you know, picnics, BBQs, restaurants.  Although it is a sparkling variety, modern technology has allowed it to be as versatile as any of the still wines in packaging and delivery.

Probably the most exciting point of Pinot Chardonnays is because they are called Pinot Chardonnays and not Champagne they are nowhere near the same price…you win.

Set up a blind tasting of your own one day and see if you and your friends can pick the difference.

France has the largest wine production of any country in the world, producing between seven to eight billion bottles every year. There are a number of wine making regions dotted around France with some areas being dated as far back as 600 BC.

The wines produced today vary across the gambit of the pricing structure with both expensive and lower priced wines available worldwide. In recent years, France has had to adapt to match the rest of the emerging world in wine production and distribution as the world grows smaller with modern technologies.
The French have been very protective of their origins in recent years, and rightly so, with the use of specific terms such as Bordeaux, Champagne and Burgundy now only apply to wines from those particular areas in France.

This is all governed under the Appellation d’Origine Controlee (AOC) system, which was established to preserve the naming rights for the produce from these regions. The body in charge, sets down and enforces the rules in the AOE system which is also used to determine which winemaking practices and grape varieties are allowed to be used in the specific wine producing regions of France.

Another term that is very French is “terrior”, which indicates a number of growing factors that can vary from vineyard to vineyard, taking into account factors like, soil condition, orientation toward the sun and slope of the land.

Many of the most famous varieties of grape such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Sauvignon Blanc and Syrah all originated from the wine growing regions of France. As exploration and colonization spread across the globe, these popular varieties of grape were brought along and planted in numerous ‘new wold’ countries.

Along with the grapes, the colonists brought over the unique French wine making practices in an effort to produce the same style of wines from France.

The long and proud history of French wine has added to its mystique. It has long been a market leader in sales, grape varieties and wine production trends. In the same breath without leaving its age old traditions behind.

As a result French wine and particular houses remain in high demand around the world.

And as you would expect from 13WINE our back vintage collection of French wine is second to none.  Our ability to source the very finest of the Houses of French wine is truly amazing.

Go on put us to the test for French Wine…

Dom Perignon is a champagne at the top end of its field produced by Moet Chandon. It is the luxury model of the range, so to speak. It is, quite frankly, one of the best wines available to the consumer and has a price tag that reflects this.

It is named after a Benedictine monk who was an key pioneer for quality for the champagne industry but contrary to popular belief did not discover the actual champagne production method.

The first vintage of Dom Perignon was 1921 and was only released for sale in 1936. Dom Perignon is a vintage champagne, meaning that it is only made in the best growing years. There is no guarantee that will be produced every year and quite often there will be a number of years that pass before the grapes are of good enough quality to use for a production run. To add to this all grapes used to make the wine must have been harvested in the same year.

Many champagnes, by contrast, are non-vintage, which means that the champagne is made from grapes harvested in various years and as such mixes grapes from good and not so good years. This is one of the main reasons why Dom Perignon is such a highly regarded champagne.

Around 5 million bottles of Dom Perignon are produced in each vintage. The champagne usually consists of 55% Chardonnay and 45% Pinot Noir. As of 2009, the current release of Dom Perignon is from the 2000 vintage and the current release of Dom Perignon Rose is from the 1998 vintage.

All vintages need around 12 months of aging before they reach that trademark silky feel and only continue to improve with age.

The current (2009) winemaker is Richard Geoffroy and has held that position since being appointed in 1998.

Being a world famous Champagne, Dom Perignon is distributed worldwide through Moet Chandon , from the local regions of France all the way down to Australia.

Penfolds Grange is produced using a majority of Shiraz (Syrah) grapes and a small amount of Cabernet Sauvignon. Considered by many to be Australia’s ‘first growth’, Penfolds Grange has become one of Australia’s most collectible wines.

It was the it was the perseverance and dedication of a winemaker called Max Schubert that lead to the first vintage of Penfolds Grange. Max had toured around Europe in 1950, watching and learning the wine making techniques used in Bordeaux, France. Upon his return to Penfolds in 1951, Schubert made the first vintage of Penfolds Grange, an experimental wine designed to the be the first red wine to rival French red wines in quality and ageing potential.

When Penfolds Grange was first released in 1951, it was in an era where fortified wines were all the rage and Penfolds Grange was left on the shelf, under-appreciated with its true potential unrecognized. Time wound on and a lack of initial sales prompted management to wind down production of Penfolds grange in 1957.
Schubert however continued to produce Penfolds Grange in secrecy through 1959. It was in 1960 that the wines truly began to be appreciated for their quality and aging potential by the wine community. With the increasing popularity, Schubert was instructed to re-start production by management, who were unaware that Schubert had not actually stopped production.

From its first entry into wine competitions in 1962 up until the current day, Penfolds Grange has been performing strongly in wine awards, collecting over 50 gold medals from various judging events, including the Wine Olympics.

The name ‘Hermitage’ was originally used in Australia as a synonym for Shiraz, which was adopted by the Penfolds Grange label. In 1990, the name ‘Hermitage’ was excluded from the label after objections from the European Union for Penfolds using a recognized French region name.

Anyone who has seen a number of grange bottles will also notice that most carry the signature of “Bin 95”. Bin 95 refers to the storage location in the Penfolds winery which has been the same location since 1964. In the first vintage it was housed in Bin 1 and in 1952, Bin 4. In the following vintages, it was housed in various Bins until finding a permanent home in Bin 95.

No other wine in Australia has such a rich and diverse history as Australia’s Penfold Grange.

A number of non-wine drinkers have been thrown by a common misconception about Vintage Wine. Many hold the belief that because it is labeled as a ‘vintage wine’ that it is superior in quality and taste. In the wine industry, a vintage wine is a wine that has been made by grapes grown and collected from one particular season.

The idea may have originated from the producers of Vintage Port in who make ports based off grapes from certain years, which are later analyzed and the ‘good years’ are then decided. These ‘good batches’ are then labeled as ‘Vintage Ports’ by each winery, indicating a particularly good batch.

Vintage wines do share some aspects of the labeling but it is not exactly the same. Like Port, Vintage wines are made using only the grapes from a particular year, however this does not guarantee that the wine will be of higher quality. The usual practice is for the wine to be released and wine critics to discuss and decide over which wines are of high quality over time.

Another surprising fact is that vintage wines do not actually have to be made from 100% of grapes from that year. Some wines originating from South Africa or Chilie are only required to consist of 75% same year grapes.In other countries such as Australia, New Zealand, America and the EU, they are required to be 85% and up.

The other types of wine, which are just called ‘non-vintage’ wines, can be made from grapes form harvests over two or more years. Some wineries use this method to create wines with consistent tastes and quality.

In the past, vintage wines were prized and did have different qualities and tastes according to the years they were grown, however modern farming techniques and irrigation now lets most wineries grow consistent crops, but the debate over quality still continues to this day.

The famous Barossa wine region is a little over an hour by car north of Adelaide, South Australia’s capital. The Barossa comprises two regions, the Barossa Valley and Eden Valley.

The Barossa Valley is generally less than 400 metres above sea-level and stretches from Williamstown in the south to Kapunda and Truro in the north. The red-brown soils are more fertile than those of the Eden Valley but rainfall here can be up to 50% less. Temperatures are generally about 2 degrees warmer.

Eden Valley includes the country from Truro in the north through to Mount Pleasant in the south. It ranges between 400 metres and 600 metres above sea-level with most of the winegrowing country located in the higher, cooler, wetter sections of the region. Soils are rocky and acidic and winter rainfall is plentiful, averaging 255mm more per annum than the Barossa Valley. Temperatures are cooler therefore the growing season is longer.

There are about 550 growers in the Barossa, some of them sixth-generation Barossans. Together, they produce an average of 55,000 tonnes of grapes each vintage, harvested from over 8,000 hectares of vines.

Internationally, the Barossa is unique in that it has never suffered an outbreak of phylloxera. This means that many vineyards still thrive on their own root stocks, distinguishing the Barosssa as a wine-growing region with some of the world’s oldest vines.

While the Barossa’s 55,000 tonnes represents only about 5% of the national crush, it is premium fruit. The history of the Barossa and its disproportionate presence in the super-premium categories make it Australia’s most influential and internationally recognised wine region. And from the most recognized Australian wine region is its most recognized style, Shiraz.

The Barossa Valley is primarily known for its red wine, in particular Shiraz (Syrah). Normally large proportions of Barossa Shiraz is used in Penfolds Grange (Australia’s most famous wine).Henschke Hill of Grace is also a Barossa Shiraz.

No wonder Barossa Shiraz is revered around the world.

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