Earthy yet Elegant

“Excuse me — does anyone have a minute to give their opinion on some rosés?”

This is how Dan Buckle, Chandon Senior Winemaker, conducts his best R&D: by making an impromptu focus group out of unsuspecting tourists at, one of the most bustling and beautiful destinations in Yarra Valley.

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As soon as Dan asked the question, our hands shot up. He led us to a white-tablecloth-draped surface with glasses containing eight sparkling rosés — some from California, some from Champagne from France, all identities disguised. He asked us what we thought.

An imprecise experiment, maybe, but a useful one to confirm some of Dan’s suspicions. While most people liked the fruitier, more expressive wines. We all gravitated towards the rosés with darker colors.

Chandon flies the flag as the only Australian sparkling specialists with genuine French heritage. It all began decades ago, when Moët & Chandon dared to dream differently, believing that the unknown could deliver brilliant opportunity. Produce superlative sparkling wines outside its hallowed French terroir? But of course.

In Australia the Gallic winemakers chose the Yarra Valley. With the cool climate and loamy soils of an old dairy farm, they put down the first plantings and began to shape what is today the renowned Domaine Chandon. Their craft combines the magic of forth ripe grapes, time-honoured production techniques and decades of experience to elevate their wines on a world-class stage.

They create still wines of elegance and finesse and sparkling drops using the méthode traditionnelle. What is méthode traditionnelle, you ask? The alchemy of bubbles. Centuries ago, the practice ripened in France’s Champagne region, where the grape juice underwent two separate fermentations – one in tank or barrel, the second in bottle, producing exceptionally fine, tiny bubbles.

Our visit to the Yarra Valley winemaking home was a truly unique wine tourism experience where enthusiastic and knowledgeable wine hosts built our understanding of the wonder of winemaking. For those who are food fanatics, a sophisticated and relaxed meal can be enjoyed in their restaurant, matched by incomparable views of the glorious Yarra Valley.

The 100-hectare property is rimmed by the Yarra Ranges in the distance, a majestic setting for sampling from the cellar. That picturesque view –and the fine, elegant bubbles made on-site –lure around 250,000 visitors per year.

“Chandons’ still and sparkling wines tick all the right boxes,” explained Dan. They share Old and New World qualities; they’re fruity but have backbone. In Australia people know how to cherish a glass of wine by pairing it up with the right food. Our wines couple Australian expertise with 250 years of Champagne history in every bottle, says Dan.

The tour of the winery was available, both self-guided and guided, at an additional cost of course. We chose the former option, of a self-guided winery tour, where we walked through the building and factory, while reading about the history and heritage of Moët & Chandon. The new buildings behind the old homestead serve the purpose of the winery's operations, with wine presses, rooms for the business of wine-making - processing and fermenting equipment, barrels for ageing, facilities for bottling and packaging, as well as the capacious cellar where the wine is stored to mature. As we entered the barrel room we could smell the earthiness of the ageing wines and ended up getting a first-hand look at the large modern equipment’s in which the wine is produced and stored.

As we were looking forward to taste the wines ourselves, we headed over to the Greenpoint Brasserie Tasting Bar to sample a range of their still and sparkling wines. Their wines are available by the glass from $8 or by the bottle from $22.00. As we sat down, to pick and choose the wines we wanted to try, we were overwhelmed. You see the wine world can seem as dark and opaque as a heavily-oaked Australian shiraz, or as capricious and unknowable as a flighty Sancerre.

Behind the tasting bar, shelves of still and sparkling bottles were calling to our visual senses, hypnotizing us to buy a bottle. The wine tasting menu had us puzzled, we turned towards Martin, a certified sommelier to choose on our behalf. Being in the presence of a master sommelier, we thought of brushing up our wine tasting skills. We asked him, how should we taste wine for sampling? “Smell quickly and taste. Appreciate if you like it or not, if it is at the right temperature, and if you wish then you can ask me to decant it or not” says Martin.

From Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meuniers’, we tasted, furthermore appreciated the wines. From smelling the wine, when the sommelier poured it to adapting to its flavours, the entire experience was enriching. But hands down our favorite was the Chandon Vintage Brut Rose 2014, with exceptional fruity expressions, creamy texture, and rich character of a sparkling wine.

All the wine and ambience just called for the right food, for which we opted for a delightful lunch with the cheese platter and the smoked salmon terrine. A divine experience, especially so when we had the sweeping views across the valley to enjoy while eating and sipping onto some expressive wines.

Due to the diversity of climate, soil and aspects, the Yarra Valley is one of the few regions able to produce a wide array of world class wines. There is certainly something for every wine drinker to experience from the wines of Yarra Valley. If Chandon is not your glass of wine, you can explore the other wineries in the Yarra region of Victoria, Australia.

Rochford Wines

Established in the year 1985, they specialise in high quality winemaking from two single vineyard sites with thirty five plus year old vines. Surrounded by lush vineyards and a beautiful homegrown setup, it exuberates an old world charm.

Their chief winemaker comes with a decade of experience and draws inspiration from traditional Burgundian’s philosophy of producing the best fruit possible in their vineyard, handling it gently to preserve the fruits character and allowing the wines to express their individuality.

You can choose from their range of Estate or Reserved wines, with notes of balanced aromatic blends.

Oakridge Wines

Walking inside the modern, imposing, architecturally-designed building that houses Oakridge Wines, you can witness the selection of hand picked and hand crafted wines they have to offer. Their wines are some of the most acclaimed in the country, their service is warm and welcoming. Wine tasting aside, there’s also outdoor games, a winery restaurant and provedore that has local peanut butter.

Their wines are great examples of wines that typify varietal characteristics of the Yarra Valley. Wines which are fresh, vibrant and medium bodied. Low alcohol wines with intensity, marvellous tightness and sharp focus. They match and bring out the flavours of every day foods.

Exceptional wine, food, service and passion set amongst a spectacular environment that delivers excellence for all.

Dominique Portet Winery

This winery beholds tradition that has been passed on from generation to generation, making the ninth-generation winemaker Dominique Portet open this winery in 2000. He chose the cool climate of aptly named Coldstream in the Yarra Valley as home to the eponymous winery he founded in 2000. It was the culmination of a tenacious search for grape growing terroir to rival that of his native Bordeaux – but also the start of a new chapter in a winemaking story that has its roots in France in the early 1700s.

Now son Ben, generation ten, heads the winemaking team, firmly observing the central tenets of this young yet historic estate: respect for tradition, understanding of site and an open mind towards contemporary practices that shape wines that are ever more refined and delicious. This Italian inspired boutique winery produces some of the most cool-climate wines which are exclusive to their cellar doors.

Helen & Joey Estate

The grapes of this vineyard were planted in 1996, Pinot gris, Chardonnay, Sauvignon blanc and Semillon for the whites, and Pinot noir, Cabernet sauvignon, Shiraz and Merlot for the red varieties. But the operations began when duo Helen & Joey bought over the vineyard to create palatable yet toasty wines.

Luxurious bottles of opaque matte black glass with labels written in calligraphy make their wine a statement piece. Their Inara range of wines are fruit dominant with only very subtle use of oak, and include Chardonnay, Pinot gris, Rosé, Pinot noir, Shiraz and Cabernet sauvignon.

Their Layla wines are a real expression of what their beautiful vineyard has to offer, the classic Yarra Valley varieties of Chardonnay and Pinot noir. These wines are essentially made in the vineyard with as little intervention in the winery as possible. Their Alena collection of wines have been carefully selected from special parts of vineyard have identified as producing fruit of outstanding quality.