Brilliant pale straw yellow, bright and intense, this wine exhibits wonderfully complex aromas of warm pastry and créme caramel with fresh citrus blossom. Displaying great finesse and complexity derived from careful aging in our cellars on yeast for over seven years, the palate entices with characters of roasted almond, brioche and figs. Rich, silky and luscious with a flinty, crisp and dry finish this wine can be enjoyed over the next five years.

Grapes were sourced from a range of the finest cool climate viticultural sites in the southern wine regions of Australia, including the Yarra Valley, Strathbogie Ranges, King Valley, Macedon and southern Tasmania. Soils at these sites vary from free draining sandy loams to aged alluvial loams with high clay content. Vineyards are planted to various densities depending on the soil type, with an average yield between 10 and 12 tonnes per hectare.

The traditional sparkling wine varieties of chardonnay and pinot noir were gently whole berry pressed in individual parcels. The resulting juice was then cold settled in stainless steel tanks for individual fermentation. Select base wines were then inoculated for malolactic fermentation to add greater complexity and balance to the individual base wines and the final blend.
This wine was blended for extended aging so, during assemblage, the winemaking team spent several weeks assessing the individual cuvées to construct the final blend. Cool climate and high altitude sites made up the core components for this amazing wine. This Prestige Cuvée 2002 is comprised of 61% chardonnay and 39% pinot noir. After the secondary fermentation the wine was aged on lees for seven years before riddling and disgorging. A liqueur d’expedition was added to fine tune the balance and structure of the wine, before a further six months of bottle age and subsequent release in January 2010.