One of the most ambitious projects in Australian wine is now officially open. Count Frederic Chandon de Briailles, Chairman of France’s largest Champagne producer Moet et Chandon, performed the honours at Domaine Chandon Australia, in Victoria’s famous Yarra Valley wine region. Facing the same restrictions on future growth as all the other Champagne producers, Moet et Chandon have taken a similar approach to Piper-Heidsieck, Deutz and Louis Roederer, who have developed successful overseas ventures in sparkling wine. Their first offshore operation, Domaine Chandon California, was established in the Napa Valley in 1973 and its success has prompted the further expansion now seen in Australia. Aside from its obvious attractions to the tourist and visitor, the winery complex Moet have built, which will include a first-class tasting room and restaurant, is classically simple and practical. A split-level affair, like the great cellars of Champagne themselves, it allows great versatility in operations and a logical throughflow of processes, from the ‘wet’ areas of crushing and pressing to the carefully monitored regions of riddling and maturation. Domaine Chandon Australia will eventually arrive at a stable of four wines all sold at the same price; a Cuvee Brut (1), a Cuvee Chardonnay (2), a Cuvee Pinot Noir (3) and a Cuvee Rose Brut (4). Of these, the Cuvee Brut will be available in the greatest quantity, for it is the company’s flagship. The varietal wines will be made 100% from their variety, although the rose may well turn out to be a blend like the Cuvee Brut. Other special releases may become available from time to time. Because Domaine Chandon will use a high percentage of reserve wine from previous vintages in their blends, the company has evolved a numbering system for its releases which may be useful to know. Their wine is numbered according to the year of the major component of the blend, with an additional number reflecting its style, as presented above. For example, the most exciting wine disgorged to date, the Cuvee Pinot Noir 87-3, is primarily but not entirely from the 1987 vintage. The number 3 indicates that it is made from pinot noir. Moet’s worldwide style and philosophy is to make a complex wine with a soft finish. Although I have found their first two releases somewhat lacking in structure and lenth, I am quick to concede that it takes time to arrive at the level of quality that Tony Jordan, Managing Director of Domaine Chandon Australia, is seeking. The third release, however, is another story. The Cuvee Pinot Noir 87-3 is an excellent wine, with richness, flavour and complexity resultant from a sensitive marriage of fruit, yeast and maturation characteristics. It should develop superbly in the bottle and become a benchmark for Domaine Chandon. This wine leads me to expect and look forward to some truly outstanding sparkling wines, made with the traditional methode champenoise technique, from this $12.5M project in the Yarra Valley.
