A Classic "Bottle Fermented", Brut, "Blanc de Blanc" made from 100% organic Chardonnay and aged on lees in the bottle for seven months. It's just 11.5% alcohol.

Of course we can't call it "Champagne" nowdays but that's what it is by another approved name.

Straw gold in colour with fine, persistent beads of bubbles with a clean apple and peach aroma and a dry taste of granny smith apples. This is a lovely, crisp, celebration wine.
It is sealed with a new invention - a "Pressure Zork." This is an amazing re-sealable plastic "corK". To open it you simply peel it away the spiral pressure ring. You can put the top back on to keep the bubbles in.

We are selling this at the cellar door for $20 a bottle but for you our newsletter customers it's just $100 per six pack plus freight as usual.  Perfect for Christmas parties.

To order on line click here

We had our first experience with bubbles in wine in 2001 when our Semillon of that year accidentally retained some sugar and started fermenting in the bottle. We sold some of it as "Sparkling Summer Wine" but the corks had a tendency to pop so in the end we pulled it off sale and served it at cellar door functions as a kind of party trick.
Ever since then we have been fascinated with the whole sparkling wine process and from time to time have made small batches using various techniques to get the bubbles into the wine.
The first way is simply to pump CO2 into still white wine - to carbonate it in other words. Those old standards of the 1970's such as Barossa Pearl were made that way. We tried it using some Chardonnay and a rechargeable soda siphon. It was pretty ugly.
The second way is to use a pressure tank, capture the bubbles in bulk wine as it ferments and then bottle under pressure. It's cheap, quick and the way most $5-$10 Australian sparklers are made but it's typically a mass production process that uses equipment that we don't have and don't want and, frankly, the wine it makes isn't great.
The third, the best and most expensive way is to ferment the wine in the bottle. This is the genuine "methode champenoise", the method used in Champagne and the method used by Toms Waterhole.
We have been experimenting with this method for three years now because it's a damned complex process and if you don't get all of it exactly right you end up with something really nasty. What's more, the process is expensive, time consuming and financially very risky, but WOW when you get it right..........................

For a full textbook description of the process visit our website page which is dedicated to the subject.
 

Daughter Amanda and Mathew with their two children have just returned to England after a brief visit where Jan enjoyed playing Grannie Jan to our newest grandchild Morty and his big sister Bella.  Anthony and Kylie and kids came up from Canberra for three days so we had an early Christmas dinner whilst all the family were together.

All our efforts are now focussed on organising the Nationals next year when we expect around thirty balloons flying in Canowindra for ten days.

Don't forget Toms Gift Box as a great "foodies" Christmas present fot that hard to buy for family.

We will be closed from Christmas Day until the 2nd January.

Graham and Jan