Wines of the Month
2010 Deviation Road Loftia Vintage Brut
Adelaide Hills, South Australia
The brilliance of this Adelaide Hills sparkling wine is not surprising. The vineyard the fruit comes from is cool, with 600 metres elevation, in the premium grape producing Adelaide Hills.
Hamish Laurie's family has been making wine in this region for five generations and he was very involved in his father's highly successful Hillstowe winery in the 1990's, prior to starting his own business, Deviation Road in 1999.
His wife, Kate, did her winemaking study in Champagne and then honed her skills making sparkling wine in the cool southern parts of Western Australia. She joined Hamish in 2000 and the rest, as they say, is history.
This is a seriously good fizz - made from 80% pinot noir and 20% chardonnay, the winemaking echoes the quality laws of Champagne.Everything is done on site from start to finish, which is quite rare in Australian 'methode traditionelle' wines and an added indication of the dedication to quality control of the Lauries.
The wine is aged for a minimum of 18 months on lees - again matching Champagne quality control laws and the result is a wine that has the balance, elegance and acid drive of the highest quality sparkling wine, with the brightness of cool climate Australian fruit that is unique to this country.
With a creamy mousse and aromas and flavours redolent of green apples, white blossom, toasted nuts and a touch of ripe strawberry, this is a delightfully complete mouthful.
Price: $34.00
© Kate McIntyre March 2012
Wine Diva Wines of the Month, April 2012
