2025 Estate Méthode Charmat Sparkling Grenache Rosé

Vintage 2025 in Mudgee was a wild ride—one of extremes, surprises, and no small amount of luck. Despite average rainfall and temperature data suggesting a ‘normal’ year, it was anything but. A wet winter gave way to an early, warm spring and rapid vine growth, only to be followed by the devastating August frost that threatened to wipe out up to two-thirds of the crop. Intensive vineyard work—organic nutrition, shoot- and fruit-thinning—helped rescue quality, just as the season threw more at us: near-miss flooding, hailstorms, and a late cyclone threat during harvest.

The Grenache vines of Block 15 were planted in 2019, at the highest point of the vineyard (514m) on our leanest, sandiest soils, surrounded by huge, ancient gum trees. It’s producing lovely fruit for use in the Nouveau and as a rose. 3.23 tonnes were harvested from Block 15 on the 20th of February 2025 at 11.1 Baumé. This was the first batch of the 2025 vintage.

The fruit was crushed and lightly pressed to retain delicacy and aromatic lift, with minimal phenolic extraction. The clarified juice was cold settled before being racked to a stainless steel fermenter on 24/02. Fermentation proceeded steadily over 10 days, finishing fully dry. The wine was sent away to Petersons Champagne House for secondary fermentation in a pressurised tank. The wine was bottled in late September 2025 at 12.5% alc/vol. classified Brut.Just over 3,000 bottles were produced.

2028