House of Arras Grand Vintage 2016

• 2016 is the seventeenth release of Arras Grand Vintage; it was essentially the original wine of the Arras range.

• It’s 65% chardonnay, 35% pinot noir.

• Tasmanian sub-regions employed were the Derwent Valley, Coal River Valley and the Tasmania East Coast.

• Dosage for this wine was 2 grams per litre, which is exceptionally low.

• Longer article on Ed Carr and Arras is – here.

• This wine is as good as Australian sparkling wine gets. It’s top-notch in anyone’s language, from anyone’s country.

• RRP is $125.

• Arras Grand Vintage 2016 could be the best Australian sparkling wine ever.

Forget the descriptors and just remember this: this sparkling wine is nuts good. It has spread, it has drive, it has nuance and it just out and out delivers. I love the creamy, leesy, honeyed rush through the grapefruity bite of fruit. I love the notes of strawberry, and crystallised citrus, and grapefruit, mushrooms, croissants and red apples. There’s a creaminess to the texture but it’s fruit flavour, both fresh and secondary, that motors this. I ended up just leaning back, staring out the window and admiring the view as I consumed this wine. As I did, I wondered: is this the best sparkling wine ever made in Australia? It’s definitely in the conversation.

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“When we drink Arras we drink Australian sparkling wine history – fresh, real, alive and magnificent – as it is being made. The House of Arras is the very definition of respected.” – Campbell Mattinson.

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House of Arras has been classified as a Mattinson 10-Star Winery.
Feature article on the House of Arras (Arras Unshackled) can be found here.