New Zealand’s most classy sparkling wines are made by the classic technique called méthode traditionnelle, in which the second, bubble-creating fermentation takes place not in a tank, as with cheaper wines, but in the bottle itself, as in champagne (the real stuff, from the world’s most famous wine region).
During the wine’s lengthy maturation in the bottle (from nine months to several years), the yeast cells gradually decompose, conferring distinctive, bready, yeasty characters on the wine that add greatly to its complexity and richness.
The quality of a fine sparkling wine also reflects the standard of its base wine. Pinot noir and chardonnay, both varieties of pivotal importance in champagne, are the foundation of New Zealand’s top bubblies. Marlborough and Central Otago’s incisive fruit flavours and lively acidity have attracted locally owned producers as well as several overseas-controlled companies.
7th Heaven Central Otago Méthode Traditionnelle 2018
★★★★½
Grown and hand-picked at Bannockburn, this lively wine is worth discovering and is drinking well now. Made from pinot noir, it was bottle-fermented and disgorged after maturing on its yeast lees for more than four years. Still very vigorous, it has deep straw colour with a strong surge of peachy, toasty, yeasty flavours. Crisp and dry, with very good complexity. $42
Allan Scott Cecilia Rosé Méthode Traditionnelle NV
★★★★½
This vivacious wine is a Marlborough blend of mostly estate-grown chardonnay and pinot noir, disgorged after at least 18 months on its yeast lees. Pink/orange, it shows very good intensity and vigour, with strong strawberry, watermelon, peach and spice flavours, and a dryish, lengthy finish. Fine value. $24
Alpha Domus Cumulus Blanc de Blancs Méthode Traditionnelle NV
★★★★½
A stimulating aperitif, this distinctive wine was estate-grown and hand-picked from mature chardonnay vines in the Bridge Pā Triangle, Hawke’s Bay. Fresh and vigorous, it has good intensity of citrusy, peachy flavours, biscuity and yeasty notes adding complexity, lively acidity and a bone-dry finish. $30
Church Road Hawke’s Bay Blanc de Blancs Méthode Traditionnelle 2017
★★★★½
This elegant wine is based on chardonnay, hand-picked in a cool, coastal vineyard. Aromatic, it is vigorous and tightly structured, with very good intensity of citrusy, yeasty, complex flavours. Crisp, basically dry and lingering. $40
Clos Henri Vineyard Chapel Block Blanc de Noirs 2019
★★★★★
This highly distinctive wine is from a single block of estate-grown Marlborough pinot noir. After its secondary fermentation in the bottle, the wine is matured on its yeast lees and then disgorged a few hundred bottles at a time (so inevitably there will be some bottle variation.) Pale-pink/orange, it is highly fragrant, with intense peachy, spicy, yeasty, complex flavours. Vigorous, dry and persistent. Certified organic. (13% alc/vol) $45
Cloudy Bay Pelorus NV
★★★★★
“Designed as an aperitif”, Cloudy Bay’s Marlborough bubbly is a chardonnay-dominant style with 30% pinot noir. The base wines were fermented and aged in tanks, large oak vats and small oak barrels, and the bottle-fermented blend was matured for at least two years on its yeast lees before it was disgorged. Pale straw, the sample I tasted has a fresh, biscuity bouquet. Very lively, it floats smoothly across the palate, with citrusy, peachy, biscuity, gently yeasty flavours, Crisp, complex and very harmonious. $35-$38
Cloudy Bay Pelorus Rosé NV
★★★★★
This classy, non-vintage wine is a blend of pinot noir (mostly) and chardonnay, hand-picked, partly fermented in oak vats and barrels, and disgorged after at least two years maturing on its yeast lees. Bright pink, it is vivacious and complex. A refined, vigorous wine, it has strong, fresh strawberry, watermelon and spice flavours, with a basically dry, yeasty, long finish. $38-$45
Dancing Petrel Sparkles 2023
★★★★
Estate-grown at Paewhenua Island, in the Far North, this distinctive bubbly is from hand-harvested viognier grapes. Fresh and full-bodied, it has strong, lively, peachy flavours, gentle yeasty, biscuity notes, balanced acidity and a dryish, smooth finish. (13.2% alc/vol) $25
Daniel Le Brun Méthode Traditionnelle Rosé NV
★★★★★
This bright, light-pink, non-vintage wine is made from pinot noir grapes hand-picked in the Wairau Valley, Marlborough. The sample wine I tasted is intense and finely poised, with strawberry, watermelon and spice flavours, yeasty, complex and lasting. A delicious, very harmonious wine, it offers fine value. $30
Esses Kaikōura Reconnection Méthode Traditionnelle 2018
★★★★★
From 20-year-old vines, this vivacious, finely balanced sparkling is a blend of pinot noir and chardonnay, estate-grown in North Canterbury, and disgorged after more than 42 months of maturation on its yeast lees. Bright-yellow/green, it is rich and racy, with concentrated, peachy, citrusy, yeasty flavours showing excellent harmony and length. Well worth discovering. $59
Forrest Brigid Méthode Traditionnelle NV
★★★★★
This classy, highly distinctive blanc de blancs was made solely from chardonnay, grown in Waitaki Valley. Bright, light-yellow/green, it is strikingly vigorous and intense, with searching, lemony, slightly appley flavours, subtle yeasty notes adding complexity, lively acidity and a dry, lasting finish. $45
Hunter’s MiruMiru Reserve 2018
★★★★★
This classy Marlborough blend of pinot noir (62%), chardonnay (35%) and a splash of pinot meunier (3%) was disgorged after maturing for more than four years on its yeast lees. Bright, light-yellow/green, with a fragrant, yeasty bouquet, it is peachy, toasty and complex, in a crisp, strongly flavoured style with loads of personality. $40
Johanneshof Cellars Emmi Marlborough Méthode Traditionnelle Brut 2011
★★★★★
This impressive blend of pinot noir and chardonnay was hand-picked and disgorged after at least nine years on its yeast lees. Still on sale, it has a straw/light-gold hue and a fragrant, yeasty bouquet. A highly distinctive, mature wine, it is vigorous and concentrated, with citrusy, peachy, yeasty flavours, biscuity, toasty, nutty notes adding complexity, and a crisp, dry, sustained finish. $49
Lake Chalice Sparkling Rosé NV
★★★★
Very fresh and lively, this finely balanced, non-vintage wine was made from pinot noir. Pale-pink, it is refreshing, with peachy, slightly spicy, gently yeasty flavours and a crisp, dry, lingering finish. $25
LV by Louis Vavasour Marlborough Méthode Traditionnelle NV
★★★★½
This non-vintage blend of pinot noir and chardonnay is fragrant, lively and lingering. Bright, light-yellow/green, it has citrusy, peachy, yeasty, biscuity flavours showing excellent depth and complexity, appetising acidity, and a basically dry, smooth finish. $59
Mission Fête Hand Harvested Cuvée NV
★★★★
Fête is French for “party”. This attractive wine was made from Hawke’s Bay pinot gris and chardonnay, given some maturation in oak barrels, and handled by the “Charmat” method, which involves a secondary, bubble-inducing fermentation in a sealed tank. Bright-lemon/green, it is a moderately complex style, with good depth of fresh, lively, peachy, citrusy flavours, and an off-dry, crisp finish. $22
Mumm Central Otago Blanc de Noirs NV
★★★★★
Salmon pink, this refined, non-vintage wine is from hand-harvested pinot noir grapes, grown in Central Otago and handled with some use of indigenous yeasts and barrel fermentation. It has strong, vigorous, peachy, strawberryish flavours, finely balanced yeasty and biscuity notes adding complexity, and a tightly structured, basically dry, lingering finish. (From a collaboration between champagne house GH Mumm and Pernod Ricard NZ). $60
Nautilus Cuvée Marlborough Brut NV
★★★★★
This classic Marlborough bubbly is made from pinot noir (mostly) and chardonnay, blended with older reserve stocks held in old oak barriques. The latest batch, bottled in October 2019, was disgorged from its yeast lees in July 2023. Pale straw, with a fragrant, yeasty, complex bouquet, it is refined, with intense, peachy, biscuity, complex flavours, crisp, vigorous, harmonious and long. $35-$43
Nautilus Cuvée Marlborough Vintage Rosé 2020
★★★★★
This stylish sparkling was made entirely from pinot noir, bottle-fermented and disgorged after two-and-a-half years ageing on its yeast lees. Light-pink, it is finely balanced, crisp and lively, with very vigorous strawberry, watermelon and spice flavours showing excellent complexity and harmony, and a dry, persistent finish. $49
No 1 Reserve Blanc de Blancs Marlborough Méthode Traditionnelle NV
★★★★★
This classy, vigorous, non-vintage wine is made from chardonnay and given “long-term ageing on lees”. Light straw, it is a full-bodied, impressively rich and complex wine, with deep, peachy, toasty flavours and a dry, yeasty, lasting finish. $97
Palliser Estate The Griffin Martinborough Méthode Traditionnelle 2020
★★★★½
Full of youthful drive, this racy, bottle-fermented blend of pinot noir (50%) and chardonnay (50%) was matured for three years on its yeast lees. Pale-straw in hue, it is scented and vigorous, with very good intensity of citrusy, peachy, biscuity flavours, enlivened with mouth-watering acidity. $48-$54
Pink Bubbles 2022
★★★★
From Untitled Wines, based in West Auckland, this is very easy, characterful drinking. Bright-pink, it is fresh and vibrantly fruity, with strong, berryish flavours, hints of strawberries and watermelon, gentle yeasty notes and a dryish, finely balanced finish. $25
Quartz Reef Méthode Traditionnelle Brut NV
★★★★★
This increasingly champagne-like, non-vintage bubbly is estate-grown at Bendigo, Central Otago, and lees-aged for at least two years. The latest batch is a blend of pinot noir (76%) and chardonnay (24%). Light straw, with a fragrant, yeasty bouquet, it is crisp and lively, with excellent intensity of peachy, yeasty, biscuity flavours, showing impressive complexity, and a smooth, almost fully dry, long finish. Certified organic. $33-$40
Rock Ferry Marlborough Brut Pinot Blanc 2020
★★★★½
Estate-grown at Rapaura, this distinctive wine was hand-picked and disgorged after 18 months on its yeast lees. Light-lemon/green, it is crisp and lively, with strong, peachy, citrusy, gently yeasty flavours showing good complexity, and a crisp, fully dry finish. (13.5% alc/vol) $35
Saint Clair Dawn NV
★★★★½
This very lively blend of Marlborough chardonnay (63%) and pinot noir (37%) was grown at Rapaura. Disgorged after more than 30 months on its yeast lees, it is aromatic, with strong, vigorous, citrusy, gently yeasty and biscuity flavours showing good complexity and a crisp, dry finish. $65
★★★★½
This stylish Marlborough blend of pinot noir (52%) and chardonnay (48%) was estate-grown in the Waihopai Valley, bottled and aged on its yeast lees for two years, then disgorged in late 2022. Very fresh and lively, it has penetrating, citrusy, gently yeasty and biscuity flavours showing good complexity, and a crisp, unusually dry finish. $35-$44
Thiénot x Penfolds Champagne Brut Rosé NV
★★★★★
This very classy bubbly is from a collaboration between Penfolds, famous for Australian reds, and the champagne house of Thiénot. Salmon pink with a hint of orange, it has an enticing, yeasty, highly fragrant bouquet. Vivacious, with intense peach, strawberry, watermelon and spice flavours, dry, complex and lasting, it’s a memorable mouthful. $120
Tiki Hariata Méthode Traditionnelle NV
★★★★½
Fragrant and vigorous, this non-vintage wine is a Marlborough blend of chardonnay, pinot noir and pinot meunier. Pale straw, it has strong personality, with generous, citrusy, peachy, gently yeasty and toasty flavours showing very good complexity, and a crisp, harmonious finish. $45
Tohu Rewa Blanc de Blancs Méthode Traditionnelle 2016
★★★★★
This impressive Marlborough wine was made from hand-picked chardonnay and disgorged after 4½ years of ageing on its yeast lees. Bright, light-yellow/green, it is fragrant, vigorous and tight-knit, with intense, citrusy, appley flavours, crisp, unusually dry and highly persistent. $32-$45
Urlar Gladstone Rosé Brut 2022
★★★★
Finely balanced for early enjoyment, this characterful wine was made from pinot noir, using the Charmat method. Bright, light-pink, it is full-bodied, very fresh and lively, with peach, strawberry and spice flavours, gentle yeastiness adding complexity, and an off-dry, appetisingly crisp finish. $30-$35
Verde NV
★★★★½
Offering great value, this non-vintage wine is a Gisborne blend of chardonnay and pinot noir, bottle-fermented and aged on its yeast lees for more than 18 months. Light-yellow/green with a fragrant, yeasty bouquet, it has strong, lively, peachy, citrusy, biscuity flavours showing excellent complexity, considerable maturity, and a sliver of sweetness balanced by fresh acidity. (From Lion.) $17-$20
Villa Maria Sparkling Cuvée Brut NV
★★★½
This vivacious, non-vintage bubbly is a blend of chardonnay (mostly) and pinot noir, grown in Gisborne and Hawke’s Bay. Pale straw, it has very good depth of citrusy, peachy, gently yeasty flavours, showing some complexity, and a crisp, dry finish. Good value. $16-$20
Whitehaven The Daughters Pinot Noir Rosé Marlborough Méthode Traditionnelle 2019
★★★★★
This complex, single-vineyard wine, based on hand-picked pinot noir, was disgorged after 26 months on its yeast lees. Pale pink, it is full-bodied, with very vigorous strawberry and spice flavours, a hint of oranges, yeasty notes adding excellent complexity and a finely balanced, crisp, basically dry finish. $45-$50
All wines are 11.5-12.5% alc/vol, unless stated otherwise.
