Daosa Picadilly Valley Late Disgorged Blanc de Blancs 2018

Like it or not, many consumers will look at the price and tell themselves that this needs to be as good as a very fine champagne, if they are going to spend this sort of money. Understandable. Fortunately, this really is an exceptional sparkler. 100% Chardonnay from the Bizot Vineyard in the Piccadilly Valley, this is under the Diam closure. The initial fermentation was in older 600-litre barrels, where it remained for a further eight months, during which the wine underwent malolactic fermentation. Subsequently, the wine spent a further 88 months on lees before disgorgement. Burnished pale gold, this is an elegant and refined sparkling wine. The nose offers aromas of hazelnuts, honeycomb, stone fruits and citrus with a touch of green apples. Crystalline, this is bright, concentrated, well balanced and with good length. A wine of focus and persistence, there is a hint of pineapple emerging towards the finish. It should provide pleasure for at least the next three or five years. Whether it is worth the money is inevitably up to the individual, but what we can be certain of is that this is classic Australian sparkler and one that should be experienced if at all possible.

Ken Gargett

Contributor at Winepilot

Ken was born and bred in Brisbane, Queensland. He had a non-trendy, perfectly happy childhood, in a family convinced alcohol meant instant condemnation to Hades. But a break fishing on the Great Barrier Reef, and some good wine, started a serious obsession that eventually took over. It did not stop Ken being chastised later for drinking Pol champagne, disgusted he’d drink anything made by a Cambodian dictator. Now, Ken mostly writes on wine, champagne and spirits for various newspapers, magazines and books, but is perhaps best known for his work in The Courier Mail. He also has a little sideline writing on cigars, fishing, travel and food. When not writing, fly-fishing for trout in NZ or bonefish on the flats of Cuba, travelling or smoking cigars, he is no doubt following a variety of sporting teams – the occasionally glorious Queensland Reds rugby, the dysfunctional Washington Redskins, the dodgy Arsenal and especially revels in the world restored to its proper axis with the return of the Ashes to their rightful home.

Wine writer and critic