DAOSA Piccadilly Valley Blanc de Blancs 2020

A veritable tour de force, year in year out which undoubtedly deserves to be considered among the best Blanc de Blancs in Oz.  There is a purity of Chardonnay expressed here that is delicate and beautiful. Winemaker, Xavier Bizot, wears his heart on his sleeve with this one. His late father, Christian (Champagne Bollinger), helped plant the 550m high vineyard with Brian Croser back in 1995-6. Finely beaded in the glass and fine-edged throughout with a linear brisk line of acidity, it is then built from the ground up in cool climate intensity of citrus. Aromas of white flowers, apple, lemon and biscuit. Spent more than four years on lees in total, in barrel and in bottle. Bright on entry, fills fast with flavour and fine texture mixing pink grapefruit, apple blossom florals, lemon, lemon drop with a light biscuity character finishing nicely with a gentle cashew nut twist. A stunning sparkling.

Jeni Port

Wine critic at Winepilot

Jeni Port is one of Australia’s top wine communicators. Based in Melbourne, Jeni created the first wine column in the (then) Sun News-Pictorial before moving over to The Age and becoming that paper’s longest-serving wine writer. Over the years she has written for most Australian wine magazines and these days calls WinePilot home. She is also a Tasting Panel member on the Halliday Wine Companion. She was named Wine Communicator of the Year and Legend of the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival in 2014 and in 2018 Legend of the Vine. She is a founding board member of Australian Women In Wine and is the co-deputy chair of Australia’s Wine List of the Year Awards and China’s Wine List of the Year Awards.

Wine writer and critic