Sidewood Cassandra Blanc de Blancs 2017

A 100% Dijon Chardonnay clone, traditional method Sparkling from the Sidewood estate Oakbank vineyard. Winemaking includes first ferment and 10 months in barrel, 20% new French hogsheads, before second ferment and final disgorgement after 6 years in its own bottle, gathering complex yeast autolysis characters that are a notable complexity in the overall expression here. House-style tonic bitterness as well, which piles on palate depth as the expected aged notes of toasted nuts fill out classic Chardonnay citrus flavours now developing their own richness with all that time on lees. This is a drink now wine given its overt personality and recommended for Champagne freaks looking for an Australia version to satisfy their cravings.

Tony Love

Journalist at Winepilot

Tony is best known for his 10 years as News Corp’s National Wine Writer, with weekly columns in major metropolitan mastheads throughout Australia including The Adelaide Advertiser, The Sydney Daily Telegraph and the Melbourne Herald Sun. He continues to write feature articles and columns for all the major Australian wine media publications. Tony has also worked as a restaurant reviewer, section editor, book editor, digital content provider, journalism teacher and was named Wine Communicators of Australia 2018 Legend of the Vine (SA). Find out more about Tony at tonylove.com.au

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