Right, I have no idea where this one came from, the Punch Punch 48. I suspect that it was leftover from a video Rob and I did a few years ago. Anyway, it seemed like a good thing to try with a style that I think works way better with cigars than ‘straight’ red wines. 

Grand corona sized – ring gauge of 48 (no surprise there) X 140mm. Has the secondary band – the first to receive it, I believe – as a Habanos Specialist release. It certainly was in superb condition when I came to it. Looked a joy. Opened with lovely caramel notes. Good power here. Some woody notes. And then with a hint of chocolate emerging. The flavours were excellent throughout. Unfortunately, the burn raced down one side and it resulted in a bit of a ragged burn throughout. That aside, a lovely cigar. Lingered nicely. Good balance. Liked it a lot. 91.

Matched it with the Seppelt Show Reserve Sparkling Shiraz 2008 and they really worked well together. Flavours melded nicely. And this seems to be a great time to steal (and amend as appropriate) from myself, with this taken from a piece I did on Aussie sparkling reds in general for Quill & Pad. 

This is a bit of a weird style. It has many fans here, but not so many overseas, and yet even here, some do not like it. Aside from being a great cigar match, these Spurgles, as they are sometimes called, are almost de rigueur for the Christmas turkey. Because even though it might be 40C plus in the shade, it is imperative that we maintain the Christmas tradition of a hot lunch on the day. 

Going immediately to the tasting note, before some history, this wine is an Australian icon, only offered in the best vintages, with fruit from the estate only. The wine enjoys a lengthy spell on lees. Inky black/purple. Cashmere plushness. The expected alluring black cherry and Christmas cake notes. Leather, aniseed, black olives, truffles, dark chocolate. There is an appealing umami/beef stock note. Finishes with a wonderful richness. Decadent and delicious. 95. 

But I accept that for most winelovers, the mere thought of sparkling reds is likely to bring forth raised eyebrows and a sad shaking of the head. Examples can be found around the globe but they are usually too sweet, bog average or weird curiosities. A bit of fun, but undeserving of a place amongst serious wines. 

This is the one country where at least some winelovers understand that sparkling reds have a serious history and where they are seen as potentially excellent wines. 

I’ll confess, I am a fan. Love these wines. Not every day, but what would you want to drink every day (okay, a great champagne and you’d have no complaints from me)?

Many years ago, I did an in-depth piece on these wines. Researched high and low, spoke to winemakers, went to original sources, checked history, all for a tiny magazine which disappeared without a trace. No idea if the piece even made it into print and the computer on which it resided was lost long ago. A lot of work wasted.

Fortunately, my very good friend, James Smith, had done something similar for his book, “Bubbles, bottles & colonial bastards: a short history of sparkling wine in Australia 1840-1990”, and he has kindly allowed me to ‘steal’ from it (and we both got lots of info from work by Dr John Wilson from the Clare Valley, so this now has been knicked way too many times). 

The style in Australia was originally known as Sparkling Burgundy and is often still affectionately referred to as ‘Spurgles’, as mentioned, in accordance with our national need to shorten every name. Sparkling wine from Burgundy was far more common, and popular, many decades ago than it is today, although rarely seen downunder. Indeed, for all those who turn their nose up at the very idea of a sparkling red, Hugh Johnson mentions a sparkler made from the famed Romanee-Conti vineyard back in the 1800s, in his ‘The Story of Wine’. Now that is a wine I would have loved to have seen. 

The earliest mention of ‘sparkling Burgundy’ in Australia was in 1878, a wine made by Dr L.L. Smith’s ‘Victorian Champagne Company’. Smith had brought over an expert champagne maker, Auguste D’Argent, to make his wines. Described as ‘rose-coloured’, it is believed to have been made from Pinot Noir, from Smith’s ‘L.L. Vineyard’ at Nunawading. Although information is scarce, it seems that the wine might have been more for fun than any serious effort. Whatever it was, it was not enough to save the ‘Victorian Champagne Company’, which closed its doors in 1884.

It would be a decade before further attempts at a ‘sparkling Burgundy’ were made, through Hans Irvine of Great Western in Victoria and Edmond Mazure of Auldana in South Australia. Mazure was described by one reporter as a ‘vivacious little Gaul’. 

It is believed that Mazure produced the first shiraz-based ‘sparkling Burgundy’ in 1894, at the Auldana winery near Adelaide. Dr Wilson went on record suggesting that this wine was part of the ‘inter-colonial’ rivalry that existed back then. Mazure was attempting to best the Victorians. Not sure that much has changed. 

Mazure did not have access to Pinot Noir, hence the use of Shiraz. These days, Shiraz is the preferred variety for the style, although it seems that you can find examples from every red grape if you look (of course, many of these are small production efforts that sell at the cellar door and which are not exported). It is also worth mentioning that back then, and for many years later until label integrity became an important issue, a great deal of the red which Aussies drank at home was called ‘Burgundy’. It was made from Shiraz or other varieties, and had little in common with the genuine article. There was also a lot of ‘Hermitage’ consumed as well, largely based on Shiraz though they could have been any variety. 

The Auldana vineyard dates back to 1846, established by Patrick Auld, wine merchant. Auld was also a member of one of the more famous Australian expeditions, that of John McDouall Stuart which first crossed Australia from south to north, taking all of 1862 to do so. Auld is a famous name in Australian wine and the current Pat Auld runs the Cumulus Vineyards in Orange. His sons, the sixth generation, have their own wine business.

Mazure was appointed to run Auldana by Sir Josiah Symon, who took possession after Auld’s death in 1886. It is believed that it was at this time that he introduced what would become the traditional Australian style of ‘sparkling Burgundy’. During his tenure, a young man named Hurtle Walker worked with Mazure, joining in 1904 at the age of 14. He moved on to the Romalo Cellars at Magill (Magill is the site of the Penfold's headquarters today) and worked with his son, Norm, making sparklers, including ‘sparkling Burgundy’. Norm became famous for his efforts at the Seaview Winery and Norm’s son, Nick, is part of the excellent Clare Valley operation, O’Leary Walker. They have a sparkler dedicated to Hurtle. Norm Walker apparently sourced much of his base Shiraz from the famous Wendouree vineyards in the Clare Valley. 

This was a time in Australia, before Federation, when competition between the states/colonies was fierce, and this extended to commercial operations within them. Wineries were no exception. 

In Victoria, Great Western had staked its claim as a leading producer of sparkling wines. They had preceded Auldana by around three years. There is a theory that the push by Auldana to provide a sparkling Shiraz was largely their way to distinguish themselves and provide a point of difference. 

Wine shows, just as popular then as now, created new categories to cover this new style of wine and Auldana did very well with their sparkling Shiraz. Hans Irvine at Great Western released his first ‘Sparkling Burgundy’ around ten years after Mazure first released did so. It also did very well in shows, both in Australia and offshore, winning Gold at the 1895 Bordeaux Exhibition (this, allegedly, with a Pinot Noir, although there is a suspicion that it might actually have been Pinot Meunier). 

After Federation (January First, 1901), both wineries aggressively targeted the valuable Sydney market. 

The famous Seppelt family took over Great Western in 1916 and it is believed that sometime after that, they moved to the use of Shiraz. This is not just some bit of historical trivia – the Seppelt’s ‘Sparkling Burgundy’ was crucial to the interest in this style and, subsequently, to its very survival. Before the purchase by Seppelt, another famous name was employed by Hans Irvine as his sparkling winemaker, Leo Buring. Around this time, Minchinbury also emerged. These days, it is seen as very much the cheap and cheerful option but for many years, Minchinbury and Great Western vied for the position as our top fizz. 

By the time of the Great Depression, only Great Western still produced this style and it was not until the 1950s that there was any form of revival. Despite that, the Seppelt Show Sparkling Burgundies from 1944 and 1946 have become legendary wines and on the very rare occasions they appear at auction, attract huge prices. The 1964 and a few others from that decade are similarly revered. These were made by one of this country’s most famous winemakers, Colin Preece. 

Revival might have been a little too rosy a description for the state of this style in the fifties. It was hardly much better than on life support. Basically, Minchinbury, Great Western and Romalo, which made wines for themselves and others. Then in the 70s came a wine which has gone into legend, though not in any good way – Cold Duck. 

Now, if you asked any Aussie under 70, they will have heard of Cold Duck, but they are unlikely to have sampled it. Which I understand is a good thing. They are even less likely to know that the Australian version was based on an American wine. The American version was created in that well-known wine region, Detroit, in the '30s and was based on a recipe which supposedly, in turn, is based on Prince Clemons Wenceslaus of Saxony mixing the leftover dregs from wine bottles with champagne. One would have thought that a prince from Saxony could simply have opened another bottle of wine, or indeed champagne, but perhaps times were tough. The result was originally known, in German, as ‘Kaltes Ende’ meaning ‘cold end’, but somewhere along the line, this morphed into ‘Kalte Ente’, meaning ‘cold duck’ (so I am told). 

Orlando, a highly respected Australian producer, made their version as a sweet sparkling red. Despite being wonderfully popular for a period, few things have damaged the reputation of a wine style quite as extensively. Terrifyingly, they had also registered a series of names for future products – Cold Turkey, Cold Chicken, Cold Gander and Cold Stork – but mercifully, the world was spared. 

Even more fortunately, another cheap and not terribly cheerful effort called ‘Rene Pogel’ didn’t last long (spell it backwards and the less enlightened attitudes of certain winemakers/wineries, at the time, then become appallingly obvious). 

Some years ago, I recall speaking with Ian MacKenzie, the famous winemaker from Seppelt, their chief winemaker from 1983 and subsequently with Southcorp (a former incarnation of Treasury Wine Estates). He was a fan of the style but several decades ago, it was almost extinct. Aside from Great Western, he mentioned that there were only two others making tiny quantities of sparkling red. I'd guess Rockford in the Barossa, was perhaps one and the other likely to be Rumball – Peter Rumball is devoted to the style, making nothing else. 

MacKenzie was actually responsible for releasing many of the old stunners from the 40s and 60s, as they had simply been resting untouched in the Seppelt drives. Supposedly, he found these wines, quietly minding their own business, and tried a few. He was blown away and immediately allocated some of the estate’s very best Shiraz to reviving the style. If you try an old sparkler like this, you’ll find that almost all – sometimes the lot – of the fizz is gone. No foamy explosion. They are like complex mature reds. What you will get is a slight prickle from the carbon dioxide, which will have kept the wine fresh. 

Rumball was trialling these wines by 1983. He released the first under his own name in 1988. As was common, he labelled the early wines as ‘Sparkling Burgundy, but with the incoming regulations, dropped the ‘Burgundy’ and moved to varieties. 

The style enjoyed a burst of popularity some years ago with many wineries offering examples. Most were just available at cellar door but some have entered the mainstream. I'd be surprised if there was a region in Australia which had not produced a sparkling red, some much more successfully than others, and a red variety which has not at least been trialled. Merlot, Chambourcin and Durif are just some of the surprising grapes making this style, though Shiraz from areas like the Barossa and McLaren Vale does dominate. We have even seen sparkling GSM blends. One thing to note is that winemakers seem far happier to use crown seals on these wines than they are with ‘normal’ white sparklers. 

Today, there are some crackers available. The style tends not to be as sweet as in its early days, but there is usually considerable sweetness, usually between 20 and 30 grams/litre. It is just that the best are well balanced with the acidity and the sugar seems to almost disappear. Good ones will exhibit considerable complexity, which often comes from significant quantities of reserve material used in their construction. 

The foaming purple liquid might surprise first-time drinkers, and they may think that these wines are merely frivolous, fun and festive, but producers like Rockford, Primo Estate’s, Charles Melton, Seppelt’s, Zema, Lehmann and more, are serious wines, deserving of the care and attention one would give to any fine wine. The Seppelt will sit around A$100, the Rockford and Joseph a little below, the Melton a touch less again, and the Zema and Lehmann both excellent value. The Rockford, Melton and Lehmann are all Barossa, Seppelt is Great Western in Victoria, the Joseph is multi-regional though McLaren Vale plays a significant role and Zema is Coonawarra. 

KBG