You cannot escape the spectre of Champagne in any discussion on sparkling wine, which is compared to and benchmarked by Champagne. And the highest possible praise you can ascribe to a sparkling wine is to reference your favourite Champagne.
Tasting Eminence’s two sparkling wines, the first – all chardonnay, and the second from 60% pinot noir and 40% pinot meunier, I was struck by their ravishing purity and finessed exuberance, and all from a wine region that is the highest in Victoria, 12kms long and has just over 400 acres under vine. By contrast, Champagne is 300kms from north to south, has 85,000 acres of vineyard and produces around 300 million bottles every year.
Eminence is a grower of grapes, their vineyard rooted at 841m, the highest in Victoria. Loamy soils ensure drainage, and great heat retention, but also water and nutrient capacity. Marginal in the extreme and very wet, I like to think that it’s at these extremes, any extreme to be sure, where many great and distinct wines are made. The sparkling here is essentially from a single vineyard, so philosophically they are closer to grower Champagnes ,and not the regional blends of the big houses.
Let’s just think about that comparison to grower Champagne for a moment. Established reputation, demand, markets, logistics, process and know-how, combined with what is usually inherited vineyards and infrastructure to create the world’s most exorbitantly priced sparkling wines. Many of the most famous examples fetishize their sites, taking them to extremes that make for interesting wine geek conversations, but their price and the extremism of style make for searing, painful, unaffordable and unbalanced drinking.
The sparkling’s of Eminence are made simply. Handpicked, whole bunch pressed to neutral barrels where they complete primary, and in some cases with malolactic fermentation. Aged in barrel for 11 months, on gross lees before blending and preparation for the second ferment.
The second ferment is of course in bottle and in the case of Assembly Blanc de Blancs and Blanc de Noirs, a number of disgorgements occur. The latest disgorgement of the 2022s was in early 2026, spending four years resting on lees, and they are in an absolute spot of perfection.
Long lees ageing is a bit like long barrel aging; it’s a question of style preference and if the base materials can stand up to the process and improve by it. They are bottled without dosage, a philosophical position taken by the producer to present the wine with as little artifact as possible. I don’t hold to this view myself, dosage if used, is a balancing tool and lengthens the palate, but here it is certainly not required. Ravishing, silky and pure with a clarity, freshness, muscularity and grace.
Grown at 841 metres – Victoria’s highest vineyard – this 100% Chardonnay is elevated in every sense. Beautifully fragrant, the aromas feel almost meticulously arranged in their purity and delineation: lemon, apple strudel, white flowers and ginger, with hints of Victoria plum and cherry.
Fine and silky on the palate, the mousse is soft yet exuberant, woven through with a firm seam of acidity. That brightness initially masks the wine’s depth, but a few gentle swirls reveal layers of white peach, citrus, brioche, fresh apple and orange zest, all held in tension by mineral drive, subtle tannin and a saline twist. Serious, structured and playful in equal measure, it’s as contemplative as you want it to be. Utterly convincing and unforced – one of the finest sparkling Chardonnays at this price point, and well beyond, in Australia.
A 60/40 blend of Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier, this is pure, lifted and quietly powerful. The fruit sits on the darker side – blackberry, gooseberry, plum and wild strawberry – layered with baking spice, biscuit and a savoury hint of baked rosemary. There’s real muscle here, but it’s precisely shaped – chiselled with curve and cut. Exuberant and ravishing, the darker fruit profile somehow reads as fresher, brighter, with greater clarity of structure and volume.
It carries a kind of weightless power: never broad or heavy, just graceful, pure and endlessly drinkable. Like the Blanc de Blancs, it’s compelling on its own, though it comfortably steps up to the table – scotch fillet works beautifully, but porchetta is a particularly memorable match. Unbelievable value. The quality is exceptional.
