Putting the Bubbles in The Wine Versus Putting the Bubbles in the Bottle

Apart from the quality of the wine itself, what most people are looking for in champagne or sparkling wine is – you guessed it –  bubbles. It’s the sparkle that makes a celebration and the sensation of tiny bubbles bursting in the mouth that’s part of the tasting experience. 

There are two ways of achieving this. In wines made using the traditional champagne-making process, a secondary fermentation with added yeast puts bubble into the bottle. But Peter Cap feels that the more modern approach, that of using a carbonation process, produces a better result. 

“Putting the bubbles into the wine rather than putting them into the bottle means that the wine remains infused with bubbles down to the very last drop,” he explains. “Putting bubbles into the bottle using the Champagne-making method means that on opening, the bubbles rapidly rise to the top leaving the wine far less bubbly than it would have been had carbonation been used instead.”

Look for the Frothy Mousse

To demonstrate his point, Peter pours a glass of his own Manor Estate Sparkling Shiraz, a winning wine which was awarded an excellent rating during blind tasting by an internationally renowned panel of experts at Wine Enthusiast. 

He points to the froth of violet foam topping the wine. “That frothy mousse is one of the things we love most about our sparkling wine – but looking at the wine itself, you can see that there are still bubbles – lots of them. That’s what you get when you carbonate wine to produce a bubbly and it’s something that you won’t see in champagne which typically has fewer and smaller bubbles after being opened. By the time you reach the bottom of the bottle, there are hardly any bubbles to speak of.”

Deciding Which is Better Depends on What Pleases a Person

Despite the world-class reputation of Manor Estate wines, Peter is no rigid wine-snob. “People can tell you what you ought to think, but what really matters is what you think. Some people may be up in arms when the opinion that a good Aussie sparkling wine is better than French champagne is shared. But that’s an opinion. Test it yourself. Make it a fair contest by choosing a really good Aussie sparkling wine like our Sparkling Shiraz or Sparkling Brut. Decide whether you agree. If you don’t, that’s fine too.”

Manor estate offers wine events, a romantic wedding venue and luxury accommodation in McLaren Vale. For more information, or join their wine club, visit the Manor Estate Wines website or call their team of experts on (08) 8383 7300.

Syndicated by Baxton Media, The Market Influencers, Your Digital Marketing Agency.

The US marketing drive, headed by Peter and daughter Sharleen was already well underway when Manor Estate applied for assistance through Wine Australia’s US Market Entry program. It’s not every winery that makes it through the selection process. Only a handful wins the organisation’s support. After all, Wine Australia promises its US contacts access to some of Australia’s most exciting brands, and it’s an accolade that isn’t easily earned.

Only 15 wineries are selected for the program, and apart from offering a superior product, the program’s beneficiaries must show a well-developed strategy that demonstrates readiness to invest in US market entry. With generations-old wineries competing for the benefits Wine Australia’s support offers to the select few, Manor Estate was a new kid on the block and, to many, it was a surprise choice in the final selection of program beneficiaries.

Read: McLaren Vale Winery Secrets Wine Club Wines Tasting Events Australian Winemakers

More than Just a Name: Manor Estate Produces Great Wine

Although the Manor Estate name may not be widely known, Peter and his family always believed that the wine itself would do the talking. “That’s fine when you’re talking to New York’s gourmets. They taste it, they like it, and that’s all it takes to secure a deal,” says Peter. However, Manor Estate was less sure about Wine Australia selection. The competition was stiff and included more established wineries – and in many instances, the wines they produce were already known to Peter and his family.

“As a wine-lover, you can’t help but be aware that you’re up against some of the wine producers you’ve admired in the past,” says Peter. “It was uncertain whether Manor Estate would be just another face in the crowd despite its export readiness and the quality of its wines.”

Wine Australia, on the other hand, was duly impressed. The organisation’s listing of Manor Estate observes that the winery has “Some of the best wines the McLaren Vale region has to offer,” and highlights the glowing reviews that Manor Estate Wines Brut achieved in ratings by the internationally respected Wine Enthusiast magazine.

Ready, Willing, and Already Making Progress

Exporting wine to the USA isn’t just a matter of packing an order and getting it shipped. It’s a complex market with regulatory requirements differing from state to state. But Manor Estate was not only geared up and ready to go, it had already begun making inroads into the US market. With a little help from Wine Australia’s mentors and network of contacts, it could and would do so much more.

“It was hard work just getting people to taste Manor Estate wines at first,” says daughter Sharleen, now living and working in the US at the helm of Manor Estate’s US operations. “But being selected by Wine Australia gave us the credibility to be more than just another face in the crowd. There is no doubt whatsoever that winning Wine Australia’s support fast-tracked Manor Estate’s progress in breaking into US markets as a producer of premium wines.”

It’s clear that Wine Australia is as happy with its choice of the Manor Estate brand as the estate’s owners are with being chosen to benefit from the boost into the US market that Wine Australia offers. The organisation notes that although Manor Estate is “first generation,” it is already “forging a path to become a multi-generational icon.”

Read: Sparkling Brut Wines McLaren Vale Winery Accommodation Functions Weddings Events

Quality, Determination, Plus Business Acumen a Winning Combination

Peter concedes that the quality of his estate’s wines alone was not sufficient to earn recognition from Wine Australia as an “exciting new brand” for the organisation to promote in the US. “There is no doubt that quality played a key role,” he says, “but Wine Australia saw that Manor Estate was already making an independent effort to break into the US market, and it noticed that we were already achieving much despite having to go it alone at the outset. From packaging to logistics, Manor Estate had everything it needed to succeed and with Wine Australia to back it up, that success would be assured.”

Manor estate offers wine events and luxury accommodation in McLaren Vale. For more information, or to buy wine online, or join their wine club, visit the Manor Estate Wines website or call their team of experts on (08) 8383 7300.

Syndicated by Baxton Media, The Market Influencers, Your Digital Marketing Agency.