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.

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“These aren’t hard drinkers. They’re ordinary people who feel the need to create opportunities for celebration and a little self-indulgence,” he says. “Nothing says ‘celebration’ better than a good bubbly.”

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

Proactive Approach Helps ME to More Than its Share of Rising Sales

Peter Cap notes that overall, his winery is seeing greater growth in sparkling wine sales than that reported by various beverage industry associations. The figures vary depending on the part of the world under consideration and the source reporting, but all agree that there’s a rise of anything from 4 to 11 percent in sparkling wine consumption.

Manor Estate is outperforming that, and Peter attributes this to several reasons, including a bit of luck. “Manor Estate was pushing for its share in the US market for boutique wines, and its representatives were celebrating US success just as the lockdowns started,” he says. “It came at a time when the brand was getting a lot of attention from foodies and wine celebrities. Having progressed to that degree, it was difficult to maintain the previous momentum under lockdown, but Manor Estate was no longer the unknown new kid on the block and the demand was there.”

Back home in Australia, locals were enthralled by the Manor Estate success story, further increasing the brand’s sparkling wine sales. “The Australian market wasn’t a priority for ME Wines at the time,” says Peter, “but people wanted to taste the Australian wine that was being served in top New York establishments like the Carnegie Club. The estate’s Wine Club saw rising membership along with increased sales while market awareness was also boosted by a made-for-TV wine documentary filmed on location at the estate.”

Read: Wine Club Membership Quality Wines McLaren Vale Boutique Winery and Distributor

Quality is Key

Skill also had its role to play in Manor Estate’s rising sales curve. Peter says that tastebuds were doing the talking here: “There are a lot of cheap, mass-produced sparkling wines, but Manor Estate stands out from the crowd because its sparkling wines are produced using properly aged wine – the difference this makes lies in the taste.”

For an unbiased confirmation of Peter’s opinion, the world-renowned Wine Enthusiast panel is the first port of call. In blind tasting, Manor Estate’s Sparkling Shiraz and Brut achieved very high ratings. “Producing quality over quantity, will always reap rewards,” says Peter. “ME wines aren’t the cheapest, but though they are exclusive boutique wines, they are affordable and they taste better. You don’t have to be an expert to tell the difference.”

Asked if Manor Estate expects the rising sales trend to continue, Peter doesn’t hesitate: “The worldwide romance with bubbly isn’t going to slow down, and consumers are becoming more informed in their choices, so Manor Estate is well-positioned to continue winning hearts and minds both at home and abroad.”

For more information 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.