Champagne has prevailed through many battles since its birth before the Middle Ages; the French Revolution, two world wars, and the ravages of Phylloxera, to name a few. Add to that a modern-day kind of contest – champagne versus other kinds of sparkling – and you’ll understand where I’m going here.

It’s not that one should be pitched against the other, though some may convince you otherwise. Effervescence aside, there are many discriminators between them; provenance, regulations, and winemaking varies broadly, rendering all exceedingly different in one way or another. Which one is good, better, or best is entirely a matter of preferred taste. 

Champagne may reign supreme for most, but there are worthy alternatives guaranteed to whet the fussiest of palates. Australian sparklings are on the rise and they’re getting better every year. The best combine cool climate Australian terroir with the know-how of champagne winemaking. Tasmania, the Upper Yarra Valley, the Macedon Ranges, and pockets in the Adelaide Hills contribute the high acidity, freshness and purity required to produce sparklings of great finesse and complexity, emulating champagne’s style, albeit with their own local reference. Chardonnay and pinot noir constitute their blends. 

For the most part, Aussie sparklings appear fruitier than champagnes. They’re more pronounced on the nose, riper on the palate, and often have some textural – phenolic – grip. This bolder character distinguishes them from champagne’s more delicate features. 

But if you’re still not persuaded by the merits of Australian sparkling, here’s a handful that may convince you otherwise. 

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Bellebonne Vintage Cuvée
Price: $70
Style: Rich and toasty
Recommended year: 2016

The cool and windy terroir of Tasmania’s Piper’s River provides the backdrop to this sharp and intensely focused sparkling of natural-born purity. The nose is deliciously creamy and toasty and the palate, full and intense, with crunchy red apples and a pang of cherry-like bitterness. It finishes long, with some grip, and a distinct dark honey aftertaste. 

Deviation Road Beltana Blanc de Blancs
Price: $95
Style: Crisp and creamy
Recommended year: 2014

Beltana 2014 has much to live up to, following the much-celebrated 2013 vintage, and it does. This is a stunning Adelaide Hills sparkling wine with a fresh mineral nose, a touch of quince and some lemon tart. On the palate, its exuberant freshness is followed by a creamy wave and a warming undercurrent of fruit toast, then cardamom emulsion. It finishes with its trademark mouth-watering crispness. More please?

Pirie
Price: $40
Style: Focused and mineral
Recommended year: 2013 

If your preference is for something a little more tightly wound, less leesy, and more precise, then this will do the trick. From the northern climes of Tasmania, located in the Tamar Valley, comes this classy little number full of zesty-mineral tension and subtle creamy character. It finishes long and clean, with a lemon-citrus freshness. 

Henskens Rankin Vintage Brut
Price: $90
Style: Bright and toasty
Recommended year: 2011

A multi-regional blend from the best terroirs in Tasmania. Henskens Rankin’s Vintage Brut 2011 (catch it while you can) is a limited offering of just 1,500 bottles. The nose on this glorious sparkling is open and inviting with loads of spicy, floral, and toasty character. The palate is complex, zesty and rich, a broody blend of blood orange and pithiness with roasted nuts. A vinous wine with a long briny and toasty finish.

Arras Blanc de Blancs
Price: $121
Style: Fresh and creamy
Recommended year: 2009

Arras is synonymous with the luxury end of Australia’s sparkling wine world, and with good reason. Their wines consistently rank in the world’s top sparklings, even alongside champagne. This is an immensely pleasing pure-drinking sparkling from Tasmania; radiant, complex, and with an overriding leesy character owing to its staggering eight years on tirage. There’s brioche, almonds and nougat interspersed with delicate white flowers and orange peel. The attack is fresh and assertive, then mouth-filling and creamy. A poised wine that is elegant beyond words, full of finesse, and beautifully balanced. 

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