Created to rival the wines of Champagne, Clover Hill blends the finest traditions of this famous region with its own distinguished Tasmanian style. Using only the traditional varieties of Champagne – Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier – Clover Hill produces its sparkling wines in the traditional Méthode Champenoise. Clover Hill is able to craft wines of pedigree due to its ideal location in North Eastern Tasmania, the superior quality of its cool-climate fruit and the intimate attention to detail given by its dedicated winemakers.
The Three Pillars of Clover Hill
CLIMATE. SOIL. GEOGRAPHY
The Clover Hill Pipers River vineyard site capitalises on three natural assets – a cool maritime climate, ancient volcanic soils and a sheltered amphitheatre. This 66-hectare property, overlooking Bass Strait, has mild autumn temperatures that range between a maximum of 25 and a minimum of 10 degrees Celsius. This makes for a long ripening season allowing superior flavour development, low sugar levels and high natural acidity: the perfect combination for super premium sparkling wine.
This vineyard also has very high density plantings with row orientations following the contours of the site while maximising sunlight interception. Significant emphasis is placed on canopy management at Clover Hill with an effort to produce the perfect vine balance and therefore the highest quality of fruit. The vineyard is dry grown, relying on natural rainfall throughout the growing season.
CHARDONNAY. PINOT NOIR. PINOT MEUNIER
Clover Hill is acknowledged as one of Australia’s finest sparkling wine producers. The site is ideally suited to growing the “classic trinity” of traditional sparkling varietals. Clover Hill’s commitment to excellence has been recognised with numerous accolades received from its inaugural vintage to today.
Clover Hill’s first vintage in 1991 consisted solely of Chardonnay from the vineyard’s first plantings. This sophisticated and elegant vintage laid the foundation for the unmistakable flavours and structure that is now the core of the Clover Hill’s sparkling house style. With the success of this Blanc de Blancs wine, Clover Hill diversified its plantings to produce classic sparkling blends comprised of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier.
OUR MV FUNDAMENTALS
This is a story of complexity in our base wines. Across vintages we use four different techniques to hold reserve wines, which gives the winemakers more creative freedom, resulting in more expressive wines. This reserve wine approach preserves freshness and character and provides our winemaking team with the ultimate conditions to deliver our house style consistently, each and every year.
This multi-vintage approach will transition across the entire portfolio over the next three to four years, with individual wines expressing their own unique character.
Ultimately, we want to share the optimal beauty, elegance and complexity of sparkling wines with those who choose to discover them.
What a wine, one of power and finesse, complexity and purity… Brilliant stuff