- Wine: Clover Hill Cuvée Foudre
- Variety: Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier
- Price: $50
- Find it: From the winery direct
- Region: Tamar Valley, Tasmania
- Body: Medium
- Mouthfeel: Crisp
- Taste: Crisp, toasty, complex
- Flavours: Lemon, honey, buttered toast
- Enjoy it with: Celebrations
- Food pairing: Seafood, cheese platter
The Clover Hill Cuvée Foudre is the newest addition to the Clover Hill Wines lineup and is sure to make waves. It has complex notes of lemon, pear, honey and toast along with a crisp and refreshing finish. This wine is perfect for the silly season and would also make a great gift. Enjoy on its own, with seafood or a cheese platter.
Have you tried a Foudre before? I certainly hadn’t. In fact, I didn’t even know what it was. So when Clover Hill Wines sent me their latest range of Sparkling Wines to try and it included their newest addition to their range, the Clover Hill Cuvée Foudre, you best believe it was first on my list to pop open!
Foudre is a style of Sparkling Wine where the Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier are each pressed separately and aged in large French oak foudres before secondary fermentation in the bottle. This creates unique flavours in the wine that you don’t get in other Sparkling Wines.
I’m a long time fan of Clover Hill Wines and so I was very excited to try a new wine from their collection. We visited their incredible cellar door when we were in Tasmania on our honeymoon. It was such a beautiful experience, and now I have the wines to reminisce with! Coming into the silly season they are going to be perfect for celebrations of all kinds!
About Clover Hill
Clover Hills Wines was established in a former dairy farm in northeast Tasmania in 1986. The Goelet family were on the hunt for a site where they could produce world-class sparkling wine to rival the Champagne region. The site they chose was the perfect location for producing Méthode Traditionnelle sparkling wine.
Since their first vintage in 1991, Clover Hill has gained a great reputation for quality, elegance, finesse and the distinguished Tasmanian style of their wines. Their attention to detail and care in producing wines has meant their Sparkling Wines are some of the most awarded and well regarded, with numerous awards to approve is including being inducted into the Australian Sparkling Hall of Honour.
The Clover Hill Cuvée Exceptionnelle Blanc de Blancs 2014 is produced when Clover Hill has an exceptionally high-quality Chardonnay vintage with abundant winter and sprint rainfall followed by a mild yet sunny ripening season. In 2014 the growing season was extended allowing the fruit to ripen to its full potential. The wine was then made using the traditional method, and these bottles were aged on lees for a minimum of five years to produce an outstanding Sparkling Wine.
What I loved about the Clover Hill Cuvée Foudre
The Clover Hill Cuvée Foudre is Chardonnay dominant with 88% of the wine using Chardonnay grapes. The wine was matured for an average of 18 months in the French oak foudres and had a further 14 months on lees – so it is ready to go when it gets to you!
What I love about this wine was the complexity. It has a citrus zip from lemon notes of crunchy pear. But the Foudre maturation gives notes of roasted nuts, buttered toast and honey. This wine has a great concentration of fruit flavours balanced out by a crisp acidity at the finish, making it super refreshing. It has texture and complexity whilst still having a lovely refreshing finish. I loved unpacking this Sparkling wine sip after sip – it was such a fun wine to enjoy. Each sip brought something different to savour.
What to enjoy it with
The Clover Hill Cuvée Foudre is the perfect wine for celebrations. Now we’re heading into the silly season, I can see this winemaking a great addition to a get together with friends or family, or as part of the Christmas wine lineup. It would also make a great gift for that special someone.
I think this wine would be great with or without food. If you want to pair it with food, I think it would be great with seafood such as oysters or salmon. It would also be beautiful with starters or an antipasti board with creamy cheeses. Otherwise, simply enjoy it on its own and soak in those beautiful flavours.
In summary: Clover Hill Cuvée Foudre
The Clover Hill Cuvée Foudre is truly a wonderful wine that offers something unique and new for Clover Hill Wines. The flavours in this sparkling are complex and perfectly balanced with beautiful toasty notes. Perfect as a gift for a special someone, or for celebrating the end of the year, this wine is sure to bring joy over the silly season!
Find out more about this wine at the Clover Hill website.
Note: I was sent this wine as a sample. I was under no obligation to post about it.