Meadowbank Blanc de Blancs 2019

The Meadowbank sparkling program is in full swing, and this 2019 Blanc de Blancs―the fourth release―is some of Peter Dredge’s finest work. That’s saying something, considering this winemaker’s pedigree when it comes to wines of an effervescent nature. The source is the same as the first three iterations: the Far Horse Vineyard block, located close to the vines used for Meadowbank Chardonnay. While the latter are exposed to the north, the Blanc de Blancs parcel faces south in a slightly cooler mesoclimate. The clone is I10V1.

2019 was a dry, moderate year on the Derwent, delivering intensely flavoured Chardonnay with glisteningly fresh natural acidity. The fruit was picked by hand and pressed as bunches, with just the first two-thirds of the juice siphoned off to old barrels for fermentation over three months. As is the norm, Dredge washed one new barrel with the sparkling base this year. After three months in oak, the wine was bottled and spent the following five years on lees before disgorgement with just 3g/L dosage. It’s another fine, elegant, detailed wine from the sparkling maestro. Given the price of Champagne at the moment, Pete’s proposition looks like an absolute steal!