Vibrant and enticing aromas greet the nose with jasmine, warm cashews and zesty citrus. Toasty yeast notes are complemented with classic flint and wet river stone character. In the mouth, crisp green apple and nashi pear freshness from the chardonnay meld seamlessly with yeast autolysis which provides a creamy silkiness that continues throughout. Hints of camomile and brioche along with pinot noir characters of raspberry, spice and pomegranate complete the sensation and complement the refreshing minerality. A wine of great persistence for any occasion.

The grapes for the Tasmanian Cuvée were sourced from the single 20 hectare Tolpuddle vineyard in the Coal River Valley, south-east of Hobart. Planted to pinot noir and chardonnay, the vineyard is influenced by the maritime climate and weather patterns from the Southern Ocean, creating cool night and day time temperatures which allow the grapes to ripen slowly and develop intense and complex flavours. The top soils have a very high sand content whilst the subsoil is dense clay. The vineyard is trained to the standard vertical shoot positioning trellis to minimise the development of phenolics and tannins whilst maintaining vibrancy of flavour, with a yield of approximately six tonnes per hectare.

The fruit for the Tasmanian Cuvée was hand picked at the onset of fruit ripeness (10° to 11.0° baumé) in the cooler parts of the day to preserve quality and ensure minimal colour extraction. The individual parcels of pinot noir and chardonnay were gently pressed and chilled to stainless steel tanks for cold settling. The cuvée juices were racked off lees and transported to Domaine Chandon for wild fermentation, settling and stabilisation before assessment by the winemaking team to select the finest combination based on structure and balance. The final blend is composed of 43% pinot noir and 57% chardonnay. The wine spent over 36 months ageing on yeast and was disgorged in October 2010. After the addition of dosage, each bottle was then rested before release in January 2011.