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Winery
Sophora
Varietal: Champagne Blend
The sparkling wines of Champagne have been revered by wine drinkers for hundreds of years, and even today they maintain their reputation for excellence of flavor and character, and are consistently associated with quality, decadence, and a cause for celebration. Their unique characteristics are partly due to the careful blending of a small number of selected grape varietals, most commonly Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. These grapes, blended in fairly equal quantities, give the wines of Champagne their wonderful flavors and aromas, with the Pinot Noir offering length and backbone, and the Chardonnay varietal giving its acidity and dry, biscuity nature. It isn't unusual to sometimes see Champagne labeled as 'blanc de blanc', meaning it is made using only Chardonnay varietal grapes, or 'blanc de noir', which is made solely with Pinot Noir.
Region: Hawkes Bay
In northern New Zealand, Hawkes Bay has long since been considered something of the birthplace and spiritual home of the country's now enormous and highly successful wine industry. For such a young country, the Hawkes Bay wine industry is relatively ancient, dating back to the mid 19th century, when settlers were first arriving to establish permanent dwellings on the island. Today, the region is regarded as something of an ideal setting for fine, New World style viticulture. The hot climate, low rainfall and moderate humidity help the vintners coax their grapes to full ripeness, and a wide range of grape varietals now flourish in the region's vineyards. However, the Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Riesling grapes have all produced the most successful wines of recent years, alongside a healthy and growing dessert wine industry which is based there.
Country: New Zealand
When it comes to New World wines, few countries can compete with Europe quite as well as New Zealand, where modern techniques and technologies are allowing wineries to get the very best results from the wide range of imported grape varieties which flourish there. The warm, sunny climate coupled with brisk oceanic winds and remarkably fertile volcanic soils produce grapes of exceptional quality, and New Zealand wines are notable for their ability to carry the terroir they are grown on into the bottle. Whilst the Sauvignon Blanc wines are probably the most widely exported and popular to come out of new Zealand, fantastic results have been produced from the Bordeaux style wines made in the Auckland region, and the Pinot Noir wines of Central Otago. These Pinot Noir wines are far more fleshy than their Burgundy counterparts, and are probably best enjoyed when young, and bursting with the fruit flavors they carry so well.