Pirie, the Tasmanian sparkling wine you need for Christmas

Picture this: it’s one fine day in December, the sun is beaming on a gorgeous Melbourne day, you’ve fashioned a splendid charcuterie board and rounded up a circle of friends to toast surviving the horror that was 2020. All you need is a celebratory sparkling to kick this shindig into gear. Enter Pirie, the Tasmanian sparkling wine that is perfect for the festive season.

The ‘brother brand’ to Tamar Ridge, Pirie is one of Tasmania’s great original producers of premium sparkling, embodying all that world-class, cool-climate wine that is unique to the great island state. The range of wines are made traditionally, with handpicked Chardonnay and Pinot Noir grapes from Pirie’s vineyard in the Tamar Valley.

Elegant, bougie and smooth, the Pirie sparkling range includes the Sparkling NV ($32), the Sparkling Vintage 2013 ($40) and the Sparkling Vintage Rosé 2016 ($48). The Rosé was our favourite; we popped the bottle and relished every drop of the silky, light wine. Our hot tip is to pair it with seafood (our lived experience was a plate of sashimi, very nice indeed) or a serving of pavlova, the popular Christmas Day staple.

The Sparkling NV is a vibrant, full-flavoured sparkling packed with an aromatic lift and relatively high fruit intensity. Pirie winemaker Tom Wallace recommends pairing this with a seafood dish, preferably freshly shucked Australian oysters, with or without a squeeze of lemon. And the don, the Sparkling Vintage, is a zesty cuvée boasting a creamy complexity.

If you haven’t heard of Pirie, you may not be aware that the range of bubbly has a slew of awards behind it and is regarded as Australia’s most awarded non-vintage sparkling. This year, more than ever, it is important to support Australian producers, so ditch the French champagne and Italian Prosecco for something more local. Make Pirie sparkling wines the mainstay of the silly season. They are the perfect Christmas gift for colleagues, mates or a family member, and are ideal alongside any summer dish.

Order online here or head to your local Dan Murphy’s store.

Pirie
1A Waldhorn Drive, Rosevears Tasmania 7277
tamarridge.com.au/pirie