South Australia may boast some of the best wines in the southern hemisphere, but there are a handful of winemakers who are bringing the best know-how from Champagne, France, to create elevated local wines. Xavier Bizot is a Champenois and member of the esteemed family that owns Bollinger. Xavier Bizot has an uncommon pedigree. Some of his best memories as a child were of Australians, who were friends of the family, visiting the Maison where they would serve beautiful lunches and open old bottles of wine.
Xavier never forged a career in the Champagne trade but instead became a lawyer in Paris. Later, they launched Daosa, showcasing classically blended sparkling wines built on pinot noir and chardonnay fruit with a fine bead and age-earned complexity.
Under both brands Xavier achieved his dream of bringing a French mindset and Champagne approach to his South Australian wines. The Piccadilly Valley is cool, has different altitudes and aspects. We are working with different blocks and blending options. With the winemaking , tirage can occur over six to eight months and we keep reserves in magnums.
The idea of using old oak, as a way of storing reserves, is one of them, but so too is using magnums, for which Bollinger is famous. And it has paid off. Daosa sparklings are very good, rich and delicious with good finesse and freshness. They carry the local footprint of the Adelaide Hills within the framework of the best methods from Champagne.
The vineyard blend is important. Peta Baverstock launched her first cuvee in It was a Year 12 chemistry assignment to study fermentation that had Limestone Coast winemaker, Peta Baverstock, intrigued from the beginning of her young adult life.
