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Bollinger’s Bizot produces Salon equivalent in Australia
Xavier Bizot and Lucy Croser have created a traditional method, single vineyard, vintage, blanc de blancs only brand – in effect, Australia’s equivalent of Champagne Salon.
The Daosa brand logo
Called Daosa, the sparkling wine was released in September this year using Chardonnay from the 2009 harvest, which was grown on the “Bizot Vineyard” in the Piccadilly Valley in the Adelaide Hills.
Just 2,500 bottles have been produced from the single vineyard, which was planted by Xavier’s father, Christian Bizot, formerly chairman of Bollinger, who died in September 2002.
Christian’s involvement in the Piccadilly Valley stems from Bollinger’s investment in Brian Croser’s Petaluma Limited company in 1985, and Xavier has inherited the prized vineyard from his father, which was planted in 1995 and 1996 with Dijon clones 76, 95 and 96.
Xavier, who is married to Brian Croser’s daughter Lucy, and lives in Adelaide, told the drinks business, “I’m not trying to make a Champagne in Australia.”
However, he said he had been inspired to make a sparkling wine by his father-in-law.
“Brian made a blanc de blancs in 1997 and I really liked it, and the Piccadilly Valley produces amazing Chardonnay,” he commented.
The new sparkling wine has a dosage of 5g/l and has spent 39 months on its lees, while the base wine has benefitted from nine months in 10 year-old barriques, according to Xavier.
As for the unusual name, Daosa is a city in India’s Rajasthan, and was used by Christian Bizot as a name for a company he set up to concentrate on investments outside Champagne.
The sparkling wine is currently sold in Australia but Xavier says he plans to bring some bottles into the UK.
Xavier and Lucy also run a small domaine in Wrattonbully called Terre à Terre, which is next door to Brian Croser’s Whalebone Vineyard, the famed source of red grapes for his Tapanappa brand.
Haven’t tried Daosa but note that the sparkling wine trophy winner at the Adelaide Hills Wine Show 2012 was in fact Deviation Road’s Blanc de Blancs.
Not sure the French would see the comparison. Adelaide hills versus Grand Cru Clos de Mesnil.. Current release 1999 versus 2009?
Arguably the rarest of all fine Champagnes, Salon is the legacy of one man: Eugène-Aimé Salon, a Champagne fanatic who devoted his life to creating the quintessential champagne we now know as Salon. Focusing on Chardonnay – in his view the sole grape capable of yielding Champagnes of requisite focus and mineral finesse – Eugène-Aimé Salon scoured the Champagne region for suitable sites, planting his vineyard – the now famous Jardin de Salon – on the deep chalk soils of Le Mesnil, still one of Champagne’s only grand cru villages. One wine, one vineyard, one grape: the apparent simplicity of this formula belies the challenges inherent in creating a wine of Salon’s complexity. It is testament to Eugène-Aimé’s perfectionist vision, that the conditions and traditions he prescribed continue to be upheld in the production of this legendary Champagne, made on average only three times per decade.