Let’s climb up the top of the Australian sparkling mountain with the latest vintage of Xavier Bizot’s textural Adelaide Hills Blanc de Blancs. Occupying that glorious sweet spot where table wine and fizz intersect, this Daosa Blanc de Blancs 2018 is full-tilt fizz. Barrel-fermented, matured for seven months in old oak, and then another three years on lees, it feels like quite a trip down the wine texture journey hole. Custardy, rice custardy even, but with a grapefruit Chardonnay stamp, and that rich-but-citrussy contrast is the real attraction here. It’s a little soft to finish – there isn’t the ‘I’ve been grown on chalk’ acid thrust to finish of megastar BdB Champagne, but still a triumphant wine.

THE VERDICT

• Best drinking: now, but no hurry
• Score (out of 20): 18.5
• Score (out of 100): 94
• Alcohol %: 14.9
• RRP (in $AUD): 92
• Winery website: https://terreaterre.com.au/daosa/
• Would I buy it?: worth a bottle