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Peter Dredge has vaulted Meadowbank’s sparkling programme to great heights in no time. The estate started producing its Blanc de Noirs in 2018, so 2021 marks the fourth release. Dredge tells us Pinot Noir takes on lees characters earlier than Chardonnay, so his Blanc de Noirs will always be released from a more recent vintage than the Blanc de Blancs. The fruit grows on a northeast-facing block with sandy soils over coffee rock on a rolling, five-degree slope in Far Horse Vineyard. The growing season was moderate to cool, paving the way for long, even ripening. Though yields were down, quality was through the roof.
This release was vinified in stainless steel, and Peter Dredge only extracted the cream of the crop, using just 300 litres of juice per tonne in its production (the norm is 500-550 litres). The wine spent three years on lees before disgorgement in late 2024 with 3g/L dosage. Here you get the kind of quality you expect from a vineyard that supplies House of Arras, made by a maverick talent who cut his teeth alongside Australian sparkling-wine doyens Brian Croser and Ed Carr. It’s a beautifully vinous and decadent release, with a generous mouthfeel and classic Meadowbank Pinot Noir characteristics of strawberries and forest fruits balanced by fine acidity and whopping energy. Add in some savoury complexity and great length of flavour, and away we go.