Howard Park Jeté Premier Brut NV

It has toasty complexity, as in some toasted brioche with butter, and all the refreshing flavours of lemon and zest with spine-tingling acidity. Plenty of creamy mousse, fine bead and enough class to serve at a fancy dinner party or enjoy in the backyard simply because you can.

Medium yellow, bright colour. Complex smoky, toasty and rubbery notes with roasted hazelnut chiming in. It’s rich and full in the mouth, soft and balanced, superbly harmonious and long, with beautiful texture and completeness. Absolutely nails a serious but accessible NV style.

This excellent sparkling wine made from South-West chardonnay provides a perfect illustration of how successful Howard Park’s investment in sparkling wine has been. This is a complete wine that retains a freshness and purity…Excellent wine.

A creamy, nicely complex sparkling with aromas of pears, apples, pastries, honey and praline. Fine, integrated bubbles and bright acidity. All in balance.

Vibrant mousse and persistent bead, looks the goods in the glass. Lifted, fragrant aromas of just-ripe stone fruit, lemon rind and toast. Flavours are rich and focused, toasty brioche, citrus and a creamy mouth-feel, smart length, dry and complex.

Aromas of ripe lemon, lemon zest, white peach skin, wet rock, seaspray, seaweed, and sourdough make for a complex opening. The palate has a good architectural appeal, showing a backbone of Pinot Noir influence. Strawberry, pink grapefruit, preserved lemon, with toastiness in support. All of this before a structural finish carrying the preserved lemon bitterness long. This punches above its price point thanks to solid complexity, structure and length.

Fortunately, here in Australia, we’re blessed with high quality sparkling wines that offer much better value. And there are plenty to choose from. At my place, guests are often treated to Howard Park Jeté sparkling, which sells for around $40 a bottle. I love its creamy citrus and bakery notes, and the racy acidity that leaves a crisp Granny Smith finish.

A fine galaxy of excited, fast moving bubbles. Honeyed tones over nougat, brioche and cherry Danish (even with the white icing). A little sea spray saltiness over citrus with dusty chalk and watermelon juice, pickle brine and blonde oak. Well layered, with structural complexity vying for the attention over focused crisp fruit. Chalky grip around narrow eyed intensity and a bright, crisp tail with plenty of fruit powering through.

Lovely oyster shell and lemon bath salts, white dried florals and lavender. Lemon salinity. White pith. Chalky. It’s a lovely wine with fine phenolics and delicacy. Sourdough autolytic notes are not too fierce but toasty and have a dry, mineral finish. Bit of tart shell too, and lime zest on palate. Dried herbs and a succulent nature to it. Refreshing and mid-length. Lots to enjoy, though not the most complex wine. Kaffir lime finish and succulence. It has a heavier mid-palate; it’s not as light as you first think. Lovely crushed granite finish. Talc and minerality. Little spice, too, but firmly in the sea brine, lemon pith realm. Aperitif style. Good fruit at it’s core too. Bright, lifted, with a steely, green apple finish. Tasty.

This has an elegance and a softness, in a context of length. It has texture but at heart it’s a fine-boned style. It tastes of grapefruit pulp and lemon, oyster shells and lees, a subtle strawberried note evident as much through the aftertaste as anything.

This is a step up from the regular blanc de blanc NV, with deeper complexity. Aromas of preserved lemon, nectarine, oyster shell, sable biscuit and orchard fruits. The palate is mid-weighted and textural with a generous mouthfeel and finely beaded mousse that leads into a fruit-driven yet autolytic and refined finish. This is a fine bottle of fizz that is becoming more refined with each release. Great value.

Pale colour. Attractively complex, lightly toasty, roasted almond, marzipan, lemon curd aromas with creamy notes. Sweet lemon curd, grapefruit, marzipan flavours, some light tonic water, toasty notes, attractive creamy bubbles and fresh quartz acidity. Finishes minerally and long. Lovely complexity and persistency.

Lemon sherbet, cream and apple. Not much in the way of yeasty aromas, especially considered the lees age, but the balance and drinkability are there.

Good depth and restraint on display. Red apple flesh, sweet Meyer lemon, brioche, toast and a creamy element sit at the core. With air, citrus blossom emerges, adding lift alongside subtle almond cream and a touch of sea-spray salinity. The palate has pleasing texture and a fine bead, matched by a clean cut of vibrant fruit — ripe lemon, red apple and a flicker of strawberry — with toast and brioche dancing around the edges. Saline, bright acidity brings freshness and length through the finish. A well-made wine at the price, with good flesh on the bones.

Tight and fast bead, persistent bubbles. Gentle stone fruit, almond croissant, sliced nougat, roast chicken skin brine, grapefruit pith, shortbread, freeze dried raspberries, pink chalk and white blossoms. Mousse is filling and a little raw. Savoury style, with fine and tight acid drive. Dry and chalky finish. Fine value.