Give Jansz Tasmania Sparkling Wine a go – it’s outstanding!

Jansz Tasmania is a sparkling wine house. They only do sparkling wine and they do it very well. Their grapes are largely from the Pipers Estate area vineyard located in beautiful Northern Tasmania. The owner is Robert Hills Smith, a well-known and respected long term vintner in Australia. For this tasting two of us in our group completed the Estate Wines Tasting. We were facilitated in our tasting by Heather. She was extremely knowledgeable with a great sense of history and humour. This post is to share our wine tasting experience at Jansz.

Background

Currently 1500 ha of land in Tasmania are under vine with the majority being white varietals and the remainder red. Approximately a 55% to 45% split. The focus in Tasmania is really on quality, less so than quantity. Of note, just point one percent (0.1%) of Tasmanian wines are exported worldwide. The focus in Tasmania is on light bodied Pinot Noir’s; grapefruit flavoured Chardonnay’s; structured sparkling wines; and, refined and aromatic Rieslings.

Climate

Tasmania‘s cool maritime climate is the result of being cooled by prevailing winds off southern ocean. 

Jansz Wine Tastings

Jansz Tasmania Vintage Cuvee 2020

Wow! For the first of the four tastings, this was a great entree. Aromas of grapefruit, sweet brioche, and hazelnut. On the palate, again there is grapefruit, and preserved lemon and butter come with the sweet brioche.  Three years ageing on lees in bottle has afforded this cuvee some complexity, and great mouth feel. It is dry, with medium + acidity; a delicate mousse, with medium plus complexity and medium plus finish. This was a very good sparkling wine.

Jansz Tasmania Vintage Rosé 2019

The delicate pink colour of this rose, and the pronounced aromas of rose and strawberry are the first notes of interest in this second tasting. On the palate, strawberry, raspberry, and a candy taste (they mention Turkish delight in their tasting notes!) along with grapefruit. Dry, with high acidity, this Vintage Rose has medium plus body, pronounced flavour, and a medium plus finish. A beautiful, very good sparkling rose.

Jansz Tasmania Single Vineyard Vintage Chardonnay 2019

This is a Blanc de Blanc, so only made with Chardonnay grapes. A quick smell and the aroma is mesmerizing – white flowers, honeysuckle, pear, spice and lemon zest. On the palate, the pear and the lemon zest mingles with another creamy candy texture. This is from the extended time on tirage. Dry, with crisp acidity and a delicate mousse. This blanc de blanc has pronounced flavour, and a pronounced finish – an outstanding sparkling wine.

I may be somewhat biased here, but, I loved it so much I brought a bottle home with me!

Jansz Tasmania Pontos Hills 2018

This sparkling wine is a Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier blend handpicked from one hill – Pontos Hills. This was gently fermented and has some very interesting aromas and flavours due to the blend. The aromas are lemon, grapefruit along with some red berries such as strawberry, blueberry and a hint of smokiness. It was dry with high acidity, medium plus body, medium plus flavour, and a medium plus finish. My tasting notes reveal a good / very good sparkling, albeit a very unique one with very atypical flavours.

We thoroughly enjoyed our tasting at Jansz. Largely encompassed by the Pipers Brook Vineyard, it is still holding its own and we hope it continues to do so. Jansz has recently planted a significant amount of vines south in the East Coast Wine Region and will be cultivating only in that area. Their pursuit of excellence in their sparkling wine is evident, and hopefully we will get to see and sample more of their sparkling in the future!

For more wine tastings check out our wine page on our website!