Mumms the word on Tassie’s sparkling future: French champagne house looks to Tasmania amid local bubble boom

It’s enough to make a Frenchman cringe, but could Tasmania be the next Champagne?

‘We have the most fantastic climate for growing sparkling fruit,’ says Luke Whittle, Kreglinger chief winemaker.

It’s enough to make a Frenchman cringe, but could Tasmania be the next Champagne?

The island is experiencing a bubble boom, with sales of sparkling wine soaring and prestigious French champagne producer Maison Mumm set to announce production of a Tasmanian tipple.

The investment in “Mumm Tasmania”, sourced from the increasingly renowned sparkling region of Pipers River in the state’s northeast, is the latest global recognition of the pinot isle as a leader in fancy fizz.

New figures show Tasmanian sparkling wine exports have risen from $1.3m in 2016-17 to $3.2m in 2021-22.

Domestic off-premise sales have risen sharply, too, from $46m in 2020 to $74m in 2022, with sparkling growing to 37 per cent of wine produced in ­Tasmania.

Tasmanian sparkling wine is growing in popularity, including from Kreglinger Estate, in the Pipers River region.

GH Mumm chef de cave, or chief champagne maker, Laurent Fresnet, who scouted Tasmania in July, told The Australian there was significant scope for further investment in the state.

“We are looking for the opportunity to reveal the special terroir of different areas and I think we have a really nice opportunity to reveal the freshness, intensity and complexity of the pinot noir,” he said.

“Tasmanian wine has a lot of elegance and finesse and energy.”

The famous champagne maker selected wines from vineyards in the Pipers River area, ­believing the climate, which ­creates a longer, delayed ripening, ideal for sparkling.

With expansion impossible in Champagne, he believed Tasmania, where significant new plantings could still occur, was well placed.

“There is a problem of supply because in Champagne we can’t plant any more and we need to find suppliers,” Mr Fresnet said.

“In Tasmania, we can plant a lot more quickly in areas with good soil, terroir and climate, and protect ourselves in the future for supply.”

Mumm is already producing sparking from Marlborough, in New Zealand, and is also looking to Napa Valley, northern California, as well as Tasmania, for its “Mumm Terroir” range.

Award-winning Tasmanian sparkling producer Kreglinger, whose Pipers River vineyards were among those that supplied Mumm, is looking to expand and believes there is considerable room for growth.

“We have the most fantastic climate for growing sparkling fruit, with the profound moderating effect of the surrounding ocean, especially here in Pipers River,” said Luke Whittle, Kreglinger chief winemaker.

Luke Whittle of Kreglinger Estate.

“We get that really nice, long, slow ripening period which means the wines retain a lot of gorgeous acidity, a really nice accumulation and purity of flavours, without becoming overtly ripe or too alcoholic.

“Other terroir factors come into it. A really varied topography in Tasmania, very ancient soils, particularly here in Pipers River rich volcanic ferrosol soils, and purity of the air.

“Tasmanian wine can certainly hold its own and rival champagne at the top end. But we are not Champagne and we are not trying to make champagne. We are making Tasmanian sparkling.”

Wine Tasmania chief executive Sheralee Davies said it was clear the state had become “the undisputed sparkling wine leader in the country”.

”We know Tasmanian sparkling wine rivals the world’s best and expect to see more interest from around the globe over the coming years,” she said.