House of Arras: Ed Carr’s Tasmanian playground

Ed Carr is a gifted winemaker, and his domain of Tasmania is not unlike Champagne. So how does he work his magic?

Supplied Editorial Halliday wine

Hand of man or hand of God? Is it the winemaker or the terroir that determines the character of a wine? Or its quality?

The late Bordeaux wine entrepreneur Peter Sichel had no doubt: character is determined by terroir, quality (largely) by man. The makers of both still and sparkling wine have to make the critical decision of when to pick the grapes and then look into the future – the myriad decisions that will transform the juice into alcohol.

But for the makers of sparkling wine, the journey has barely begun. They must then assemble a three-dimensional jigsaw puzzle with innumerable individual wines – 400 in the case of non-vintage Bollinger. Next comes the formulation of the liqueur de tirage, a mixture of wine, yeast and sugar that will be added to initiate the second fermentation in bottle. The longer the period on tirage, the greater the change in the texture and flavour of the wine will be through the breakdown of dead yeast cells.

So to the House of Arras and its gifted winemaker Ed Carr. His domain of Tasmania is not unlike Champagne, and has five unofficial subregions (among others) from which the Arras grapes (chardonnay and pinot noir) are sourced.

He has far fewer pieces of jigsaw pieces to play with, but when it comes to the time on tirage he more than holds his own. Research in Champagne suggests it may continue for up to 20 years, but only a handful go past 10 years. When and if there’s a release of Bollinger’s 1996 RD and/or 1988 RD, Arras will have to yield gracefully, but its 20th anniversary 1998 EJ Carr Late Disgorged is a wine of extraordinary complexity. When I asked Carr whether he had foreseen its future back in 1998, he simply laughed and said, “No way”. But there are plans for future releases of slightly younger vintages already in the pipeline, and who knows what may come further down the track?

2005 House of Arras Rosé

A blend of 75% pinot noir and 25% chardonnay grown in the Lower Derwent, Coal River Valley and Upper Derwent. Salmon-bronze hued, it has grip and length, and a tapestry of flavours encompassing strawberries, spice and truffles. Over six years on tirage, and over six months on cork (which Carr believes is invaluable). 12.5% alc, cork. 96 points; drink to 2018; $80

2006 House of Arras Grand Vintage

A blend of 67% chardonnay and 33% pinot noir sourced from the Derwent Valley and east coast. On tirage for more than seven years, it has the ultra-fine bead that only comes with such age; the complex bouquet of toast and nougat leads into a palate with exceptional structure and freshness, the latter derived partly from the use of some new oak. 12.5% alc, cork. 96 points; drink to 2018; $70

1998 House of Arras EJ Carr Late Disgorged

The last 300 bottles were disgorged in May 2015, the acidity of 7.4g/l driving the dosage of 8.3g/l. Often late disgorged wines need little or no dosage; the superb balance and brightness of this wine simply proves that great wine can’t be made by numbers. 12.5% alc, cork. 97 points; drink to 2018; $300