The only way you could truly judge the festiveness of the occasion, would be to look at how the event was kicked off... if my dad started the accompanying wines with a
My mum and her mum before her absolutely love the stuff, and although it now has to have the relatively boring name of Sparkling Red rather than the more exotic sounding Sparkling Burgundy or Cold Duck (you can Google/Wiki why we can no longer use these names rather than me adding the details to this page... but, long story short it suffered the same fate as French Champagne) we are die hard fans and like oaked Chardonnay we never have and never will turn our backs on this delicious drop.
If you aren't familiar with Sparkling Reds, like Sparkling Whites there can be a huge variation in styles and interpretations. We love our Sparkling Reds dry and matured in oak. Here are our shortlisted favourites should you be looking for inspiration :)
Mainstream
2011 Seppelt Silverband Grampians Sparkling Shiraz $21
2010 Seppelt Original Sparkling Shiraz $19
Off the Beaten Track (but well worth the travel)
NV Ringer Reef Sparkling Merlot $28
2006 Thalgara Sparkling Shiraz $30
NV The Willows Vineyard The Doctor Sparkling Shiraz $30
Very Special Occasion
NV Primo Estate Joseph Sparkling Red $63
... I haven't had the honour of being able to taste this (yet!) but it comes highly recommended, so feel it would be remiss not to add reference to it on this page :)
NV Turkey Flat Barossa Valley Sparkling Shiraz $40