How does one describe the genesis of something so exquisite, hewn from the wild beauty of the Eminence Vineyard atop the Whitlands Plateau? One possible moment with a comparable level of majesty could be the birth of Monkey Magic, surely the greatest introduction to any TV show ever aside from
Star Trek Enterprise:
Primal chaos reigned, Heaven sought order.
But the Phoenix can fly only when its feathers are grown.
The four worlds formed again and yet again,
As endless aeons wheeled and passed.
Time and the pure essences of Heaven,
The moistures of the Earth,
And the powers of the Sun and the Moon
All worked upon a certain rock - old as Creation,
And it magically became fertile.
That first egg was named Thought,
Tathagata Buddha, the Father Buddha,
Said, 'With our thoughts we make the world.'
Elemental forces caused the egg to hatch,
from it then came a stone Monkey.
The nature of Monkey was irrepressible!
With this epicness in mind we have christened this pet nat Chevaucher l'Eclair, or 'Ride the Lightning'. A term from the dystopian masterpiece The Stand by Stephen King ('No one can tell what goes on in between the person you were and the person you become. No one can chart that blue and lonely section of hell. There are no maps of the change. You just come out the other side. Or you don't.') and then commandeered for the title of the greatest thrash album of all time (and second only to Abbey Road in the list of greatest albums of all time), Ride the Lightning, Metallica. Now, here it is in its ultimate iteration, the name of the greatest sparkling wine ever made.
Please enjoy.
Production note
The ferment of Chardonnay (50%) and Pinot Meunier (50%) from the Burder family's Eminence Vineyard is bottled at 13 - 16g residual grape sugar and then left to ferment and bottle condition for 8 months. It is then hand disgorged and topped with barrel fermented chardonnay from the same site.
Tasting note
Aromatics of lemon slice and fruit tingle with a palate of preserved mandarin and lemon with notes of green pistachio and a finish of electric orange sherbet bomb.
