Australia has a long history of making sparkling wines and at Great Western you can still visit the winery and vineyards of one of these pioneers Hans William Irvine. Another famous maker was Leo Buring who worked at Minchinbury, though now consumed by Sydney suburbia. History shows these pioneers struggled in the long dark ages which extended into the 1950s before the table wine revival marked the awakening of a curiosity about all things to do with wine.
This led to the planting of more desirable grapes for sparkling wine, such as Chardonnay and Pinot Noir and with this a revival of the high technical skills needed to make fresh exciting wines. It has been a long haul though as this year of record local consumption of French Champagne shows much work remains to convince consumers that great wines are being made. Glug does not make sparkling wine but we find the best we can and these are presented under the Philip Schaffer brand.