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Coward and Black Vineyards win bronze at Decanter for blanc de blancs champagne

Warren HatelyAugusta Margaret River Times
Coward and Black Vineyards general manager Ann McCormack and cellar door manager Tee Muscat with their winning 2018 Blanc de Blancs.
Camera IconCoward and Black Vineyards general manager Ann McCormack and cellar door manager Tee Muscat with their winning 2018 Blanc de Blancs. Credit: Supplied

Decanter’s latest accolades for the Margaret River wine region have extended to its sparkling whites, with a Wilyabrup producer hailed for creating one of the world’s top champagnes.

Coward and Black Vineyards operator Patrick Coward said the bronze medal win at the recent World Wine Awards in London hoisted the vineyard’s 2018 Wilyabrup Blanc de Blancs into the same level as “some of the world’s most iconic French champagnes”.

“It has to be said that Margaret River is not widely known for its sparkling wine,” Coward said.

“Howard Park did well a couple of years ago. Most of the sparklings in Margaret River are pinot noir, chardonnay blends, or other varieties like chenin blanc etc.

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“There are fewer than 10 wineries in the Margaret River region producing a blanc de blancs from 100 per cent chardonnay.

“It’s the 100 per cent chardonnay sparkling wine that we think has a great future.”

The bronze at London was shared with Moet and Chandon’s Imperial Brut, Pommery’s Royal Grand Cru Brut and Tattinger’s Reserve Brut, as well as Perrier-Jouet’s famed La Belle Epoch.

In a record field of 1269 sparkling white wines, 445 were from France’s famed Champagne region.

The winery’s blanc de blancs was the only sparkling wine from WA to win at this year’s Decanter, and orders for the $65 wine tripled overnight.

“We’re incredibly honoured to be in such illustrious company,” Coward told the Times.

“For our first-ever crack at a sparkling wine to be judged to be in the same league as some of the world’s great champagnes is astonishing.”

The vineyard was established in 2001 by Coward and friend Martin Black on famed Tom Cullity Drive.

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