2005 Arras Blanc de Blancs Museum Release, Tasmania

Deep yellow/gold colour; very toasty, dusty dried herbs and flowers to sniff, with side notes of caramel, candied fruits and dried apple. There is a faint seaspray note as well, and a touch of tealeaf among the toast and vanilla too. In the mouth it's rich and full, very dry and appetising, and as a Museum release it tastes as though the dosage was very low or even non-existent. A superb aged blanc de blancs. 

98 points Huon Hooke for The Real Review, December 2023

A beautifully rich, composed expression of Tasmanian chardonnay, light straw with the finest of beads and expressive aromas of apple, lemon, shiitake mushroom broth, exotic spice, shortbread, crushed oyster shell, buttered brioche, dried honey, clotted cream, liminal fino-esque tones, panettone and pressed white flowers. Biscuity and nutty on the palate with the richness of 16 years on lees in full swing and layer upon layer of complex autolysis notes, grilled hazelnuts, mushroom ragu and pastry tones. Still high-tensile with fine acidity and resolute focus before a finish that just keeps unraveling, slowly revealing itself. Superb. Disgorged March '22.

97 points Dave Brookes for Halliday Wine Companion, August 2024

This has shown up extremely well after a whopping 16 years on lees. Full, rich and of real swagger, as a result. The praline, cinnamon, roasted hazelnut, tangerine and peaty, truffle elements that define the finish are as reliant on a welcome swathe of phenolics as much as they are on freshness alone, imparting a bitter savoriness. This is an excellent fizz of composure, power and ample complexity. A little short, to be churlish.

94 points James Suckling, August 2023

The 2005 Arras Blanc de Blancs was made from Chardonnay sourced from vineyards in southern Tasmania’s Derwent, Huon and Coal River Valleys. The base wine parcels were allowed to complete malolactic fermentation before they were assessed, with the best blended for the wine. The bottled and tiraged wine spent sixteen years on lees and was finished with a very low 1.2g/L dosage after disgorgement.

Drinking well on release, this is a complex prestige sparkling wine can be cellared further under ideal conditions.

About this producer

House of Arras is premium sparkling wine producer based in the Pipers River region of Northern Tasmania. Created in 1995 by the brilliant mind of renowned sparkling winemaker Ed Carr, it is one of the crown jewels of its owner Vinarchy, a major international wine company born in 2025 through the merger of Accolade Wines (ex-Hardy’s) and Pernod-Ricard.

With estate vineyards covering 120 hectares, Arras has access to a diverse, rich tapestry of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier fruit from Tasmanian sites ranging from southern Derwent River Valley up to Pipers River in the north. This combination of estate and leased vineyards is complimented with fruit sourced from a well-established, loyal group of contract growers.

That structurally mixed matrix of fruit sourcing has been built over many years to help the house achieve its lofty goals in being poured with the absolute best sparkling wine in the world. The house style relies on substantial reserve-wine archives, and the house is also known for its extensive catalogue of late disgorged wines matured for a decade or more prior to shipping.