JOSEPH Sparkling Red NV McLaren Vale 750ml

There is nothing else quite like this in the wine world, and that is not an exaggeration anyone needs to soften. Sparkling red — sparkling Shiraz, sparkling Burgundy as it was once called — is a genuinely Australian invention, a style that, as one Australian wine reviewer put it, "nobody other than us puts bubbles into big, rich, complex red wines" for. And within that uniquely Australian category, JOSEPH Sparkling Red occupies a position close to the absolute summit. James Halliday, Australia's most authoritative wine voice, calls it simply "one of Australia's treasures" — a wine that "sells out very quickly after release."

What makes JOSEPH specifically extraordinary is the blend itself: a master stock built from components spanning six decades, a treasure-trove solera of old Australian wine, including, by reputation, splashes of epic Australian fortified "port" material and even a measure of old Grange folded into the mix over the years. The current vintage of young McLaren Vale Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Shiraz provides the punch and the power; the decades-deep solera reserve provides everything else — the complexity, the savory depth, the sense that you are tasting Australian wine history compressed into a single glass. Tyson Stelzer, writing for The Australian Sparkling Report, called it "the depth and complexity on parade here reflect all of the nuanced history of its grand recipe spanning six decades of components... an inimitable benchmark that everyone must experience."

After traditional bottle fermentation, the wine rests on yeast lees for eighteen months before hand disgorgement, then is carefully liqueured with a blend of aged Australian fortified wines to achieve a savory style with genuinely perfect balance. Nick Ryan, writing in December 2024, awarded it 96 points: "the apogee of Australia's most idiosyncratic wine style... fruit mince pies and old leather, dark chocolate and decadent spice. A glorious weirdo of the wine world." Andrew Graham of The Australian Wine Review calls it, without hesitation, "my forever Xmas wine." Joe and Dina Grilli's Italian heritage and their willingness to push boundaries built this entire stable of deeply personal wines — and JOSEPH Sparkling Red is the one that has become, for Christmas tables across Australia, completely irreplaceable.

Origins & Craftsmanship

JOSEPH Sparkling Red is produced by Primo Estate, the family winery Joe and Dina Grilli built in McLaren Vale and Clarendon, South Australia, with winemaking facilities at their Virginia vineyard. The Grilli family's Italian heritage and Joe's training at South Australia's legendary Roseworthy College — where he graduated Dux of his class in 1979 — combined with a genuine willingness to push winemaking boundaries, has produced one of the most distinctive and most internationally admired wine programs in the country.

Sparkling red itself is a genuinely Australian style, with origins traced by some historians to Australian soldiers returning from the Western Front after World War One, possibly attempting to recreate the rosé Champagne they'd encountered while on leave in France. JOSEPH Sparkling Red takes that tradition and builds it into something extraordinary: a solera-style blend incorporating components of aged Australian reds spanning the past fifty to sixty years, with museum vintages reportedly dating back to the 1960s. The current release's base is young McLaren Vale Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Shiraz, selected specifically for the punch and power these varieties bring to balance the deep, complex character of the decades-old solera reserve.

The wine undergoes traditional fermentation in the bottle, then rests on yeast lees for eighteen months before hand disgorgement — a meticulous, labor-intensive process consistent with the most serious traditional-method sparkling wine production anywhere in the world, applied here to a red wine rather than the white or rosé base typical of Champagne and its imitators. Following disgorgement, the wine is carefully liqueured with a blend of aged Australian fortified wines, a dosage approach calibrated specifically to achieve a savory style with perfect balance rather than simple sweetness.

Critics Reviews

Nick Ryan — 96 Points (December 2024):
"This is the apogee of Australia's most idiosyncratic wine style: nobody other than us puts bubbles into big, rich, complex red wines and Joe Grilli has long been acknowledged as the master of the fizzy dark arts. Fruit mince pies and old leather, dark chocolate and decadent spice. A glorious weirdo of the wine world."

James Halliday / Halliday Wine Companion:
"Sells out very quickly after release... One of Australia's treasures."

Tyson Stelzer, The Australian Sparkling Report:
"The depth and complexity on parade here reflect all of the nuanced history of its grand recipe spanning six decades of components. The result utterly transcends any list of descriptors that could possibly be conceived, laced together with super fine tannins and generous yet perfectly judged dosage. An inimitable benchmark that everyone must experience."

Andrew Graham, The Australian Wine Review:
"My forever Xmas wine... The Primo Estate Joseph Sparkling Red is the genre of red fizz that we should be celebrating, too. It's a master stock of a wine, that couples the punch and power of young McLaren Vale Cabernet, Merlot and Shiraz with a treasure-trove solera of old Aussie wine things."

Nick Butler (confirmed extended tasting note):
"Garnet with tawny edges — very Euro. Dried roses, bitumen, firm oak, concentrated and ripe fruit, fragrant. It's powerful and built to unfurl over the next decade. Time in the glass releases latent tannins. Excellent wine."

CellarTracker community (confirmed):
"Colour is dark cardinal, brooding. Nose is of roast meats, charcuterie, plum sauce; very funky but with primary plum fruit. Palate is rich, very intense and long, the front dominated by the meat elements from the nose, the after taste is more fruit driven... reminds me of the bass notes and mid-range of Crozes-Hermitage meets the brighter notes of McLaren Vale."

Tasting Profile

Nose
Dark cardinal, brooding color — the decades-deep solera blend's most immediately visible signature. Roast meats, charcuterie, and plum sauce lead, very funky but anchored by primary plum fruit. Dried roses, bitumen, and firm oak add complexity from the aged components, alongside leather, spice, and cedar. Fruit mince pies, old leather, and decadent spice round out a nose that, as multiple critics note, defies any complete list of descriptors.

Palate
Rich, intense, and long, with meat-driven savory elements dominating the front palate before giving way to a more fruit-driven aftertaste. Dark chocolate and concentrated, ripe fruit carry real richness, balanced by the carefully judged dosage of aged Australian fortified wine. Super-fine tannins — a genuinely unusual quality for any sparkling wine — run through the texture, with sweetness present but never excessive.

Finish
Powerful and built to unfurl, with notable tannins lingering well after the sip — "sparkling wine ain't meant to have these," as one reviewer put it admiringly. Licorice, fruit cake, and the distinctive brickdust character of old South Australian reds carry the close. Time in the glass releases latent tannins and reveals further complexity, confirming this is a wine built for unhurried drinking rather than a quick toast.

Quick Overview

Food Pairings

• Christmas ham and roast turkey — the producer's and reviewers' near-universal recommendation
• Roast beef
• Charcuterie boards
• Dark chocolate desserts
• Grilled steak — as an unconventional aperitif while cooking