The House of Arras is Tasmania's benchmark sparkling house, built on cool-climate Chardonnay and Pinot Noir grown across the Derwent Valley, Coal River Valley and East Coast. Long, cool Tasmanian ripening gives high natural acidity and restrained sugar, the foundation of the traditional-method style. The 2016 Grand Vintage draws Chardonnay-led fruit from these sites, whose sandstone, dolerite and alluvial soils suit slow flavour development. The 2016 season on the island was even and unhurried, allowing the base wines to reach ripeness while holding the fine acid line that underpins the house's long lees-ageing programme.

Hand-picked base wines were whole-bunch pressed and fermented before blending a cuvee of about 65% Chardonnay and 35% Pinot Noir. The wine underwent a second fermentation in bottle by the traditional method and was then matured on lees in tirage for around six years, developing honeyed brioche, grapefruit-pith and gunflint complexity. After disgorgement it was finished with a low dosage of roughly 2 g/L, giving a dry, mineral style with a fine, persistent bead. The extended lees ageing is central to the wine's toasty autolytic character and viscosity.