Sassafras
2025 Sassafras White Ancestral
$48.00
Description
WINEMAKER: Paul Starr & Tammy Braybrook
REGION: Tumbarumba/Canberra District, NSW
VARIETY: Chardonnay, Savagnin
VITICULTURE: Sustainable
Paul Starr and Tammy Braybrook of Sassafras wines don’t have a background in winemaking, don’t come from a great dynasty of respected vintners, and didn’t inherit a chateau to work from. In fact, they came out of I.T jobs in Canberra a decade or so ago, and make wines for the best possible reason: because they love the product.
Within a few years, they were hitting the headlines of the wine world, thanks to their determination to communicate to the public their passion for wines made with the ‘ancestral method’ - a technique which allows a sparkling wine to finish its primary fermentation in the bottle. While this might sound complicated, it’s actually a far more homely, rustic and old fashioned way of making bubbly than the dominant Champagne method - to produce sparkling wines that use only their original grape sugar, with no riddling or disgorgement. With a nod to German lager brewing tradition, the wines slowly finish their fermentation in bottle at low temperatures before being released.
2025 Sassafras White Ancestral
$48.00
SPÖN PICKS
SPÖN Bottle Shop & Wine Bar: Made for Discovery
A 50-seater wine bar; Inspired by the charming, drink-in bottle shops hidden throughout the cobblestone streets of Europe, explore a rotating world of natural, organic, rare & vintage wines, and craft beers sourced from Australia and across the globe.
Born in Newtown
Nestled in the vibrant heart of Newtown – We created SPÖN as a cozy neighbourhood bottle shop and wine bar that feels relaxed, welcoming and distinctly its own. Creative, a little gritty, a little playful and always full of something new & unexpected — just like Newtown.
A bottle shop with a bar problem.
SPÖN - a discovery-led hybrid bottle-shop/Wine bar experience. Browse the shelves, grab a bottle and drink it at the bar — or pull up a stool and explore a daily rotating board of over 15+ distinct wines being poured by the glass. SPÖN is built around drinking what interests you.
Come curious. Leave with a new favourite.
We don’t tell you what to drink. You don’t need to know your varietals, regions or vintages, and you certainly don’t need to pretend you do. Tell us what you like, hate, what you’ve tried or curious about — we’ll take it from there. Sometimes the best bottle is the one you didn’t know you wanted.