Former Hunter winemaker is spreading the Joiy

RULES were meant to be broken, or so the old saying goes. Winemaker Chris Archer certainly thinks so. The Tyrrell’s protégé who gets a kick out of “blending” glasses of wine at restaurants to improve the flavour has gone one step further and blended Australian and New Zealand Riesling grapes to create a consumer-friendly sparkling wine in a 250ml bottle. Archer describes it as “the first Australasian sparkling” and in direct competition with so-called lifestyle drinks.