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2 years ago
It's time to toast home-grown fizz
With English sparkling wine regularly knocking champagne off the top spot at blind tastings, there’s no reason not to drink local this festive season. So join us in raising a glass to the very best English sparkling wine.
Berry Bros. & Rudd English Sparkling Wine by Hambledon
Made exclusively for the St James’s wine merchants by Hambledon in its Hampshire vineyard (incidentally the oldest commercial one in the UK), this was a bronze medal winner at the International Wine Challenge 2020. A bright and creamy drink, with hints of toasted nuts and brioche, it makes an ideal apéritif.
£27.95 per bottle, bbr.com
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Perennially popular, the Classic Reserve NV shows off all the skill of Hattingley Valley‘s head winemaker, Emma Rice (listen to her episode of the Great British Brands podcast here). Pale gold, with long-lasting bubbles, it combines aromas of green apples with creamy nougat, freshly baked brioche and delicate toasted notes from ageing in bottle.
£35 per bottle, hattingleyvalley.com
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This complex sparkling wine is filled a palate of sunshine: honey, almond, pastry and baked apples. It’s the ideal bottle to pop for any celebration.
Nyetimber has special wedding offers for orders of over 60 or 120 bottles, ranging from an engraved magnum to be enjoyed on the day, to tickets to the Nyetimber open day of your choice.
£39.99 per bottle, waitrose.com
Unlike most other English sparkling blends, House Coren, a West Sussex-based vineyard, makes its Boco wine using the Charmat method, whereby the wine undergoes secondary fermentation in a sealed tank rather than a bottle, just like prosecco.
The result is a wine bursting with fruity flavours of peaches and ripe pairs, combined with the classic crispness of grapes grown in England.
£26 per bottle, housecoren.co.uk
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Made exclusively from chardonnay grapes, this 2016 vintage delivers aromas of green apple and citrus, plus notes of buttered toast and Tarte Tatin, all with Gusbourne’s signature minerality. The result is a rich yet delicate sparkling wine.
£65 per bottle, gusbourne.com
An elegant blend of four grape varieties from vineyards in Kent, East Sussex, Essex and Dorset, this non-vintage English sparkling wine is a multi-award winner.
£174 for six bottles, chapeldown.com
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Something a bit different – a vibrant sparkling red wine that can be enjoyed year-round. A berry-filled hedgerow character, with a dry finish.
£29.95 per bottle, camelvalley.com
This light and bubbly English sparkling wine, which hails from Ridgeview’s Sussex vineyard, was served at Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee. It has a light golden colour, with notes of citrus, peach and honey.
£34 per bottle, ridgeview.co.uk
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