English Wine

There is a lot good to say about English wine, its often better than you think it is... but you have to be careful about what you choose and where from. My favourites are Nyetimber, Sharpham, Chapel Down, Camel Valley and Ridgeview. The best of English is sparkling (or Espa as I call it). I had Nyetimber at my wedding, which was a great choice for something different, less alienating than Champagne and has more oomph than prosecco. Try the Classic Cuvee.

About 18 months ago a friend took me to Highdown Estate for a tour of the vineyard and a tasting afterwards. Unfortunately they don't make sparkling so we tried their white, rose and red wines instead. It's a shame that all the wines we tried that year (it was a particularly bad year for sunshine hours, so less ripening of grapes),  which meant less flavour complexity, and high acidity. I had confidence in the winemaker, so bought a not-available (i.e. kept for sale to family members and friends only) bottle of Albert's Reserve Pinot Noir. It was suggested in hush tones that I lay it down for a year to allow the fruit to develop. I did so by placing it at the back of my wine store, and opened it 18 months later. I think I left it too long.

My tasting notes are below, and the right flavours are there for a good pinot noir, but it was past its best and had quite a watery consistency. My suggestion would be to support your local vineyards and try their wines, but be careful about opening them at the right time (try a year after harvest). If you're not a risk-taker,  my suggestion would be to stick to the bigger names (above) and get to know the sparklings. There really are some great English wines, but you have to be willing to experiment. I have two Sharphams in my cupboard, a white and a rose, and I can't wait until the sun is next out to get tasting those. I'll let you know how I get on!

Albert's Reserve Highdown Estate Pinot Noir (can't remember price)
Ruby colour with low intensity.
Low intensity on the nose, clean, with a hay and barnyard aroma.
Low acidity, low tanning, medium alcohol.
Flavours of water - quite a watery consistency and low intensity flavours.
Raspberry, cranberry, damp, wet soil, mushrooms still in the ground, supermarket strawberries.
Would guess it is inexpensive (it wasn't), and past its best.

Quite a shame, its my fault, and would be willing to give it another go... that is, if they sold this to the public at the time it was ready to drink. Not sure I'd be willing to wait another 18 months!

The difference between Champagne and other sparkling wines

The main difference is where its from, but also the grape varieties used, and the method by which bubbles are put into the wine.

Champagne is from Reims (pronounced "Rams" but with a rolling 'R' and silent 'm' and 's') and Epernay in Northern France, and can only be labelled as such if its from the AC region. Only three grape varieties are permitted to be used in Champagne: Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier,and Chardonnay. The Pinot Noir adds structure and weight to the wine, Cardonnay brings finesse and elegance, and the Pinot Meunier provides the fruit. A 'Blanc de Blancs' is a Champagne made only from Chardonnay (white) grapes, and a 'Blanc de Noirs' is only made from the black grapes (Pinot Noir and Meunier). Even though red grapes are used for making Champagne, it is white because the skins are removed before pressing. It is very important not to break the skins while picking the grapes, so must be picked by hand which adds to the cost of the wine. Champagnes is the only AOC in France that allows mixing red and white wine to make rose (rather than maceration of red skins in the fermentation process. Champagne is dry with high acidity, medium body, and light alcohol. Its character is green and citrus fruit, which can be accompanied by autolytic flavours (biscuit and toast). 'Cuvee' will mean the house blend, which will taste the same year on year and comes from a mixture of grapes from a mixture of years, whereas 'Vintage' will mean all the grapes come from the same year and will only be produced in very good years. Vintages 2002 and 2007, particularly the former, should be bought now.

The Champagne Method (for a bottle to be labelled 'Champagne' it has to be done this way) is a double fermentation in the bottle, where the second fermentation follows disgorging (where the yeast from the first fermentation is removed by freezing the neck of the bottle, opening it and allowing the pressure of the CO2 to pop out the yeast) and dosage (topping up the bottle with wine and sugar). Other regions, such as Cava, use this method but must call it the Traditional or Classic method.

Cava is found in North-East Spain and uses local Spanish grapes and uses the Traditional Method. Cava has lower acidity than Champagne, because it comes from a warmer climate, so can taste a bit musty with its neutral fruit and sometimes pear flavours.

Cremant also uses the Traditional Method, but comes from Saumur in the Loire valley and is made from Chenin Blanc grapes. Cremant tastes very similar to Champagne and is a great alternative for getting the autolytic flavours (toast, biscuit) that Champagne is known for. It too has high acidity and green and citrus fruit flavours.

The Tank Method is used for making Prosecco, Asti and Sekt. Here, after the first fermentation, the base wine is sealed in a tank under pressure and dissolved CO2 causes the wine to bubble when opened. This method produces a more fruity sparkling wine.

Prosecco comes from North-East Italy and uses the Glera grape. It has medium body, is dry or off-dry and has stone fruit flavours. The best Prosecco comes from Conegliano-Valdobbiadene DOCG. 'Spumante' means it is fully sparkling and 'Frizzante' means lightly sparkling.

Asti DOCG comes from Piemonte in Italy and uses the Muscat grape. This is a sweet wine with light body and peach and rose flavours. Asti is fully sparkling, but Moscato d'Asti has a light sparkle.

Sekt is the German word for sparkling wine. It is simple and inexpensive. Its character is medium-dry or dry, with light body and s floral and fruity.

English Sparkling wine can be very similar to Champagne, because they use the same grape varieties, and the grapes experience the same climate and soil conditions as in Reims. This is a growing industry with Nyetimber (my favourite), Chapel Down and Ridgeview being the biggest production houses. These houses are very protective of their wine, and Nyetimber didn't produce any 2012 vintage because the wine wasn't good enough. I'm pretty sure they must have sold their wine to other producers though, I'd guess to supermarkets, otherwise it'd be a waste and increase the price of their other vintages considerably.

You can also get sparkling wine in other regions of the world, with Australia producing a lot (French Champagne is too expensive to import), and they even experiment with Sparkling red wine, like a sparkling Shiraz, which can be sweet, but some producers make their dry, giving an interesting alternative to sparkling white and rose.

My advice is to try them all, see what characteristics you prefer and then go on taste rather than reputation. Let's not be snobby, lets just drink wine we like. My pick is Espa, always a winner and I'm helping the UK wine industry to grow.

Please drink responsibly!

CHAMPAGNE!!

I thought I would shout it from the rooftops, because lately the most traffic my blog has had was linked to Champagne. I reckon people are looking for tips for NYE.

Ten green bottles sitting on the wall...

The safest way to go is to choose one of the main Champagne houses: Moet & Chandon, Lanson, Mumm, Piper Heidsieck... or I prefer Taittinger, Veuve Cliquot or Bollinger. You could either go for a Classic Cuvee ("house blend") or Blanc de Blancs (Chardonnay grape only). Vintage will be particularly good years where the house has been able to veer away from the Classic Cuvee, so should give a more complex wine with interesting flavours.

However, I suggest English sparkling wine. It's my current preference. If you find Champagne a little too fizzy, Cava a little too yeasty, Prosecco a little too bland, and Sekt too sweet, then this is just right for Goldilocks. The soil in Sussex is very similar to that in Reims, and our cool climate allows us to develop the acidity that makes sparkling wines dance around your mouth. You could try Nyetimber (£25-50), Ridgeview (£20-25), Chapel Down (£20-25) or, from Cornwall, Camel Valley (£20-30). I'll be trying a Christmas gift: Ridgeview Fitzrovia, a sparkling rose that is mostly Chardonnay, look out for my tasting notes! Unfortunately, because English wine is so good, and are winning prestigious awards, they're not much cheaper than Champagne.

So,  where to buy?

• There is a gorgeous new wine shop in Clapham North called Dvine Cellars which specialises in biodynamic and organic wines, give them a call if you're looking for something special,like their Alfred Gratien NV Brut http://www.dvinecellars.com/ and please tell them I sent you!
• Majestic is offering £10 discounts on the main houses, including Moet (£40 > £28), Bollinger (£42 > £32), Veuve (£43 > £30) and Heidsieck (£28 > £19)
• Berry Bros & Rudd sell all the English wines listed above
• M&S sells Chapel Down
• Buy the triple-pack of Nyetimber Classic Cuvee, Rose and Blanc de Blancs (£110 > £95) here http://www.sparklingenglishwine.com/producers/nyetimber/11

Please drink responsibly!