English sparkling wine can be exceptional. Fortunately this is one of them. This is from Marlow, Buckinghamshire and the vineyard is connected to the Laithwaites family. This connection really shines through, they know what good wine is. There are aromas and flavours of bread and yeast, such as with many Champagnes but it doesn’t have the toasty notes. For me this is a big plus, sorry I’m not a fan of the toast. There is excellent balance of acidity and flavour. I’m not sure if you really want to put food with this as its so good on its own. If you must, then seafood such as oysters would be ideal.

Sure this is not cheap plonk at about £30 a bottle, but neither is decent Champagne. For me this is the better of the two.

Harrow and Hope English Sparkling Wine