Asquith Gardens, Sparkling Wine, UK
At £16 a bottle from Asda this english sparkling wine is a blend of Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Pinot Meunier made in the Champagne method and delivers a Champagne taste. Bronze medal at Decanter in 2024 and Silver at the IWC its a quality wine. Dry with toasty notes and flavours of Citrus, red apple and a little floral hint its a good english sparkling at a very good price. Can another supermarket beat this?
Camel Valley, red sparkling wine, Cornwall, England
There a number of vineyards in Cornwall with Camel Valley being the best known, even serving their sparkling to the British Royal family. This red sparkling wine is rather good. Its dry, quite light and refreshing. There are subtle flavours of redcurrant and hints of raspberry. For a first try of sparkling red wine it’s excellent as the Australian versions can be rather heavy and off putting for many. The down side is the price at £30 a bottle.
Bolney Estates, NV Brut sparkling wine, England
Bolney Estates make some great wines, this NV Brut sparkling wine isn’t one of them. Its not terrible but more disappointing. The flavours are mute, the acidity is high but not balanced by the other components needed. It’s sparkling and if had with food you wouldn’t necessarily miss the lack of aromas or flavours. At £30 a bottle it’s a miss from me.
Aldi, Bowler and Brolly, sparkling wine, England
Is this another great wine from Aldi, a sparkling wine from England that is a trophy winner? Not quite but it’s rather good and for the summer a great alternative to champagne.
It’s dry and crisp with plenty of acidity and reasonable length. Theres citrus fruit at the front with a bit of yeast in the background but this is a fruit driven wine which I personally like very much. At £20 a bottle it’s on the mark for English sparkling wine.
Great with seafood and salads sitting in the garden.
Harrow and Hope, Vintage 2017, Buckinghamshire, England
Harrow and Hope, Vintage 2017 is their flagship sparkling wine and at £38 a bottle it needs to be excellent and I must admit it is. It dry crisp with an excellent length of finish there’s richness in all parts of the palate. The citrus notes come through without being harsh and the acidity is just right, perfect on its own or with seafood.
It’s on a par with top notch champagne, although it’s a shame that it’s £38 a bottle as it will put people off trying it.
Harrow and Hope, Rosé NV, Buckinghamshire, England
Harrow and Hope, Rosé NV Harrow and Hope, Rosé NV, Buckinghamshire, England is a very good sparkling rose which after tasting the white NV was a relief. It’s not that the white was bad but this Rosé is so much better. It’s dry and crisp with subtle flavours of red fruit that poke through with a good long finish and at only £2 more than the white NV it’s much better value I think.
A great drink in the summer ehen sitting on the garden.
Sugrue, English Sparkling Wine, South Downs, UK
Its the first time that I have tried Sugrue’s english sparkling wine which is from the South Downs in England and I was very surprised.
Dry, crisp with high acidity and tasting exactly like Champagne I was expecting more fruit driven flavours rather than deep yeasty notes. Its nice but I’m more a cremant person, its good but just not for me.
Toppesfield, Classic Brut, Sparkling wine, 2018, Essex
I really like the Toppesfield wines, they are no that far away from me and they are really passionate about what they do which I love, along with the wines and this Sparkling Brut.
Its crisp and dry, made in the traditional sparkling wine way this is a elegant but more fruit driven on the flavour than a traditional Champagne way. You get citrus and apples and a little gooseberry undernote in there.
At £24 a bottle its priced as cheaper Champagne but so much more drinkable than french champagne and a step up from french Cremant.
English sparkling wine is on the up. There’s good reason for this, it’s hard to get a bad bottle. With a changing climate, improved growing and wine making facilities the future is looking rosé.
We were invited to the launch of Oastbrook vineyards new sparkling rosé wine. There’s not many launches that feature Brazilian dancing.
The Brazilian dancers
Oastbrook vineyards new winery is not quite finished, the sides are on but there’s still the bottom part to be finished, insulation and heating to put in but you can see that in 6 months this will be a modern, up to date setup which is ready to produce award winning wine.
Oastbrook vineyards new sparkling rose wine
So what’s the rose like, subtle aromas of red fruit, sherbet and flavours that add a strawberry and cream taste with a dollop of yeast/brochure. I liked the fuller fruit flavours as it added extra to what champagne or Cremant rosé wine’s give you.
It’s a premium product at a premium price of £38 a bottle. They will sell it all but it’s a shame because at that price a lot of people will miss trying this excellent sparkling.
Did I buy any? Not of the sparkling as we had just picked up 6 bottles of Harrow and Hopes new vintage 4 days earlier. That sold out 6 weeks ago when placed our advanced order, but I did get 6 bottles of the Pinot Gris. At £100 for 6 bottles, on promotion that evening, it was too good an opportunity to miss. It’s one of my favourite white wines of all time.
Made with Chardonnay this is a dry sparkling with high acidity. It has fresh citrus aromas which flow through in the taste which are joined by hints of grapefruit and a smattering of lychee and a creamy undertone.
A good example of quality English sparkling wine. At £29 a bottle it’s fair value for English sparkling wine.
Tinwood Blanc de Blanc, English Sparkling