Louis Pommery, Brut, Sparkling Wine, England, UK
The French of started to taking English vineyard seriously and Louis Pommery has started to make wine in Hampshire and it’s pretty good stuff. Its dry, fresh, but classy with more citrus fruit than toasty notes in French Champagne. I’ve you like the new style of sparkling or a good cremant sparkling wine then this is for you.
At £25 a bottle it’s good value for champagne although a cremant is usually much cheaper at £10.
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.
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.
Yep a sparkling from Brazil, a chardonnay from that well known wine mecca, Serra Gaucha in Brazil. So whats it like.
Its clean looking, straw colour with a fresh apple aroma and hints of citrus and minerals. Its pretty high in acidity and the flavour is more fruit driven than the champagne brioche. Its quite light in both flavour and in texture and very dry. It reminds me of some of the english sparkling wines in Suffolk and Norfolk.
Drink on its own or with fish or chicken. This got 89 points at the Decanter World Wine Awards and that’s spot on.
Garibaldi Chardonnay Brut, Brazil
Bought from Carrefour in Calais this is one of those cheap french sparkling wines. Fresh, clean, hints of pear and completely forgetable.
I’m not even going to try and find a refined aroma or flavour. Is this better than prosecco? Better than most but I’m not sure that’s a big positive. For me treat this as a base for drinking or for adding flavourings such as Cassis. Theres nothing bad but spend a few pounds more and get a bottle of Bouvet Ladubay sparkling wine.
At Eur5 a bottle it is what it is.
Sire de Beaupre, Brut sparkling wine from France
A typical Extra Dry prosecco, lots of fruit but also has a sweeter taste. There are flavours of apple, peach and citrus and that dry feeling from Prosecco
A decent fizz.
Beato Bartolomeo Breganze Prosecco
This is a seriously grown up Cava. Made with Pinot Noir grapes and aged on its lees for over 2 years you get elegant small bubbles with aromas of citrus and honeysuckle and hints of yeasty notes. The flavours are subtle and fruit driven with citrus and a creaminess that makes this a refreshing alternative to other Cava’s out there.
The only issue I have is the price, at £25 a bottle its worth it but I can see people just look at the “Cava” part and pass it by, shame for them but good news for those that are willing to try it.
Juve & Camps Blanc de Noirs 2012 Cava from Spain
Made with the Xarel·lo and Chardonnay grapes this is a top end Cava. There are aromas of fennel and floral notes and flavours of almonds and butterscotch. There is a lovely creamy texture to the wine that makes it very easy to knock back on its own. Pair it with sea food or as we did with salad and citrus based salad dressing.
My only gripe about the wine is in the price. At £25 plus a bottle it’s in the champagne and top English sparkling wine price bracket. The bottle is gorgeous which helps to market it but with Cava on the bottle I think people will bypass it. It’s a shame because blind tasted I think people will pick it.
Pere Ventura 2012 Cava
We recently went on a Wine GB trip to the Loire Valley and visited Bouvet Ladubay in Saumur. It’s big operation making 6 million bottles of wine per year.
This is their standard sparkling wine, very dry with flavours of citrus and green apple. The acidity is high and would naturally pair with sea food or a second glass. This is the standard I measure other sparkling wine against. It’s not the very best but very good. Majestic Wines sell this for about £10 a bottle, good value.
Bouvet Ladubay Brut from Saumur in the Loire Valley, France