London Wine Fair in bubbles-England

I started tasting at the London Wine Fair the only decent way. With some English sparkling.

 Nyetimber http://www.nyetimber.com/ 

Classic cuvée 2007 A blend of 56% Chardonnay and the remainder an equal split of Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier, it spends three years on its lees before release. This was a belter of a way to get back into English wine, a wee slip of a thing it has many years ahead of it but it is bright, zippy and as racy as you would expect. Green apple, fresh citrus notes and hints of honey and candied peel on the nose this is one I would drink half the case and hide the other half. Delicious!

 Rose 2007 Officially new and indeed exciting. A blend of 75% Chardonnay, 25% Pinot Noir I was slightly disappointed when I tried this that I wasn't sat in the glorious sunshine with my favourite people sipping bubbles and gossipping. A slightly savoury nose with ripe, plump red berry flavours it is enticing from the start. Like the Classic cuvée it is taut and racy with crisp redcurrants, ripe red cherries and crunchy red apples coming through on the palate. Fresh and lively this has many years left in it, if one happened to be getting married this summer it would be worth getting a case of this to have one on each anniversary to celebrate.

Blanc de Blancs 2003 I loved this. I am a relatively new convert to the joy that is Blanc de Blancs. I love my Pinot dominant sparklers but over the years some really smart Chardonnay heavy wines have turned my head and this is no exception. Fresh apples and yoghurt on the nose with subtle toasty notes starting to come through this wine shows real vibrancy for its nine years in age. A very stylish wine, soft and fresh with almonds, apple and stone fruit one to get your hands on while you can.

 Ridgeview www.ridgeview.co.uk

Ridgeview only make sparkling wine and lots of it. Being the dedicated nerd that I am, I tried the entire range and here are my Top 3.  

Grosvenor Blanc de Blancs 2009 Told you I'm a sucker for a decent Blanc de Blancs. Much bolder and richer than the Nyetimber despite being several years younger it has a stone fruit and honeyed nose which follows through onto the palate with a slight nuttiness which is counter balanced by the fresh apple and lemon flavours. Complex and interesting, this really hit the spot.

 Bloomsbury 2009 A blend of 58% Chardonnay, 30% Pinot Noir and 12% Pinot meunièr this was ripe and almost juicy on the palate with stone fruits and apples mingling with brioche and a hint of dairy. Very, very drinkable.  

Victoria 2009 A saignee Pinot Meunier dominant rose with the remainder made up of Pinot Noir, this was delicious, soft and savoury. On the nose red berries and fresh cherry blossom delicately balanced with some savoury, rich notes. I know it isn't terribly English but I really wanted some Iberico ham to match with the pomegranate , red berries and blossom. The Victoria still has a youthful edge to it making it a perfect choice with friends, sunshine, laughter and not very English ham!  

Chapel Down http://www.chapeldown.com/

Based down in Tenterden, Kent Chapel Down make both sparkling and still wines. Here are two they were showing on the Bibendum stand.  

Primrose Hill NV This is a wine we unanimously decided, in our tasting group in Tasmania, that we would be happy to drink a comfortable amount of and on trying it again at the fair, my decision stands. It's a cheeky little number with a fresh and fruity black currant and hedgerow nose. The palate is sprightly with red and black currants, berries and spice lifted by some crisp acidity to produce a dry and very appealing white sparkling wine.  

Rose NV Made from 100% Pinot Noir this is a delicate salmon pink with an equally delicate red cherry and rosehip nose. I thoroughly enjoy the variety of dry sparkling rose wines that are currently knocking around and this is no exception. Delicately complex with red fruits, citrus and a slight floral note all comfortably enlivened by a crisp, fresh acidity. A very elegant glass of fizz indeed.  

Hush Heath http://www.hushheath.com/home

Having a very quick chat and some cheery banter on Twitter with the folks from Hush Heath I was thrilled that their approach to wine is not too dissimilar to mine. Wine should be fun, especially good wine. They make good wine and it is most definitely fun.  

Balfour Rose 2008 Rose that one has fun with doesn't need to be some glow in the dark, sticky, catastrophe. The Balfour Rose is a pale salmon in colour and tastes vibrant, fresh, fruity and crisp. Red cherries, raspberries, redcurrants and quince all sit happily with a touch of spice and I can guarantee that a glass of this will make you realise that stylish and fun are very happy bedfellows. Delicious!

Chapel Down Brut Vintage Reserve

Kent, the garden of England. The best thing to do in a garden on a hot day is to crack open a bottle of bubbles and see where the conversation takes you and with a bottle of Chapel Down Brut on the go you can be sure of happy free-wheeling chat that will put the world to rights.

I have enjoyed many a bottle of Chapel Down Brut over the years and when i nipped back to England late last year I picked up a bottle to taste with friends back home in Tassie. To have two such different English bubbles in our first tasting group was a treat and the response to the Chapel Down was actually more accordant than the Nyetimber. In the most affectionate way, this is a great session sparkler.

Lemon in colour with many small, fast moving bubbles the nose presents an unusual blend of blackcurrant, rose, violet, rosehip and apple. The palate continues with many flavours that are unexpected in a white sparkling with red fruits such as redcurrants and strawberries adding to the mix of flavours found on the nose. 

With a crisp and refreshing acidity these red and floral flavours really work to create a flavoursome and very drinkable wine. Best enjoyed young the Chapel Down Brut really hits the spot and I look forward to popping the cork on a bottle one sunny day when I'm back in the UK.

Nyetimber Classic Blend 1995

Back in the 90's I first tasted English sparkling wine at a bistro I was working at. We had a visiting winemaker from Australia over and my boss pulled out a bottle of bubbles to have at the end of the winemakers dinner once the customers had left.

None of us knew what it was and we were all remarking on its tasty goodness when we were told it was English and it was produced by Nyetimber. I am a bit hazy on the details of vintage and the like but that first taste of Nyetimber piqued an interest that has not faded away over the years.

Thanks to Ricky at Bay of Fires who worked a harvest in the UK last year, one of the wines in our inaugural tasting meet-up was a Nyetimber 1995.

A deep golden wine with small but not overly effervescent bubbles. A rich and heady nose full of caramelised walnuts, baked apple, honey, sweet spice and candied orange peel led through to an equally flavoursome palate.

Dry with refreshing acidity with some real weight and intensity. Orange peel, brioche, nuts, candied peel, honey, nutmeg, baked apple and a hint of vanilla and mushrooms all combine with a very creamy mousse and a delightful long length. 

There was a mixed reaction from the group; for some the intensity of the flavours and the savoury earthiness were too much but there were several of us that loved its rich and concentrated complexity. All in all a good result for England on Australian soil. First the cricket, now the wine.....

Wairarapa Sparkles-Loopline, Gladstone & Joseph Ryan Vineyards

This weekend was the Wairarapa Wine Harvest Festival so being the dedicated sparkling chick that I am, I went in search of bubbles. 

There were limited bubbling options that were also limited in success. Wairarapa is better known for its Pinot Noir and Sauvignon blanc with some aromatics cropping up around the fair.

Loopline Vineyards Sparkling Riesling 2008 was the standout sparkling of the day. The fruit is sourced from the Opaki Plains in Wairarapa and is made in the traditional method with around a year on the lees in bottle after a first fermentation in stainless steel.

Pale lemon green with small fast moving bubbles and fine beading on the rim the wine looked enticing even before I got my nose into it. Crisp, green apples, fresh lemon and lime on the nose followed through into the palate with an added hit of minerality, fresh pears and honey. Crisp and refreshing with a creamy mouthfeel this was a really refreshing wine and made me wonder why we don't see more sparkling Riesling around. Delicious and impressive I would recommend anyone to hunt this one out.

Gladstone Vineyards are situated just south of Masterton in the Wairarapa region. The sparkling they make is only produced in years of higher production so it's a little bit wine lake but thankfully the wine isn't made as an afterthought. 

The 2009 is a 50/50 blend of Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Gris the wine is vinified in stainless steel and then the second fermentation takes place traditionally in bottle with the wine averaging around 18months on its lees. With a residual sugar level of 14g per litre the wine doesn't taste sweet but instead a ripeness comes through. Pear and tropical fruit flavours combine with a crisp, refreshing acidity to create a pleasant and enjoyable sparkling wine.

Joseph Ryan produced their first sparkling wine in 2008 with  fruit from the Cliffs Vineyard in Wairarapa, a traditional method production with a blend of 60/40 Chardonnay Pinot Noir split. It hasn't really worked.

The fruit tastes under-ripe and a little bitter with a combination of green apples, hawthorns and almonds. In addition to this the wine is oxidised and the sweetness is out of kilter as if they have tried to up the dosage to cover up the flaws. This is a disappointing wine as everything just doesn't quite work. The fruit isn't ripe enough, the techniques during the vinification process aren't quite right and the dosage at the end just amplifies the faults in the wine. 

I am all for giving things another go so hopefully as the folks at Joseph Ryan work through each vintage and learn from the things that haven't worked in previous years they will produce the sort of good quality wine that is possible in Wairarapa.

Although the day had its disappointments it was a really good opportunity to try some different styles from an area not known for its bubbles and be left with a very important task to hunt out more great sparkling Rieslings.

Gustave Lorenz Cremant d'Alsace Rose Brut NV

Now I'm not the kind of girl to spend my time hanging around the back streets of a town but sometimes needs must when there's good wine to be found at the end.

Down a sneaky alley next to the Bank of New Zealand is where I found Edward Street and the very lovely Vivo. Vivo was recommended to me because they have a very good selection of sparkling wines by the glass and an indulgent international wine list. 

It is definitely indulgent for me as they've gone past the local bubbles, cava, prosecco to include a Cremant d'Alsace and they have Charles Heidsieck by the glass which is a result in my book!

I have tasted a few Cremant d'Alsaces on my journies and I'm pretty impressed by them. The Gustave Lorenz Cremant d'Alsace Rose is 100% Pinot Noir but it isn't trying to be a champagne. A family owned company they have been producing wines since 1836 and the grapes for this wine come from two sites they have in Kanzlerberg and Altenberg de Bergheim which are both Grand Cru sites.

 Deep pink in colour with small fast moving bubbles and some fine beading on the rim the nose has characteristics of raspberries, strawberries, cherries, vanilla and redcurrants with a little light spice and cherry blossom.

On the palate it isn't a fruit bomb, crisp and dry the fruit flavours do carry through but there is a savoury and almost farmyardy note to it that brings a level of depth and complexity. Combined with a creamy mousse this wine is a real treat to drink, its simplicity is its success. Crisp, dry, lots of fruit a little of something more and really well put together I would recommend this for a nice aperitif or for a glass of something cheeky on its own at any time.

No.52: Kreglinger 2003

Terrible website aside...http://kreglingerwineestates.com/ I had to have two goes at this wine before something tasty cropped up. The first bottle I tried was at best tedious, dumb is the technical term and it was thus....The second, however, was far more interesting, complex and a little bit more like what you would expect from Tasmanian sparkling wine.

Kreglinger are Jansz's neighbours up on the east side of the Tamar Valley in the Pipers River area and are part of the same stable as Pipers Brook and Ninth Island. The Chardonnay and Pinot Noir grapes for this sparkler come from the specially assigned Kreglinger vineyard and are hand picked and whole bunch pressed to produce around 450-550 litres per tonne.

The base wines are fermented in barrel and stainless steel, a small percentage was put aside to age on the lees, blended and then put into bottle after tirage to develop further.

At almost eight years old the wine shows the level of maturity you would expect with mushroom, yeast and savoury characteristics. Although the primary fruit flavours have begun to wane they have been replaced with baked apples, candied peel, almonds and fresh bread.

This is a competent and well put together wine which shows a nicely structured maturity although lacking a little finesse. As a recommendation I would say stuff a leg of pork, roast it serve with apple sauce, roasties and a bottle of this and it would turn your average Sunday lunch into something a little special.

The frozen sausage analogy (why not all champagnes are created equally)

The frozen sausage analogy is to be brought out whenever you are thinking about scrimping on a sparkling wine purchase or when you're just good old fashioned skint. For this example I will be basing it on the UK as I've not been in Tasmania long enough to be critical of your sausages but to be honest the general gist is pretty easy to grasp irrespective of your location.

Frozen 'economy' sausages are at the bottom of the sausage scale. Made from the sort of "meat" that is rejected for dog food, a purchase of this is always a mistake. The thinking goes that if it's only for a recipe/party it doesn't matter but then when tooth meets gristle the fun is over and it is impossible to eat any more. The other end of the scale is the butchers sausage (local not in-store supermarket)  or Debbie and Andrew's because they are pig meat not pig bottom. http://www.debbieandandrews.co.uk/. 

Just because you can buy cheaper doesn't mean you should. Obviously real sausages are far more expensive than the mystery meat ones but going cheap as possible is actually a false economy. See also cheap shoes, seafood, ice-cream, chocolate and Ryanair. Particularly Ryanair. For further suspicious sausage enquiries please contact this man, Jamie Oliver.

Champagne is perfect for the frozen sausage analogy. Nobody drinks the £10 el cheapo champagne and thinks what a beauty this is far better than the Green Point (Domaine Chandon) we ditched just because it didn't say champagne on the label. When it comes to champagne, pay as much as you can afford, and if you can't go over £10-15 then buy a sparkling wine instead.

If you're one of those people who think that if it doesn't say champagne then it is in some way poor quality then I can assure you that everyone else is having a good giggle as they knock back a glass of Roederer Estate or some other gem. Top end sparkling beats lower end champagne. Fact.

Sparkling wine can be more difficult to negotiate as it encompasses the rest of the world but if I'm skint or having a bash, these are my staples to see me through until that glorious day when I can buy a case of Krug and not worry about keeping the roof over my head! 

Fuck it, I'll live in the box and be the happiest hobo in town. Whilst i still have my fragile grip on reality, here are my suggestions....

I think if you want to play safe with a big well known brand then you're in pretty safe hands with Lindauer. Despite putting dirty, dirty Pinotage ( it's a bit like this... ) in their rose  , which is actually quite nice so don't be too scared, the whole range does the trick and generally will come in under £10.

Cava wise I'm a Codorniu girl, they're all well made and lack the hairspray quality that has given Cava such a bad reputation. So without the whiff of Elnett, the combination of Reina Maria Christina Vintage and a plate of Serrano ham is a joyous dream. If you're having pre-dinner nibbles, ham, nuts, olives that kind of jazz then this would be a welcome treat for your guests.

Prosecco is the current golden child of the sparkling wine gods so it's availability is far and wide so just look out for DOCG it's new fancy pants classification and you'll be headed towards the better stuff. During my years at Majestic, I comfortably got through a heroic amount of this stuff and despite my galloping bias the customers have managed to award it 4 and a half stars for its effort so it's not just me.

English sparkling wine is very much butchers finest so it's not going to be the cheapest drop but it is worth every penny. That said it is possible to buy some dynamite vintage stuff for under £30 so grading on a curve it's excellent value for money. 

Other French sparklers can be a bit of a treat but I'm going to be controversial here and say that Burgundy isn't the finest of it. They're good grapes are not sent off to fizz so they're adequate but not massively exciting. There's some great Cremant de Loire and Blanquette de Limoux to be had without getting too far over £10.

If it really, really must be champagne and sometimes it must, then I have two words; Tactical shopping. Keep a sneaky eye out for offers, seasonal deals, bin ends any type of promotional deal really. It can be a bit of a schlep but it does pay off, having a nosey around Waitrose in Tenterden I stumbled across a half bottle of Krug for £37. Enough said.

Where to buy....

Majestic Wine Warehouses Majestic Champagne and Sparkling Wine

Despite my galloping bias towards the Majestic folks, I'm not on my own in acknowledging their scorching deals on champagne and sparkling wines as if you snooze you lose with so many people on to them so act quick to score your fizz fix.

Oddbins Oddbins Sparkling Wine and Champagne

I love Oddbins because they sell Tasmanian sparkling wine Jansz. And Bollinger's neighbour Ayala.

Your local wine merchant

Usually rubbish for a bargain but great for low production interesting wines and random bin end bargains.

Waitrose Waitrose Champagne and Sparkling wine

Aside from the half bottle of Krug they sell some belting English sparklers and some very good champagne gift sets at good prices.

Netto

Stay with me. In between the wheelchairs, circular saws and German baked beans are random champagne offers. Useless as  a regular, reliable source of fizz.

Champagne Warehouse website

If you want a small growers champagne but don't know where to start then these are the folks you need to talk to.

Supermarkets Tesco ASDA, Sainsbury's Morrisons

Approach with caution, use sausage analogy. Often supermarkets have large posters of screamingly good offers but limited stock. Clean them out and then do your food shopping locally.

Hope this helps, parties are always better without gristly sausages and nasty fizz.