Eff ervescent with pleasure 6/ bubbly
The sparkle in a glass of Champagne is liquid joy: bubbles dancing across the tongue in explosions of exhilarating fl avour, life-affi rming and celebratory. Now a new generation of British sparkling wine makers are rivalling our Gallic neighbours with fi zz that seduces and surprises from the fi rst sparkling sip...
S
o what’s with all the sparkling contenders in the UK? The answers are pretty simple
and make perfect sense. Notably, the climatic conditions and terroir of many English vineyard sites are remarkably similar to that of the Champagne region in France. And at the Nyetimber Estate in Sussex, for example, vines are planted on chalky bedrock which has a soil of greensand, both of which are also to be found beneath the vineyards of Champagne. The quality wineries making
English sparkling wine are focused on growing the three traditional Champagne grape varietals: Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier and Chardonnay. Add to this the selfsame method of
production, known as Méthode Champenoise, a secondary fermentation inside the bottle, and what you have is essentially Champagne in all but name – the Champenoise long ago protectively claimed ownership of their unique and powerful brand. Cherie Spriggs, Head
Winemaker at Nyetimber, enthuses about where the industry in the UK is right now. ‘It’s a small industry, and communication is our biggest challenge, but the key players are getting their wine out there, pushing quality and boundaries.’ An Englishman, Christopher
Merret, stakes a credible claim to being the fi rst to describe the second fermentation of still wine to produce these magical bubbles, as far back
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