Popped into Waitrose yesterday and picked up a bottle of this: the new non-vintage Classic Cuvée from England’s most famous sparkling wine producer, Nyetimber (it’s currently on offer at £25, which makes it a very good buy).

They’ve made the very wise move to shift from a vintage model for their main production wine to a multi-vintage model, which opens up the possibility of working with base wines and blending a consistent product across years. This is the model for 90% of Champagne, and they do it for a reason. It makes quality sense, and it also makes business sense. It opens up the potential of making a premium vintage wine in good years at a higher price. It means that the odd bad vintage, such as 2012 where Nyetimber made no wine at all, can be dealt with better.

There’s a code on the back of the bottle which you can use to find out about what you are drinking, if you are interested.

This gives the varietal breakdown, the vintage breakdown and the disgorgement date. It also gives the riddling date: at the Cool Climate Wine Symposium Brad and Cherie, the winemaking team at Nyetimber, did a really interesting tasting showing the influence of the riddling date. You can taste it!

Nyetimber Classic Cuvée MV England
This is a lend of 55% Chardonnay, 35% Pinot Noir and 10% Pinot Meunier, based on the 2013 vintage with 4% from 2011 and 2010, and 19% from 2009. It shows lovely balance with pear, ripe apple and citrus fruit with a hint of sweetness. This is balanced and rounded with just a hint of toastiness. Fresh citrus fruits are complemented with some richer notes, and the acidity is brilliantly integrated. 92/100

See also: my producer profile of Nyetimber