Cava is, sadly, not cool. The news that one of the leading producers of Cava, Raventos, is to leave the Cava appellation has shocked a lot of people. [Aside: ‘appellaton’…
Some festive fizz, and fun quotes
It’s always a good time for sparkling wine and Champagne. Christmas gives me that extra prompt to open bottles though, and to seek out the company of those who also…
Recaredo: world-class Cava?
Great discovery today, made at Les Caves de Pyrene’s sparkling tasting. Recaredo. World-class Cava, something that many wine nuts didn’t think was possible. The secret to Recaredo’s wines? Biodynamic viticulture and…
Two very nice sparkling wines: New Zealand and England
Two very nice sparkling wines: one from Kiwi land and one from over here. Both pretty serious, and not expensive. Huia Blanc de Blancs 2005 Marlborough, New Zealand I’d been…
A brilliant Kiwi sparkling wine from Huia
I recently wrote up the 2004 Huia Blanc de Blancs. Very favourably. The 2005 is the current vintage, and the good news is that this is also exceptional. Huia Blanc…
A really good Kiwi fizz: Huia Blanc de Blancs 2004
New World sparkling wine isn’t my happiest hunting ground. But this is really good: full flavoured, complex, intense. I can’t find any UK stockists, but I reckon it will come…
Laithwaites Theale Vineyard Sparkling Wine
I was impressed by this. It’s a limited-production sparkling wine from a vineyard at the headquarters of Laithwaites, one of the UK’s most successful wine merchants, located in Theale, near…
Video: tasting four pink sparkling wines
A short film of me tasting four pink Sparkling wines. The wines: Hush Heath Estate Balfour Brut Rosé 2008 England (£34.99 Waitrose, Bibendumfinewine.com, Slurp.co.uk, Sparklingenglishwine.com) Freixenet Cava Elyssia Rosé…
Nice fizz from Laithwaites: Champagne and England
Two impressive sparkling wines from Laithwaites, both of which offer great value for money. South Ridge English Quality Sparkling Wine 2008 England 12% alcohol. This is made by Ridgeview, one…