Peller Estates Ice Cuvée Rosé NV

An interesting sparkling wine from Niagra, Canada here. It's a traditional method sparkling wine made from 55% Chardonnay, 35% Pinot Noir and 10% Cabernet Franc. After vinification and 12 to 14 months on lees, the wine is disgorged and a dosage of 115 ml of Cabernet Franc and Vidal icewine is added.

I didn't know what to expect really, but I was impressed. I was also impressed by the white version a couple of years ago. The rosé has strong red-fruit character, quite strawberry-ish. A touch of sweetness, but not enough to qualify as a demi-sec type wine. Overall highly enjoyable.

Canadian wine isn't easy to get in the UK, and little wonder why when you look at the cost. This goes for $35 Canadian, which is about £22 using today's exchange rates. Is it as good as sparkling wines from England, Spain, Tasmania, etc? Perhaps, but Canada can't really compete on price.

Peller Estates

Ice Cuvée Rosé NV VQA

Niagra, Ontario, Canada

$35 CDN

3.5/5

Heidsieck £ Co. Monopole Blue Top Brut NV

I saw this at Sainsbury's for £11.99 and decided to give it a try. I knew it was the introductory house blend, and I also have some vintage 'Gold Top' from the same producer. I'm not mad about the Gold Top, purchased last Christmas from Majestic. It's OK but didn't leave much of an impression. Maybe it needs more time, maybe I don't like Pinot-based blends so much, who knows. Either way I thought for £11.99 this was worth a try.

I actually quite liked it. It is a Pinot-based blend and is rich and honeyed, almost sweet, and has characteristics of bottle aged wine in the blend. I was pleasantly surprised. I served the 2 bottles I bought to guests at my son's birthday party (the parents, not the kids), and everyone seemed to really like it. The only reason I'm not running out and buying a case of 12 is because I haven't decided what to buy for my Christmas wines and don't want to blow the budget.

Heidsieck & Co. Monopole

Blue Top NV

Epernay, Champagne AOC, France

Sainsbury's

£11.99 (£27.99)

3.5/5

Le Dolci Colline Prosecco Brut NV

I was unable to attend a recent Virgin Wines press tasting, so they were kind enough to instead send me a 'highlights case' from the tasting to try out. Over the next few weeks I'll be making my way through the case, and sharing my findings here.

We had the first one last night, a Prosecco. Encouragingly, the wine is apparently made by Claudio Manera, who is the managing director of Araldica, a co-op that in my opinion makes some pretty good affordable wines.

The wine is quite light, and doesn't have the overwhelming pear characteristics that some Prosecco has. It also has some slight bitterness on the finish, perhaps something that accompanying food might help with.

At £7.99 it's a reasonable buy, but I can't help but think there are better alternatives out there.

Le Dolci Colline

Prosecco Brut NV

Veneto, Italy

Virgin Wines

£7.99

2.5/5

Chiltern Valley Sparkling Wine NV

I visited this winery during a recent visit to Henley-on-Thames. Went to the shop, tasted some wines, and bought some.

I think this sparkling wine is made from Seyval Blanc, but I can't verify that because it doesn't say on the bottle or the website. I'm pretty sure it's not Champagne varieties.

No nose to speak of (not really an issue), very bubbly - coarse bubbles. Noticeable tartaric acid deposit. Dominant flavour of Elder flowers. Very dry, bitter finish. I didn't enjoy it. It lacked the tart acidity most English wines have, but the bitterness put me off.

Chiltern Valley

Sparkling Wine NV

Chiltern Valley, Henley-on-Thames, England

£19.99

2/5

Ridgeview Cuveé Merret Bloomsbury 2007

Ridgeview is supposedly one of the finest sparkling wine producers in England. They do well in blind tastings, and their best wines are said to be on the same level as fine champagne.

I decided to try a bottle to see what all the fuss is about. It's definitely a quality wine. Chardonnay dominance gives it a crisp elegance, although it does have a pronounced tartness (something not uncommon in English wines). I liked it though, and even a fussy friend of ours approved wholeheartedly.

The only downside is the cost, which is disappointing. Producers here have every right to charge as much as those in Champagne, but you'd think local produce would save you a few quid.

Ridgeview

Cuveé Merret Bloomsbury 2007

Sussex, England

Waitrose

£19.99

4/5

Duval-Leroy Blanc de Blancs Vintage Champagne 2004

This is a contender for the Champagne deal of the Christmas season. There were all sorts of stories swirling around about the possible availability of cheap Champagne this Christmas, to an extent they were true. Vintage Champagne for under £15, and from Waitrose?

There's certainly nothing wrong with the wine. Quite the contrary actually, I thought it was lovely. Very fine mousse, tiny bubbles, elegant. I thought it was light, crisp and very refreshing, if not slightly tart. I've bought a couple of bottles, but I'm extremely tempted to go buy a bunch more - we're not going to see these prices again for another year.

Duval-Leroy

Blanc de Blancs Vintage 2004

Champagne, France

Waitrose

£14.99 (£29.99)

4/5

Denbies Vineyard Select Greenfields Cuvee 2002

Sparkling wine is supposed to be THE wine to look out for from English vineyards. The cool climate is ideal for a neutral acidic character that forms a good base for sparkling wines.

This offering from Denbies Vineyard in Surrey uses the so called Methode Traditionelle with secondary fermentation in the bottle. Comprised of Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier and Chardonnay, the 2004 vintage has won a number of awards so hopes were high when I tried this 2002.

The mousse on this in not especially fine and the colour is a light greeny gold. On the nose on this wine is very appealing. Notes of honey, grass and even that sought after 'biscuitiness'. Some of this comes through in a pleasant digestive biscuit taste initially, although it is to some extent spoiled by a sour vegetal finish. The wine itself is very dry and is pretty drinkable. Not too bad at all, although I cant help thinking the finish was not so great.

The 2004 is listed as £22 on the Denbies site, I got this 2002 for around £16 direct from the wine estate. Waitrose has the 2004 on at just above £15 at the moment so I am not sure why it is listed so costly at Denbies.

Denbies
Greenfields Cuvee Vineyard Select
Surrey, England
Waitrose (2004)
£15
3/5

Jansz Premium Cuveé NV

I've always found this Tasmanian sparkler pretty reliable. A blend of 50% Chardonnay, 45% Pinot Noir and 5% Pinot Meunier, it has pleasant flavours of apple and cinnamon.

Interesting production method as well (taken from Oddbins website) - a long, cool fermentation followed by a year of ageing on its lees in a tank to add complexity. It's not clear to me where the secondary fermentation takes place, but I can only assume it's in the tank and not the bottle, which would be the Charmat process.

Good stuff, and great value.

Jansz

Premium Cuveé NV

Tasmania, Australia

Oddbins

£9.99

3/5

Antech Blanquette de Limoux Méthode Ancestrale NV

I first tasted this wine at a Wine Society tasting and it was one of those wines you just don't forget about. I included some in my next order, and I think it will probably be a regular for me.

This is an off-dry sparkling wine made from the Mauzac grape in the Limoux appellation in southwestern France. The wine is bottled in March, and fermentation occurs naturally in the bottle. The resulting wine is sweet and low in alcohol (6.5%). No disgorgement process occurs, which can apparently cause a cloudy appearance to the wine, although I haven't noticed this before (and haven't looked). The fermentation process seems to mirror that of the methods used by monks when sparkling wine was first discovered - bottling the must after the cold months of winter, fermentation taking place in the bottle in the spring and voila, sparkling wine.

This is a great match for fresh fruit-based desserts or pavlova. It really is a lovely wine, it has a nose and palate of fresh green apples, some sweetness balanced by tart acidity, and a dry finish. Not massively complex, but very unique and perfectly suited to the desserts mentioned above or an afternoon tipple.

This is produced by Antech, and there is a good profile of them here.

Antech

Blanquette de Limoux Méthod Ancestrale NV

Limoux AOC, Languedoc-Roussillon, France

The Wine Society

£8.50

4/5

Bay of Fires Tigress Rosé NV

Outside of Champagne, my two favourite regions for sparkling wine are Burgundy (Crémant de Bourgogne) and Tasmania. You can usually get pretty good bottles from these regions for about £8 - £12. So, a Tasmanian sparkler for £4.99? It must be crap right?

No - it isn't. This is part of a one-off parcel that Majestic somehow conjured up. It's a blend of Champagne varieties Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. The label says strawberries, toast and mushrooms. I don't get the toast and mushrooms (but I never do), but I get strawberry jam. A perfectly good wine, and a ridiculous bargain. I just ordered a case.

PS - if Majestic runs out of stock, you can always pick it up at Channel 4's wine club for £20...

Bay of Fires

Tigress Rosé NV

Tasmania, Australia

Majestic

£4.99

3/5

Borgo SanLeo Nerello Mascalese Prosecco Rosé NV

This wine is the type of thing I'd serve to guests as an aperitif. However it sat in my fridge for ages because there never seemed a good time to open it due to the weather being rubbish and the general lack of dinner guests. That all changed last weekend though - guests aplenty and some warm sunny weather.

This sparkler was getting a bit of hype over the summer, and deservedly so. It's a blend of the white Prosecco grape and the red Nerello Masaclese, and the result is this non-vintage sparkling rosé. It's intensely pear-scented and gluggably moreish. No, it's not Champagne but it beats boring Cava and for just over £5 a bottle (currenly 33% off) there is no better deal around at the moment.

Forgive me, I've thrown out the bottle and can't remember what I paid (think around £7), so I'm not sure of the exact region it's made in, and the price quoted below the current offer price on WaitroseWineDirect.

Borgo SanLeo

Nerello Mascalese Prosecco Rosé NV

Italy

Waitrose

£5.05 (33% off)

3/5

Underraga Brut NV

I hate reviewing sparkling wines.  They hardly ever make much of an impression on me, probably because I only ever buy cheap ones.  This was meant to be an aperitif, but we ended up drinking it after dinner (because my host's wife wouldn't let him open the Pol Roger).

Produced by the charmat method, it's a blend of 60% Chardonnay and 40% Pinot Noir from vineyards in Chile's Maipo Valley.  I thought it smelled like whisky.  It tasted OK though - fairly simple and light.  I paid just under £9 for it, which now seems like a rip off seeing that Majestic has it on offer for £4.99.

Underraga

Brut NV

Maipo Valley, Chile

The Grape Shop

£8.95

2.5

Santa Julia Organic Sparkling Chardonnay 2007

Another Easter wine - this one was served with a meringue/fruit dessert.  I had actually asked the guy in my local Oddbins for an off-dry fizz (and not Champagne - too expensive!), and this is what he suggested.  It's pretty dry though, not really what I was expecting, but perhaps that's all he had.  They also had Asti, which would have worked, but I wanted to try something new.

This is fairly fruity and had lots of body.  I wouldn't serve it again with that dessert, I was looking for something a bit sweeter, such as a demi-sec fizz.  It was in fact really good just on its own, and is good value for a vintage wine under £10.

A quick word about Oddbins.  It was recently owned by French firm Castel until it was bought out in August of 2008.  We've decided to attend the monthly tastings in our local branch, after unsuccessfully trying to get on their list for the past few months, due to chaos with internal management and perhaps a bit of incompetence.  But that's no more, as it's all new staff and they seem very passionate and knowledgeable.

The first tasting we attended was a sample of their new arrivals.  There were a couple of interesting sub £10 wines such a keenly priced white Burgundy (that was a little past it), and a tannic Bourgueil.  The overwhelming favourites were a South African Syrah blend from Porcupine Ridge (for £10) and a red Burgundy (for £15).  I had intended to write up all the wines we tasted, but we left in a hurry to get home and I forgot my tasting notes, so apologies for the somewhat random thoughts.

Familia Zuccardi

Santa Julia Organica Sparkling Chardonnay 2007

Mendoza, Argentina

Oddbins

£9.49

3/5

Gancia Asti NV

Asti. I'd never had this before, and the reason I bought it was to match with our dinner host's dessert, which was lemon cheesecake. So dessert rolls around, and when we go to open the bottle there were various snickers around the table. "Asti? You mean Nasty...hahahha", etc, etc. I guess it has a reputation as being a cheap, sweet fizz that isn't to be taken seriously.

This is actually an Asti Spumante, which I guess someone took seriously enough to elevate to DOCG status in order to differentiate it from the nasty cheap wines that it gets confused with. It's made primarily with the Moscato (or Muscat) grape, and it is sweet and low in alcohol. It is perfect for things like...lemon cheesecake, or probably any fruit-based dessert.

Fashionable? Probably not, but who cares? These types of wines have their time and place.

Gancia
Asti Spumante NV DOCG
Piedmont, Italy
Waitrose
£5.49
3/5

Cave de Lugny, Cremant de Bourgogne, Blanc de Blancs NV

If you ever fancy Champagne or something sparkling, and you don't want to spend a lot of money, and you're tempted to get that £5 bottle of Cava, don't. Get a Sparkling Burgundy (Cremant de Bourgogne) instead. It's probably the most consistent crowd-pleaser I've come across. It's done well in blind tastings, and even pleased the most fickle of Champagne drinkers (that's you Vicki).

Burgundy probably produces the highest quality sparkling wine available outside of Champagne, and from my experience, also the tastiest. This offering from Waitrose is a God-send. At just over £7 (on offer), what more could you want? Dry and mineraly with tangy acidity, it's sure to please. It's definitely my choice of non-Champagne sparkler.

Cave de Lugny
Cremant de Bourgogne, Blanc de Blancs NV
Waitrose
£7.19 (£8.99)
3/5

Tesco Finest Cremant d'Alsace Riesling 2005

This wine is interesting for a number of reasons:

• It's a non-champagne region French sparkling wine
• It's from Alsace
• It's 100% Riesling, which is rare for sparkling wines
• It's a vintage wine (2005)
• It's well priced (£8.99)

So how was it? I thought it was a bit strange actually, although not in a bad way. It tasted different from most other sparkling wines. I thought I could get a bit of an oak taste from it, or even that peat flavour you get in some Scotch whiskies.

It's made for Tesco by a winery called Kuehn. I couldn't find out much about them from my half-assed Google search, except that they've been making wine since 1678, so presumably they know what they're doing.

I'd like to try this again at some point, and for £8.99 it's a safe bet I will.

Tesco Finest Cremant d'Alsace Riesling 2005
Cremant d'Alsace AC, Alsace, France
Tesco
£8.99
3/5

Cloudy Bay Pelorus NV

If you've never heard of the New Zealand winery Cloudy Bay, let me give you a quick summary of their significance to the wine industry.

In 1985 they produced their first Sauvignon Blanc vintage, and the subsequent 1986 vintage was held to great esteem by the wine press in the UK.  Cloudy Bay became an icon, and the wine has become expensive (but still affordable) and difficult to get a hold of.

Pelorus is Cloudy Bay's champagne-method (bottle fermented) sparkling wine.  It comes in both a non vintage version (discussed here) and a vintage version.  

This is supposed to be one of the better non-Champagne sparkling wines available, but in truth I've never been that enamoured with it, and a recent experience seemed to solidify my opinion of it.  I don't think it's bad, just maybe not all it's cracked up to be.  I will probably try it again in the future.

Cloudy Bay

Pelorus NV

Waitrose

£12 (£16)

3/5

Waitrose Brut NV Champagne

This was my Champagne of choice for opening at midnight on New Year's Eve 2008.  It's a perfect choice:  it's well made like all Waitrose Champagnes (by Piper & Charles Heidsieck), it's very reasonably priced and it's available in magnums, perfect for a party!

By the time midnight rolled around this was our third bottle of fizz, and it was a festive atmosphere so I can't be too detailed about palate, etc., but it was a nice Champagne, and I'd definitely buy it again for a party or any other event that requires large format bottles.  It's a little cheaper than the multi-award winning Blanc de Blancs, so it's also an ideal candidate for a value Champagne if one is needed.

Waitrose Brut NV

Champagne, France

Waitrose

£32.99 (magnum)

3/5

Pol Roger Brut Reserve NV Champagne

Pol Roger Brut NV seems to be one of the more appreciated NV Champagnes out there, by all the wine writers anyways.  I obtained a bottle a year ago, and decided to open it on New Year's Eve.

I think the best way to communicate my thoughts on this wine is with a bit of context.

I (and my friends) drink a lot of sparking wine, and I've been wondering lately if my palate is really sensitive enough to tell the difference between actual Champagne (produced in Champagne) and other sparkling wines.  I even hosted a tasting to get to the bottom of this, and it was inconclusive, perhaps because of the (high) quality of the non-Champagne sparkling wines we tasted.

Well after tasting this Pol Roger, and then following it up with Cloudy Bay Pelorus NV (a high quality New Zealand sparkler) I can definitely say yes, I can tell the difference.  The difference was like night and day.  The Pol Roger was rich, nutty and smooth, and it made the Pelorus seem watery, rough, and unsophisticated.  I've had Pelorus a few times before, and while I wasn't mad about it, I thought it was OK.  I certainly wouldn't have described it as I just did.  All of this leads me to conclude that Pol Roger Brut Reserve NV is a darned good non-vintage Champagne.

Unfortunately you are not going to find this in the discount shelves at the end of the supermarket aisles.  It goes for around £30 a bottle.  I'd say if you wanted to splash out this is a good a bottle as any to buy.

Pol Roger

Brut Reserve NV

Widely available

~£30

4/5

Waitrose Bredon Brut NV Champagne

I'm not really sure what the point of this Champagne is.  It's made Piper & Charles Heidsieck, who also produce a Brut NV, a Blanc de Blancs, and a vintage Champagne for Waitrose.  They are all good value, and the Bredon is the least expensive of the lot.  Perhaps this is just to satisfy a price point, the "bargain basement" Champagne.

Either way, it's pretty decent.  It didn't blow my socks off, but where else would you find a Champagne made by a decent producer for under £15? For a second opinion, it also usually gets a least a commendation in Decanter magazine tastings, if not a medal.  

Bredon Brut NV

Champagne, France

Waitrose

£12 (~£15)

3/5