Wine Type: Sparkling White

(2025) A Blanc de Blancs dominated by Chardonnay, but I believe with Parellada and Xarel·lo also in the blend, this vintage, organic Cava is Brut but really quite dry and very Blanc de Blancs in character. You may or may not like the 'Gaudí-inspired' bottle, but the stuff inside is really very fine. It has a little of the custard and herbs note that the traditional grapes seem to always give to Cava for me, but the precise, lemony drive of the palate is refreshing and, as I say, bone-dry with fish and seafood-friendly credentials. On offer at £15 at time of review.

(2025) A zero dosage sparkling Albariño, that is bone-dry and energising with its salty, briny, lemony, fruut and core of sheer acidity. A multi-vintage blend, fermented with indigenous yeasts, it remains saline and mouth-watering in a tightly-wound format. This would work with seafood particularly well.

(2025) Nyetimber's Classic Cuvée has become a flag-bearer for English sparkling wine, but they make several other wines, including this Blanc de Blancs. Vintage 2017 was one of low yields but good quality, with a later than usual harvest starting on 11th October. From Nyetimber's Greensand and chalk soils on the South Downs, the all-Chardonnay wine was aged six and a half years before disgorgement in November 2024. It is brut, bottled with 10g/l of residual sugar. The Chardonnay shines through here with a lemony thrust of precision driving the wine aromatically, though there are fascinating top and bottom notes of wildflowers and biscuit in the mix. The extended time on lees and higher dosage combine with pin-sharp acidity to give it great verve on the palate, yet some creamy, but always elegant depth of flavour and texture. A very nice Nyetimber release, and though prices vary across stockists, it can be bought for under £45. Use the wine-searcher link for all stockists.

(2025) An extra brut wine with just 1.5g/l of residual sugar, this is non vintage but based on the 2022 harvest with 21% reserve wines. The blend is Chardonnay 88%, Pinot Noir 8%, Pinot Meunier 4%. It's a terrific wine this, though almost a Blanc de blancs, the Pinots have added a touch of weight and berry richness to the pristine citrus and salts of the nose, a fine layer of biscuit and pastry beneath. The mouth dances with exuberant, ripe flavours, tangerine, lime and more of that saline mineral tang. It is hard to believe the dosage is so low, given the ripeness and hints of opulence to the fruit, yet the rapier-like, slicing acidity makes for a thrilling finish. Superb.

(2025) Reserves make up 14% of this 2022 base wine, a blend of 45% Pinot Meunier, 43% Pinot Noir 43% and 12% Chardonnay. It is Extra Brut with just 1.5g/l of residual sugar, and was disgorged in February 2025. There's an ounce more fruit on the nose here compared to the Corralian, specifically small red berry fruit remiscent of raspberry and redcurrant, but the biscuity richness and tha nutty underpinning is there, as well as a cut of citrus peel. In the mouth it is pin-sharp, braced by its core of acidity, citrys flavours and hints of red fruits over a lightly earthy and bruised pear base. Very attractive.

(2025) A special bottling for Laithwaites in conjunction with English Heritage, with a contribution to the charity feom sales. It's a blend of the three main Champagne grapes. A lovely nose, direct and lemony, but buttressed by a rich autolysis giving creamy, biscuity tones. The palate too has a great freshness and intensity, lemon and keen, juicy apple, with a fine line of acidity that is a counterpoint to underlying richness.

(2025) From the Artisans Partisans, this is a zero dosage, organic sparkling wine made from 100% Mauzac. It was aged on the lees for 12 months, the fruit from limestone soils at 350 metres altitude. Limoux lays claim to making the world's first intentionally sparkling wines. The nose is fresh, herby and crisp, some nutty apple and a lightly bruised fruit quality comes through. The colour has the merest hint of bronze, and bubbles are moderate, but the palate is sparky-fresh, with light smoky mineral notes and zipping, obviously bone-dry, freshness. Very appealing in a bracing, vivid style.

(2025) The small Frédéric Mochel estate in northern Alsace dates back through 14 generations to 1669. This is 80% Chardonnay and 20% Pinot Noir, aged on its lees for around 20 months. The first impression is of a lemony, bright, vivacious wine, a touch of nettle perhaps. A fresh, crisp mousse as the palate reveals more of that crunchy apple and citrus directness, just a little creaminess from the lees, in a dry and flavourful wine that is also certified organic.

(2025) A very singular wine. It's a sweet and frothy Moscato d'Asti with just 5% alcohol, so not that unusual you may think. But this is a nine-year-old wine, picked with very low yields and then given an extraordinary elevage. Slightly overripe grapes are softly pressed with an extended time on selected yeasts until the following spring. Fermentation then continues at controlled temperature until the production of the fine bubbles. Once bottled, the wine is placed for 60 months in cases filled with sand, in conditions of ideal darkness and humidity. It is just glorious. Intially reminiscent of an aged Riesling or Semillon aromatically, with a touch waxiness and honey, the palate is softly sparkling and imbued with a wonderful sweetness of juicy tangerine, super-ripe Comice pear, and a cleansing lime and acidity. Despite the sweetness the balance is impeccable, and the long-ageing has enhanced the mouthfeel to give a silky richness mid-palate.

(2025) From the Tenuta Valdivilla vineyard at 400 metres altitude, vines here are younger than those chosen for the Sant Ilario cuvée, but still boast an average age of well over 20 years. A fresh, summery, floral and musk nose is delicate and very appealing. More straightforward on the palate than the other Moscato bottlings, with 120g/l of sugar it has a gentle frizzante character on the tongue, and soft, downy peach flavours very nicely balanced by lemon, green leafy herbs and crisp green apple.