Award Winning Sparkling Wines

As the name suggests, this cuvée has no dosage, and so has not a drop of residual sugar. As a result, the wine expresses abundant freshness and minerality, supported by bright citrus and green fruit. The 2017 has a bright refreshing acidity and subtle richness, thanks to its oak ageing.

This sparkling wine is made by transferring the still sweet and fermenting grape juice into bottle, and then trapping the subsequent carbon dioxide as it continues to ferment to dryness in the bottle. No dosage is added, though the spent yeast cells are expelled, leaving a brilliant, crystalline sparkling wine behind. It has such a wonderful depth and complexity on the nose, with a vinous structure on the palate, and a salty zing. The creamy mousse wraps around crunchy apple fruit. Experience from tasting back vintages of this cuvée shows me this wine ages brilliantly, and will develop complex depth, and savoury precision with a few years in bottle. It’s one of the most exciting wines on the list this year.

Alain Voge’s pithy sparkling wine, Les Bulles d’Alain, is unlike anything else we have on our list. It is lively, dry, refreshing, and refined. If you’re in the mood for bubbles, but don’t want the weight of a Champagne, this is the perfect option, and a smart price too. It’s a very good example of why Saint-Péray has built its renown for sparkling wines.

This is so atypical from Prosecco, the DOC wouldn't let Primo label it as such. But never mind: it's one of the best sparklings we know. Notes of orange blossom and iodine on the nose, and hints of wild strawberry and lots of salinity on the palate. So impressive.

Chardonnay-led, with around 20% reserve wines in the blend, it’s got just 4.5g/l of dosage added. This is a taut English fizz, with lots of green apple fruit, and a long and savoury finish: the perfect way to discover Hambledon.

Henri Giraud’s Esprit Nature is one of the most finely balanced, light-on-its-feet non-vintage blends we’ve tasted. It has a pure and dancing freshness, all citrus and blossom on the nose, with a touch of baked bread. The weight is so precise and agile. For an aperitif style of Champagne, it’s everything you could want. One third of the wine is drawn from the perpetual reserve the house keeps, dating back to 1990.

The N/V Brut is a blend of near-equal parts of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Meunier, that spends 3 and a half years on the lees, prior to disgorgement. Ample and creamy, with plenty of richness, it’s a lovely introduction to the house style.

This must be the most reliably brilliant N/V rosé champagne out there. Delicate onion skin pink, with savoury notes and a gentle but sophisticated lift of red fruits on the nose. The palate is exceptionally smooth, with creamy bubbles and a long, elegant finish.

Vilmart is a Champagne house prized by connoisseurs, and their rosé cuvée shimmers with elegance. Laurent Champs is the fifth generation of his family to make these wines, and he’s a man of passion and skill. His exacting standards in his vineyards and winery ensure exceptional wines every vintage.

The heart of this multi-vintage blend from Aÿ is the 2016 vintage, which is combined with one third perpetual reserve, dating back to 1990. The wine is a gorgeous golden colour, with a luxuriously deep, rich aroma. A textured and sumptuous palate of hazelnuts, sea salt and explosive bergamot feed through to a persistent and satisfying finish. It is a riveting wine, enthralling in its depth and precision, with just a hint of Aÿ’s menthol signature. Gourmand and delectable, this is a superb Champagne from a small Champagne house that is a favourite with the critics.