Wine Type: Sparkling White

(2026) Well, this is undeniably delicious and fine. The 12th release from Dermot Sugrue's own operation, farming 20-year-old vines in Sussex, it is 60% Pinot and 40% Chardonnay, and 40% of the base wine was fermented in French oak barriques and older, 600-litre demi-muids. It then had 32 months on the lees. Pale lemon/straw with copious minuscule bubbles, aromas are captivating, spanning a hint of toast and Brazil nut, fresh ceps, and an airy, light but nutty russet apple. There is an ozone and mineral salts freshness too. In the mouth, the wine burst with ripe, exuberant and sweet fruit. It's not sugar, this bottled with just 6g/l dosage, but it is fruity to its core, without sacrificing elegance or vivacious punch. So much dazzling, saline acidity and that bready, nutty hint of richer depth beneath the rippling surface. Fabulous.

(2026) Grown on Greyfriars' south-facing, chalk slopes in Surrey, this is a non-vintage blend of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier, aged 40 months before release. Aromatically there is brioche and a yeasty, gently nutty quality. The bubbles are small, and in the mouth the lemony bite of the acidity offsets the sweetness of ripe, juicy apple fruit. I don't know the dosage here, though there is some impression of sweetness that makes it quaffable, and relatively inexpensive in the scheme of current traditional method English fizz. Watch the video for more information.

(2026) The lowly 4g/l dosage of Gosset's 2016 vintage gives a bite and mouthwatering freshness to the blend, which includes an unusually high 61% Chardonnay, along with 39% Pinot Noir. It was disgorged on March 2024 so spent over seven years on the lees. Biscuit and a delicate truffle earthiness marry with orangey citrus fruits, a little straw-like herbal character too. In the mouth it has good volume, but the low dosage means it is propelled by taut acidity of crisp apple and minerals, with a bit of grippiness for sure. Fruit is cool and clear, and it finishes with precision. It's an understated and aesthetic style this, that reveals its undoubted charms slowly but surely.

(2026) Composed of Chardonnay plus 10% Pinot Noir, this traditional method wine spent nine months in tank then 30 months on the lees in bottle before disgorgement. Pale gold in colour with plenty of small bubbles, there is a lightly oxidative, pastry richness but undercut with firm apple and some creamy almond. In the mouth the dosage is well-judged, giving this plenty of orangy citrus bite to cut through the quite sumptuous, ripe peachy fruit of the mid-palate. It's a house whose wines I always enjoy.

(2026) The 1st edition is 55% Pinot Noir, 35% Chardonnay and 10% Pinot Meunierr from the base vintage of 2020, with 25% reserves from 2019 and 2018. On the lees for three years, it was bottled with a dosage of 7 g/l and of course, is tasted here one year on from release. Pastry and biscuit notes join quite an interesting, exotic note, something reminding me of dried banana chips. The palate has a huge lemony thrust of fruit that is brisk and energising, the tang of salty sea air and savoury sour plum joining in the extended finish.

(2026)

A new addition to the Gosset portfolio, this is in many ways a work of time. The non-vintage blend is based on the 2013 harvest, the base wine spending a year in tank with lees stirring before being bottled in the spring of 2015 with its liqueur de tirage. The wine then spent a full 10 years on the lees, being disgorged in spring 2025. Sourced from notable Crus including Ambonnay, Avize, Bouzy, Cramant and Cumières, it is a blend of 62% Chardonnay and 38% Pinot Noir.

I very much enjoyed this bone dry Champagne, the nose principally nutty, yeasty and biscuity, with a lemon pith and salts sense of minerality. All that time on the lees means texture and creamy weight on the palate, though the lemon and Seville orange brightness and punch, plus the tempered steel core of the acidity, shines through. That gives this wine exhilarating intensity, clarity, and length. It is a food wine too - from seafood to Thai or Sezchuan cuisine.

(2026) The second release from the English estate established by Pierre-Emmanuel Taittinger and Patrick McGrath MW in Kent, England. This 2021-based blend features reserve wines from 2019 and 2020. It is composed of Champagne's three principle grape varieties, majoring on Pinot Noir with 65%. It has a modest 7g/l dosage and spent three years on the lees. When first poured - fridge cold - this was sherbetty and attractive in a crisp style, but warming slightly it revealed much more depth, creaminess and autolysis coming through to add a background nuttiness. Delightful palate too, and though there is weight and texture, it has scintillating clarity and freshness, some sweetness to the fruit, but shimmering acidity.

(2026) A traditional method sparkling wine made from Pinot Blanc and Pinot Noir, farmed biodynamically I believe, though not certified. It pours with quite a dense mousse, and aromas that mix golden delicious apple and lemon sherbet. It's a bright and vivacious style, though there is a hint of biscuity creaminess that carries to the palate. It is quite a cool and decisive style though, lemony, pithy acidity keeping it bone dry in a mouthwatering aperitif style.

(2026) A straightforward but very enjoyable traditional method fizz, blending Chardonnay and Pinot Noir with a little Gamay. It spends 18 months on the lees, and the relatively high 10g/l dosage gives an impression of easy drinking sweetness. There's a touch of biscuit on the aroma and flavour, and plenty of ripe orchard fruit.

(2026) This is a Cap Classique sparkling wine, made by the traditional method that includes over two years on the lees. It is 100% Chenin Blanc. Delightful, creamy autolytic note ,bold yellow apple fruit, toast, nuttiness. Bright lemony fruit on the palate with more of a green apple bite, plenty of juiciness and mouthwatering freshness. Best vintage so far of this wine I think.