A sparkling Brit that beats Champagne

2010 Ridgeview, Knightsbridge Blanc de Noirs, East Sussex (£32.95, Ridgeview Estate, 0845-345 7292, www.ridgeview.co.uk; Berry Bros & Rudd, 0800-280 2440; Harrods, 020-7730 1234; Butlers Wine Cellars, 01273-698724; www.sparklingenglishwine.com; The Wine Pantry, 020-7403 3003).

I recently hosted a corporate event and the theme that I worked the wines around was hidden gems'. I do a lot of these gigs and take great pleasure in selecting the wines. This time I felt that I would throw in an English sparkler for good measure, banking on the fact that everyone would assume that I would pour eclectic champagne. I was right.English sparkling wine, from a handful of top estates, is truly world class, as I am sure you already know.

Within the elite group of wineries, though, there is a sub-set of utterly awesome wines. This pinot noir/pinot meunier blend is one of the finest English sparkling wines that I have ever tasted and every single person who tasted it at the event was blown away. Ridgeview's portfolio is very smart indeed, but this heavenly wine, with the faintest of pink hues, is the jewel in the crown and I urge you to taste it because elegance and finesse like this costs the earth from that region over the Channel.

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