Finally some wine. It’s been mostly beer with colleagues or dry evenings for me recently, so it was nice to have a bit of good fizz. Though calling a UK fizz good will inevitably seem controversial to some. Which is a shame: I thought this was very enjoyable.
2009 Ridgeview Merret Cavendish - England, West Sussex
30,60€; 12,5% abv; 44% Chardonnay, 27% Pinot Noir & 29% Pinot Meunier; 8 g/l sugar. I am always amused by what I read about UK fizz. It always seems to be a variant of this quote: “It’s the price of basic Champagne and of similar quality. So why buy it? I’ll buy basic Champagne instead.” And then, if one is of a pointy disposition, one will give a score in the low to mid-80s. I prefer to say that neither Champagne nor UK fizz provides great value for money, but I find it silly to discriminate against the UK stuff if one admits to it being of similar quality. Now, for what’s it worth, I really enjoyed this bottle and actually found it superior to many of the basic Champagnes available over here. It has a rather elegant, strongly bread-like aroma, with some really attractive steely, floral character I always associate with Chardonnay. Crisp and citric, high in acidity, focused and delineated. Not much fat around these bones, but I like this style of sparkler. I enjoyed this very much.