English wine is not Champagne
‘It would be endless to mention how many good judges of wine were deceived by my wine, and thought it superior to the best champagne they ever drank.’
So says the Honourable – and splendidly immodest – Charles Hamilton of his own English wine. The sentiment of the sentence has been much repeated, and it is generally agreed that the best bottles from English vineyards can beat the Champenois at their own game. In fact, the consensus is now so prolific it has become a cliché. I will go further, in fact, and argue that it is now so timeworn...