England sparkles

Tasting English sparkling wine gets more and more pleasurable each year. The annual Judgement of Parsons Green event brings together a selection of styles, origins and prices that represent a pretty comprehensive view of the category. See our tasting reports on this event from 2011, 2012 and 2013. This year, rosé was particularly impressive, for me. Several new names also performed well, alongside solid showings from many of the established names.

It remains the case that the non-champagne varieties fare far less well, although there are occasional exceptions to prove that rule. The evolution of pricing is interesting, too, with more...