No Shortage Of Sparkle 2024

Very elegant and long? fine stone fruit with a hint of creaminess? the acidity is perfectly handled and balanced. 12.5% JAMES HALLIDAY

Third generation vignerons, the Pinons have 25 hectares in Vernou-sur-Brenne. 50% of their production is sparkling and 50% still wine with nothing sold off to the négoce.

We have long loved the wines of Damien Pinon and when we first tried this little number we were pretty stoked. Great sparkling Loire is such a treat. It captures all that zingy, racy, pure goodness of chenin blanc while bringing the added dimension of bubbles into the equation. They seem like a perfect partnership and we absolutely love this wine.

Quince and granny smith, talcum powder, quartyz spice and a gently honeysuckle, floral element that floats deliciously around in the background. Its pure and precise but fills out across the palate with each sip. Sometimes, Loire Sparkling is a little too lean  but this deliver plenty of fruit at the same time to balance of the fine, minerally acidity.

...Vibrant, lively, lemon and ginger with green apple characters. Has this slightly wild sourness in the mix, lots of sea spray and salty minerality, a very refreshing zesty expression with a compelling edginess that sits outside traditional sparkling wine styles. I really like this. MIKE BENNIE, The Wine Front

Méthode traditionnelle, 72/28% pinot noir/chardonnay. Fourth release, with a low dosage (7g/L), disgorged in June, 2021. Complex floral and citrus aromas introduce this charmer with pastry and yeasty notes in support. With input from reserve wines – 2017 and ' 18 reserve chardonnay and pinot noir, aged in old barrels – the palate delves into mandarin, cumquat, nougat and toast, in harmony with a surge in tangy acidity. Great balance and length on display. JENI PORT, James Halliday

A gentle fine bead cuts the cassis and cranberry fruit that underlies a subtle chalky and delicate spice lift. Fine and breezy in style it still packs in plenty of flavour. Crisp and vivacious. Lovely poise and precision too but never straying away from its easy-going nature and trying to be something its not. What every pet-nat should be. 

Based in Rully and presided over by third-generation winemaker-proprietor Philippe Chautard, Maison Louis Picamelot produces some of the best sparkling wines in Burgundy. Forever in Champagne's shadow, few take Crémant de Bourgogne seriously. But what this Maison is doing is already impressive and well worth open-minded consumers' attention. WILLIAM KELLEY, Wine Advocate

Makes you smile this wine. There's a generosity of aromatic that leads you through baked pastry, fresh cut stonefruits and then an invogorating punch of crushed stone minerality puffs into view. It's kind of like a Champagne letting it's hair down on the palate as well, genrosity of well-defined fruit is edged with minerality and oyster shell while the fine bead cinches and tucks in the effusive edges. Its got enough in it for the serious-minded fizz drinker but is also playful and generous enough to keep you pulling it out of the fridge for pretth much any pcassion. MICHAEL MCNAMARA

This thing hits it out of the park in terms of delivering quality and value. It doesn’t hold back with packing in the flavour either. The fruit is present and accounted for, with a nice lick of minerality and some back end punch, but what is really striking is the yeasty, brioche, burnt toast mealy characters that immediately greet you as you take your first sniff. It has all the bells and whistles. As a Champagne nerd I love to see that in the wine, as distinctly different to my fetish for Grower Bubbles, give me some of that expressively yeasty goodness. Substantial length here too. This will be one hell of a crowd pleaser. ROSCOE

Siren song aromatics of strawberries and cream, a little tarragon and mineral and maybe a little vanilla lead you head first into the glass. So enticing and welcoming and it continues on the palate with the same ebullient fruit held within a soft and pillowy mousse creating an almost sensual decadent impression. Alongside that though is real energy and vigour elevating the fruit and spice (and a little sage) element in the wine. It's so beuatiuflly put together this wine and would leave a number of it's Champagne cousins for dead and ashamed of their pricing. Gorgeous sparkling. MICHAEL MCNAMARA   


One of the crew called this “soft and mellow” I can see where that comes from, it certainly has a lovely mouth filling quality and all those billowing soft bubbles provide such a sensual cushioning effect, but the wine lacks nothing for racy energy either. I don't think its soft, I think it's lush!
Also, I love the fine chalkiness that punctuates the fruit. Like its BdB sibling the lights are flashing and the sirens are cranked up, they don’t shy away from the winemaking and let’s be honest, that’s what makes Champa… sparkling wines like this so exciting. Even with that distinct autolytic creaminess the wines overall impression is one of flirtatious elegance. It is my pick of the two, but only just, and it pips its sibling on refinement if not substance. ROSCOE

Straw yellow. Breadcrumb, walnut and yellow fruit on the nose. Really fresh palate with cracking lemony acidity and fine bubble. Just a tiny bit bitter but adds contrast and tension. WALTER SPELLING, Jancis Robinson

A more serious Prosecco with peaches, grapefruit, chopped apples and wet stones on the nose. It’s focused, dry and bright with a refined mineral edge. Lively bubbles. Drink now. JAMES SUCKLING

Delicate aromas of white spring flower, citrus and exotic fruit lead the nose. The dry palate offers white peach, nectarine and candied almond alongside fresh acidity. KERIN O’KEEFE

Notes of apple blossom, crushed rocks and ripe pears provide immediate pleasure. The palate is finely composed of airy flavours – lemon sherbert and apples take the lead, alongside slatey minerally flavours. Just when you think it's going to finish a saline twist on the finish delights. It’s a delightful prosecco that will make your afternoon catchup with friends. GABRIELLE POY

This fragrant, graceful Prosecco is the fruit of a selection of grapes from the finest vineyards in the zone of Cordignano, Sarmede, and Cappella Maggiore in the hills of Treviso. The bouquet is generous, with emphatic notes of Golden Delicious apple, peach, and wisteria, displaying a wonderful balance between fragrance and refreshing crispness. The palate is fruit-forward and smooth, full-bodied and well-structured; overall, it is a harmonious and elegant wine. BELLENDA

A blend of 85% Pinot Nero and 15% Nerello Mascalese coming off the highest vineyards on the property, at 950 metres. The grapes spend 8–10 hours on skins to get a ‘stain’ of colour. Disgorgement happens by hand after a minimum of 36 months, and is generally finished around 40 months with around 4 grams of residual sugar. Think blood orange and wild strawberries but with that underlying Etna mineral note that makes the overall feel more complex and savoury. Delicious enough that this might easily fill the space for an alternative sparkling at the higher end of the category.