Through the grapevine: Inside the Nyetimber Harvest Luncheon

Each of the Nyetimber offerings is a classic in its own right, and distinctive enough to justify the broad, ambitious range. The Classic Cuvee plays things with a straight bat — fine golden bubbles with toasty, spiced notes — before apple strudel flavours and a touch of the old almond croissant sing through. The Blanc de Blancs is the very spirit of elegance herself, its fragrant honeysuckle flirting with white peach and leavened with a fresh, zesty acidity. The Cuvee Chérie, meanwhile, is a wine with notes of honeyed apricot and an almost savoury finish, which does its best work after a forkful of decent pudding. But it’s the Tillington Single Vineyard that, in my opinion, seems to triumphantly steal the show — a shimmering, pale gold wine with toasted meringue caught in its bubbles, and beguiling notes of fine strawberry and mandarin on the palette. It is the perfect and most pleasing reminder of what the very best sparkling wines can be. But more than this, it is a wonderful evocation of the fields and trees and gentle slopes around us — a place always green, ever pleasant, and unmistakably English.

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