I’ve shaken things up on Great British Wine this month. By posting wine reviews more regularly throughout the month in a new format, this gives individual wines and producers more focus. Fear not though, as the Great British Wine round-up returns after a brief hiatus with a new look and a familiar approach. I’ll continue to highlight a selection of my favourite wines each month and include a foreword on the wines featured.

This month I’ve tasted some particularly strong releases, with the sparkling wines, especially, offering exceptional quality and clarity. One of the highlights has to be the third vintage of 1086 by Nyetimber (£150.00), which offers wonderful precision and refined, elegance. Exton Park also served up another cracker, with their Blanc de Blancs 2014 (£65.00), which offers the estate’s signature top notes of crisp apple and racy citrus with bright minerality. Next up is a duo of delicious Organic sparkling wine offerings: Oxney’s Brut 2019 (£38.00) is another fresh take, but with delicious subtle honey-roasted nut complexities. And Albury’s Sparkling Rosé NV (£36.95) is a super refreshing take on rosé that has fruit purity at the forefront.

On the still side I’ve discovered two of the most unique still English wine releases of the year so far: my first taste of wine from Sussex’s impressive Highweald estate is their Ghyll Valley White (£19.00), an unusual blend of Bacchus, Chardonnay and Pinot Gris from multiple vintages. It impressed with its bursting freshness, delicate aromatics and creamy peach notes. Meanwhile, Balfour’s inaugural Albariño 2022 puts a unique English twist on the much-loved grape’s mineral and peachy characteristics. Both of these wines demonstrate the continued expansion of the English still wine category.

1086 by Nyetimber 2013

It’s always exciting to try a new 1086 wine from Nyetimber. Past releases have represented some of the most refined and textural English sparkling wines out there. The 2013 vintage is also a special one; many of my favourite and most memorable English sparkling wines were born from that year – both Nyetimber’s own and other producers across the country. So the expectation of this wine was already pretty high.

And it certainly doesn’t disappoint, opening up with a complex and alluring nose of red apple, nectarine skin and hints of honeyed fruit. Also notes of roasted almond, chalk and lemon keep everything bright and fresh.

Where this really starts to sing is on the palate: initial bursts of lemon and tingling salinity are partnered with crisp apple, but there’s a slender softness with silky soft bubbles that makes this wine incredibly compelling and indulgent.

The red fruit (49% percent of the total blend) really starts to emerge as the wine opens in the glass, with hints of cranberry, red cherry and almond coming to the forefront as the wine warms.

I’m a firm believer in putting my money where my mouth is – and with 2013 being my wedding year, I’ve already invested in a case of the 1086 2013 for future celebrations.

Exton Park Blanc de Noirs 2014

I have for quite some time been a champion of Exton Park’s precise and distinctive sparkling wines. While the estate remains focussed on its non-vintage ‘Reserve Blend’ approach, it is the rare release of a vintage wine that is often the most captivating. The latest to be launched is the Blanc de Noirs 2014 – only their second vintage Blanc de Noirs to date – and the first to be released at retail.

The fruit used in this wine came from one particular block of Pinot Noir, and explaining the importance of the grape, winemaker Corinne Seely stated that “the creation of a vintage Blanc de Noirs at Exton Park is a truly exceptional occurrence, given the precious nature of Pinot Noir in our Reserve Blends”.

Pale in colour compared to some of the more bronzed Blanc de Noirs out there, the wine has a powerful nose of red apple, chalk and toasted almond, as well as hints of almond pastry.

The palate is brisk and bright, with the signature Exton Park top notes of crisp apple, racy citrus and bright minerality. The palate takes a creamier, weightier turn, with almond croissant notes, together with a curious smoky hint and soft, slender bubbles.

What makes this really special is the juxtaposition of the linear, fresh and chalky precision that all of Exton Park’s wines demonstrate alongside the complexities that nearly ten years of bottle age allows to develop.

Oxney Organic Estate Brut 2019

Oxney is one of the longest-standing Organic English Wine producers, and at 35 acres is the largest single estate Organic vineyard in the country.

I’ve been tasting their wines since the very first vintage, and have visited and stayed at the vineyard several times. Whilst saying they are underrated is, I feel, selling them short, they are one of the country’s hidden gems.

Take this latest Brut 2019, for example, glistening and golden in the glass and with a nose to match, full of red apple, cranberry and nectarine notes, with lemon rind, honey-roasted cashew complexity and a hint of marmalade.

The palate is initially linear and brisk, with lots of crisp apple and orchard fruit freshness. It’s a low dosage style, just 1.5g/l, and the Liqueur d’Expedition (the wine used to top up after disgorgement) comes from a special Solera system that Oxney has developed. This brings a lovely biscuity and nutty complexity and adds great depth to an otherwise precise and strait-laced sparkling wine.

Albury Estate Sparkling Rosé NV

Famous for their cult favourite still English rosé wine from Surrey, it’s hard to believe that sparkling rosé is something of a rarity for Albury Vineyard – especially when they do it so well!

Made from 100% Pinot Noir, including Pinot Noir Précoce, this is a fresh and fruity glass that drinks superbly when the springtime sun peeks through the clouds.

Crisp and fresh, with lemon, pink grapefruit and cranberry up-front, the palate opens to strawberry and raspberry, with a distinctive chalky texture.

This is a super refreshing take on rosé that has fruit purity at the forefront, and it’s really quite lovely.

Highweald Ghyll Valley MV

It’s always great to try something a little bit different in concept. Over the last couple of years I’ve become more of a champion of English white wine blends than I expected but this wine, my first taste from Highweald in Sussex, is a rather unique blend of three grapes and multiple vintages.

There’s 72% Bacchus, 18% Chardonnay and 10% Pinot Gris from the 2020 and 2021 vintages in the blend, with a mixture of stainless steel and barrel fermentation ageing.

The nose on the Ghyll Valley White sets the stage nicely: there are aromas of citrus, ripe white peach and floral tones – I’m thinking more honeysuckle than elderflower, which is interesting, considering the prominence of Bacchus in the blend.

On the palate an immediate burst of acidity and fresh lemon and lime zestiness commands attention that softens to creamy peach melba waves and some lovely weight, despite the relatively low ABV of 11.5%. There’s a hint of residual sugar which adds a little breadth and roundness to the palate. Overall, this is a very well-considered and successful blend.

Balfour Albariño 2022

This is Balfour’s first ever Albariño, made from the 2022 vintage, and I believe to this date only the third take on this variety in England (the others being a few vintages from Chapel Down and Ancre Hill’s orange sparkling).

On the nose, there are waxy lemons, white peach and light floral hints, with a distinct wet stone minerality.

I was expecting a slightly tight and lean wine, and whilst the acidity is certainly punchy and bright, there’s a softness to the wine that recalls stone fruit and ripe apple. Saline and tingling throughout, with a hint of white pepper on the finish, I think this is a really worthwhile and accomplished addition to the Balfour line-up.

This is an extremely limited release, mostly destined for the on-trade, with a limited allocation at the Balfour cellar door and for Wine Club customers.