When it comes to wine, we all like to think of ourselves as open-minded. Sure, top-end Bordeaux and Burgundy is great, but there’s nothing worse than being predictable. At dinner parties, the new chic is surprising your guests with a recherché Sonoma Coast Cabernet that tastes just as good as a Pauillac classed growth, or a fantastic-value Mornington Peninsula Chardonnay that could easily pass for a Puligny Montrachet premier cru.

(Here at Jeroboams, we’re just the same. Believe us – our buying team like nothing more than discovering a hitherto unheralded Grenache Blanc from an obscure corner of the Rhône Valley, or returning from a South American trip with an unknown Uruguayan Albariño tucked under their arm.)
However much we like to think of ourselves as open-minded, though, there are times when a certain cachet is required of the wine selection. Christmas dinner, for example, is probably not the time to bust out that achingly hip Slovenian orange wine, however good it may be (or however much you want to ‘challenge’ your in-laws). Instead, in all likelihood, the biggest meal of the year merits similar status in the bottle – and that generally means the classics, with the added interest lying in the specific vintage, appellation or cuvée.

By the same token, for major celebrations, be it Christmas morning or New Year’s Eve, the corks being popped tend not to be Prosecco, Franciacorta or Cava. Not that there isn’t some fine fizz being made in all three regions. But like it or loathe it, on such occasions, it’s all about impact, image and impression. And for many of us – and, more importantly, our guests – that means it simply has to be Champagne. With, we would argue, one exception…

In recent years, the quality of English sparkling wines has risen immeasurably. At the same time – and arguably of just as much significance – has come a similarly steep increase in the perceived prestige of such wines. No longer are they a novelty, a curiosity, or indulged by dint of being ‘Good for England’, as writer Henry Jeffreys memorably has it in his hugely entertaining book, Vines in a Cold Climate. So much so that, today, the best examples are seen by many as the refined Champagne alternative for upscale celebrations.

Beyond the commensurate quality of an increasing number of English wines, of course, the style and make-up of home-grown fizz also bears comparison with that of Champagne, incorporating the traditional method and the same three grape varieties. It is perhaps telling, then, that this year’s festive fizz offer from Jeroboams comprises only Champagne and English sparkling in its ranks. And the two renderings of the latter span opposite ends of the winemaking spectrum.

Nyetimber is arguably the ultimate prestige producer on the English wine scene, a pioneering, large-scale label whose rigorous, relentless focus on quality has seen it take on the mantle of ‘The Krug of England,’ according to critic (and now Head of Wine Asia for 67 Pall Mall) Richard Hemming MW. The comparison is a good one, since the Nyetimber output boasts the same polished luxury – both inside and outside the bottle – of Krug-owner LVMH, and relies both on its own vineyards and bought-in grapes. Its vintage Premiere Cuvée (note the Gallic reference in the name) is astonishingly good value compared to an equivalent bottling from across the channel (and we’re not just talking Krug). The current release, the 2016, boasts all the buttery, toasty richness of a mature Blanc de Blancs but with a zappy lemon and zesty baked apple note to provide welcome lift (just the thing for New Year’s Eve, when the celebrations can go on long into the night).

Harrow & Hope, by contrast, is a relatively new arrival on the country’s still-nascent vineyard map, dating back only to 2010. It was founded by Henry Laithwaite (if the name is familiar, it was his father Tony who set up the eponymous mail-order wine merchant in the late 1960s). With advice from two late sparkling wine luminaries Mike Roberts, founder of Sussex producer Ridgeview, and Australian Dr Tony Jordan, who spearheaded Moët & Chandon’s drive into sparkling wine outside France, Henry planted a 6.5ha plot on a chalk-laden Thames gravel terrace on the Chiltern Hills near Marlow. That sole site, and the small, family-run approach, remains the driving force behind the brand, but the sophistication and skill of the winemaking has been refined in the subsequent years to yield wines of real vim and verve.

The harnessing of organic farming and native yeasts, in particular, has led to slower ferments and greater texture and complexity in the wines. The resultant Harrow & Hope NV Brut Reserve is the prime example, its racy acidity and floral, citrus edge being balanced by a spicy, bready note that belies its extremely friendly price tag. It’s the perfect example of the quality revolution in English sparkling wine over the last decade or so. For those who insist on keeping it traditional, the offer comprises several classic Champagne cuvées in its number. And among them are three of the few remaining family-owned houses in this often corporate-dominated bastion of wine.

One of the region’s oldest houses, Laurent-Perrier is still largely in the hands of the Nonancourt family, and produces a winningly consistent yet characterful NV bottling with moreish freshness. Louis Roederer, in the hands of the Rouzaud family for seven generations, produces a ‘multi-vintage’ equivalent, styled as rotating editions of its ‘Collection’, with the latest, no244, showing characteristic depth and density.
Taittinger too, after a tumultuous saga two decades ago that saw it sold from beneath them, is today back in family hands, under the dynamic leadership of the well-named Vitalie Taittinger and her brother Clovis. Its rich, full-flavoured Folies de la Marquetterie rendering, drawn solely from the vineyards surrounding the family home, is a bold way to start Christmas morning.

And while still rosé remains largely a wine for warmer times (or climes), sparkling rosé somehow seems to fit the bill all-year round. Indeed one could argue that its extra fruit intensity lends itself perfectly to the requisite warmth of the season. Laurent-Perrier and Nyetimber both have fine pink offerings as part of the offer, the former among Champagne’s most enduring rosés, the latter arguably England’s finest such rendering. Meanwhile for a real statement, the Bollinger Rosé shows seasonally apt wild red berries with just a hint of spice. Based around the marque’s Special Cuvée, it is bolstered by red wine drawn from Bollinger’s vineyards, including the renowned monopole, Côte aux Enfants. All of which rather demands a special occasion. Now, is there anything coming up in the calendar?