Sparkling summer wines
Fillipo Sansovino Extra Dry Prosecco, Italy NV (£6.50, Asda) This summer (the coldest and wettest since 2012 so far apparently) hasn’t offered very many opportunities for lingering outside with a cold glass or two, never mind a picnic. But I haven’t given up hope that we’ll have a decent stretch of warmer weather, and that this week’s selection of summery sparkling wines will get their moment in the sun. That said, while a well-made extra dry prosecco such as Asda’s bargain is an ideal contender for any summer parties or picnics, its slightly sweet style is also well matched to the sort of foods I’d eat come rain or shine at this time of year, whether a delicate Vietnamese salad flavoured with mint, coriander, fish sauce and lime or a fresh fruit salad of English summer berries. And while I’m on this subject, it’s worth remembering that, rather misleadingly, extra dry prosecco always has more sugar than the driest, brut style; the Fillipo Sansovino, for example has 14.5g of sugar per litre, compared to 10g for the same brand’s Brut Millesimato.
Proyecto Nakkal Simple Pet Nat Rosé, Canalones, Uruguay 2022 (from £14.10, templarwines.co.uk; connollyswine.co.uk; vintopiawine.co.uk) Another fizz style that seems ideally suited to summer, whether it’s a matter of acting as a kind of surrogate sunshine in a glass or a refreshing way to cool down on a genuinely hot evening, is pét-nat, or pétillant naturel. This new-old way of making sparkling wine, which is made by bottling a wine before it’s finished its fermentation, has its roots in the Loire Valley, but has been adopted by natural-minded producers all over the world, with many of my favourite examples coming from places that are not traditionally associated with sparkling wine. Two I’ve particularly enjoyed this summer, for example, come from Uruguay, whose fast-improving wines are still somewhat overshadowed by those of its bigger, noisier neighbour in Argentina: the cherry, red apple and pleasingly medicinal tang of Proyecto Nakkal Simple and the floral and tropical fruity vibes of Viña Progeso Underground Pét Nat Torrontés 2023 (£23.95, sevencellars.co.uk).
The Uncommon Bubbly Rosé, Kent, England NV (£5.95, 25cl, Waitrose) Pét-nat has also started to emerge from some of the more enterprising cellars in the UK, where the scene has hitherto largely concentrated on the traditional method patented by Champagne, in which the wine completes its first fermentation in a tank before being transferred to a bottle with yeast and sugar for the second, fizz-giving part of the process. My favourite is the moreishly lipsmackingly pleasingly sour and light (9.5%) Ancre Hill Estate Pink Pet Nat 2023 from Monmouth in Wales (£19.50, montywines.co.uk). As a picnic offering, meanwhile, it’s hard to beat the easy strawberry-scented carbonated Kentish rosé-in-a-can from The Uncommon for portability. And, for those of a more traditional bent, one of the original pioneers of modern English wine, Cornwall’s Camel Valley, are on typically fine, super-summery, fresh form with the latest vintage of their traditional-method blend of seyval blanc, pinot blanc and chardonnay, Camel Valley Brut 2021 (from £32.95, camelvalley.com; Waitrose; laithewaites.co.uk).
Follow David Williams on X @Daveydaibach
