Download the wine list - Matthew Clark

The sparkling wine sector has shown the biggest growth of
any of the wine sectors in the on-trade over the last few years.
This has been driven by the rise of Prosecco and continued growth in the sales of Cava.
Whilst both differ in style and method of production, consumers continue to engage with
their fi zz and frivolity; celebrating occasions without the need to open Champagne. Whilst
in the past sparkling wine that has not been produced in north-east France has generally
been considered as a ‘poor imitation’ of Champagne, today this is not the case. As a
result consumers are enjoying wines from as far away as New Zealand and as near to
home as Kent.
- Consider English sparklers, whilst last year’s harvest was ‘light’, those wines
made over the last few years are drinking superbly now.
- Prosecco made from the eponymous variety, also known as Glera, is now
very popular both in the bar and with food.
- Cava – our selection includes organic, vintage, rosés and brut nature wines.
- Looking for a lighter, fruitier style – we can offer a 7.5%, medium-dry
French sparkler for that specifi c occasion.
Champagne
An area to the east of Paris famed for its
sparkling wines made from Chardonnay,
Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier. The area
divides into four main regions: the
Montagne de Reims, to the south of the
city, where Pinot Noir is more frequently
found; the Côte des Blancs, south of
Epernay, a great region for Chardonnay;
and the Vallée de la Marne. To the south
the Aube region has a warmer climate
and produces good, ripe Pinot Meunier.
Champagne is a region famed for its
blending, as many as 50 individual
wines made from different grapes and
often from different years are used to
construct a single wine.
Styles of Champagne
The most widely made style is nonvintage
(NV) made to reflect the house
style: the blend, length of maturation,
‘dosage’ and amount of reserve wines,
from older vintages, used all influence
the outcome. Vintage wines, only made
in the best years, reflect the individual
year: a very warm year will show more
fruit character. Rosés can be made
either by addition of red wine or by the
‘saignée’ method allowing some colour
to bleed out from the skins during
vinification. Finally the ‘prestige cuvées’
are the house’s best wines, made from
grapes from the best vineyards.
The Traditional Method
Pioneered in the Champagne region the
Traditional Method is recognised as the
only way to make Champagne. The key
aspect to this process is that the wine
undergoes a second fermentation in a
bottle, to attain its sparkling character,
and that the finished wine will be poured
into the glass from this same bottle.
Earlier in the process wines will be made
by fermenting individual parcels of grapes
from different vineyards and blended to
a house style. Champagne will also be
aged for months if not years on its ‘lees’,
the remnants of the second fermentation,
prior to the tricky process of removing
them and adding a ‘dosage’ (sugar
dissolved in mature wine) to adjust the
wine to the required style.
06 Champagne
14 Australian Sparkling
15 English Sparkling
Champagne & Sparkling
Other Methods
The Charmat and Transfer Methods, can
be used to make good sparkling wines.
These tend to be less expensive then
those made by the Traditional Method
but lack the complexity and elegance:
as neither of these methods involve the
wine undergoing the final fermentation
in the bottle in which it is sold.
16 French Sparkling
16 Italian Sparkling
18 New Zealand Sparkling
Cava and Prosecco
Cava from north-east Spain, mostly
Catalunya, is always made by the
Traditional Method; the wines can be
made in a number of styles including
vintage and rosé. The grapes can
either be indigenous to the region or
Chardonnay, or Pinot Noir, or a blend;
and the wines spend a minimum of nine
months ageing on their ‘lees’. Prosecco is
both the name of the grape, and a white
wine, from north-east Italy. Produced by
the Charmat Method, with the secondary
fermentation taking place in tank prior to
bottling: it either has a soft frothy fizz or
can be ‘frizzante’ – semi-sparkling.
18 Portuguese Sparkling
18 South African Sparkling
19 Spanish Sparkling
Outside Europe
Cooler regions of New World countries
can also produce grapes suitable to
make sparkling wines. Often made
by the Traditional Method, they tend
to have a fuller range of fruit flavours.
Look out for examples made from the
classic Champagne grapes as well as
other famous varieties.