diamond jubilee fizzy lifting drink

Jubilee Time! Celebrating with English wine? Yeah, probably not. But over the past few years, the quality has been gone way up.

English sparkling wine producers RidgeView released a bottle of sparkling rosé, the Victoria, to commemorate the Queen’s Diamond Jubliee. It’s 63% Pinot Meunier and 37% Pinot Noir, with a pale salmon color. I haven’t had it, but the site describes it like this: “The mousse which goes hand in hand with these bubbles is creamy and soft. The nose offers up delightful red fruit with elements of honey and toast, and the palate accentuates the red fruit. The Victoria has an extending length that is worthy of our Queen!”

Ha, love that last part!

So why all the interest in English sparkling now? Climate change has upped temperatures in southern England and it’s now within one degree of the Champagne region.  And the two most planted grapes in England are Chardonnay and Pinot Noir – two of the three main grapes used in Champagne. Some English wines have even beaten French fizz in blind tastings, even though it’s still only less than 1% of the UK market.

Anyway, if you want to try the Victoria you can buy it here. It’s £26.99 (about $41.50).