Ipopped into my local Majestic last Friday to pick up two bottles of Champagne. ‘I need a good one and a bad one,’ I told the bemused saleswoman. ‘I’m staying with friends in the country for whom I must bring a gift.’ Blank stare. ‘Ah yes, and some are doing a triathlon on Sunday, so I also need something to hose them down with.’

Lord knows what I ended up buying for the latter, but the gift was an obvious choice — albeit not Champagne per se. A week earlier, Nyetimber’s Blanc de Blancs 2016 Magnum had been crowned Champion Sparkling Wine at the International Wine Challenge. I saw a bottle of the West Sussex label’s Classic Cuvée in the fridge and looked no further.

A week later, Nyetimber was named Winery of the Year by The Real Review and the award for Sparkling Rosé of the Year went t

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