Coates & Seely: Britagne at its best

Taste Hampshire's finest today from midday at our Bishopsgate shop
And with Jennifer Heyes from 12-2pm

Apart from our recent, bruising encounter with him in Bordeaux, we've always thought that Christian Seely's actions speak louder than his words. He is a most successful director of AXA Insurance's wine division including Pichon-Baron, Noval, Suduiraut and Petit-Village amongst others. He travels widely and frequently to their investments and has a great reputation for detail and for adding value. In fact he's a smart guy, despite the bow tie.

So here he is back in the UK in partnership with Nick Coates and making very fine sparkling wine in Hampshire. They employ classic bottle-fermented techniques, which they label Méthode Britannique, while they call the wine style 'Britagne', which sounds rather like what we were given a sip of at school when the house won a cup. This however is much, much better than that.

We are fortunate to have Jennifer Heyes as our host representing the estate and she will be able to give you the details of the wines. Although yesterday was St George's day, we aren't suggesting that Coates and Seely will slay the dragon of your thirst but it is more than competitive with its rivals from Champagne. So please pop in and enjoy a sip before this so called heatwave breaks. /CW