Asquith Gardens English Sparkling Wine

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14 July 2026

I have to admit that I have a general mistrust of English sparkling wine, and indeed Champagne, when sold by UK supermarkets. When I return to buy one I previously enjoyed at a press tasting, it is rarely as good as I remember and can sometimes be very poor.

This is not limited to one supermarket. I have experienced it across several, particularly, for some reason, around Christmas. I suspect it has something to do with these wines being non-vintage, which I will come back to later.

I purchased this one from Asda after picking it out at the Asda Autumn tasting. At the time, the tasting information said it was made up of 62% Chardonnay, 29% Pinot Noir and 9% Pinot Meunier. As it is non-vintage, it is impossible to know whether the bottle I purchased came from the same blend or a later vintage. However, it has the same 11.5% ABV, while the back label also lists Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Pinot Meunier. It is made by Rolling Green Hills Ltd which is widely rumoured to originate from Nyetimber.

In the event, I was very pleased with it. There were excellent brioche, lemon and apple aromas, followed by lovely sweet apple and citrus flavours, touches of honey and a long, biscuity finish. Someone I tasted it with said they would never have known it was not Champagne.

Trying to make sense of the unpredictability of non-vintage sparkling wine from nearly all supermarkets, I suspect there is often a lot of the previous year’s stock sitting on the shelves and that it has not aged particularly well. This Asda bottle tasted fresh and I’ll be getting more.

I purchased it from Asda for £18.50, reduced by 25% at the time, on a mix six, to £13.68, which makes it an exceptional bargain.

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