M&S Marksman Brut 2009, Sussex, England

This is a 100% Blanc de Blancs wine made by Ridgeview for M&S. This is unusual for an English sparkler in using a small amount of French Oak in the winemaking - I can't find any details but I'm thinking that perhaps a small percentage of the wine was fermented in a-few-years-old oak. On paper this is a risky thing to try and pull of with our nervy style of Chardonnay, but in this case it's more of a faint seasoning than a major player, and it really works.
The nose is all fresh red apples, ripe lemon zest, whitecurrants and the faint warmth of brioche dusted with vanilla sugar. There's a pleasing savoury thrust on the palate which for me is the main manifestation of the oak usage, and it sits very well alongside the tangy whitecurrant/apple fruit. As with many English sparklers it feels a bit 'tight' at this age and could do with more time in bottle - as the evening went on it started to uncoil a little bit. I'm going to pick some up and stick it in the cellar alongside a few other English goodies...