ROBERT HARDMAN: As many of the biggest names in the French wine industry now readily acknowledge, the really exciting new frontier of fizz is not in France but in South East England.
(£28, Decorum Vintners, 020-8969 6581, decvin.com) I have long been a fan of Barbera d’Asti La Tota from the exceptional Marchesi Alfieri estate and the new 2018 vintage is a stunner (£18.95, decvin.com). In fact, this wine has kept me so satiated over the years that I have never ventured further into this starry portfolio. That was until a few weeks ago when I opened a bottle of 2016 Costa Quaglia and it was a eureka moment like no other in this lockdown year. I will remember this revelation as the strongest thread of nebbiolo connecting me to the region that I was prevented from visiting in 2020 thanks to the Covid-19 pandemic.