In Praise of ... Sparkling Wine

John Maynard Keynes is often quoted as having only one regret: "not having drunk enough champagne". The great economist was right about many things, but not this. He should have spotted that the French champagne industry is the product of restrictive practices and clever marketing. The industry has guarded the 33,500 hectares of flinty northern France that are the official home of champagne and jumped on producers from elsewhere that dare to borrow the méthode champenoise. No wonder sales are booming: exports to India grew by 50% last year, and those to China by 39%. Yesterday champagne makers considered lucrative plans to add 40 new villages to the 319 currently allowed to grow champagne grapes. Champagne's exalted reputation is partly due to George Leybourne, a former factory worker and music hall lyricist from Newcastle, whom Moët hired in 1866 to warble of the pleasures of the drink. He persuaded Britons that there was nothing quite as swell as champagne - an impression that lingers, despite the undoubted qualities of Catalan cava, Italian prosecco and even Georgian sparkling Bagrationi. The reality is that a lot of champagne is not very good and the best is very expensive. That exhilarating pop of the cork and stream of tiny bubbles are pleasures that English vineyards are perfectly capable of producing - and even the most ardent champagne socialist might have second thoughts about the superiority of the French tipple after tasting Nyetimber's Première Cuvée.