Ridgeview

During a recent wine road trip, the gregarious Jimmy Smith, aka The Wine Guy, and I stopped off at Ridgeview in East Sussex on the day of the Olympics opening ceremony, to quaff a few of England's finest sparklers, two of which are featured in this video – Ridgeview's flagship fizz Bloomsbury Brut and quirky sparkling red Pimlico. Chin chin!

Invivo dinner at The Fulham Wine Rooms

Proving that small can indeed be beautiful are Rob Cameron and Tim Lightbourne of Invivo Wines, a boutique New Zealand winery founded by the entrepreneurial pair in 2007. Making wine from both Marlborough and Central Otago, Invivo released its first wine in 2008 and has built up its range to five wines: a Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris, Rosé and a low alcohol Sauvignon Blanc called Bella, known as "skinny Sav", which is proving incredibly popular with health-conscious women, leading the boys to triple production.

While in town last month, winemaker Rob Cameron (left) showed off his quintet at The Fulham Wine Rooms at a dinner organised by Jimmy Smith of the West London Wine School. Having worked stints in Slovenia, Cyrpus and Moldova, Cameron is happy to be back in his homeland, with business partner Lightbourne – who counts L'Oreal among his previous employers – looking after the marketing.

Conscious of the importance a label can have on a global brand, the pair struck upon a dynamic design; a white eight-point star set against a black background created by New Zealand fashion house Zambesi. But with so many wineries out there, what makes Invivo different? “Hands on marketing, hands on winemaking and a strong belief in the quality of our wine,” enthuses Lightbourne. “We don’t just send a container of product to our export market, we send ourselves as well."

Ensconced in The Fulham Wine Rooms' private dining room, Cameron kicked off with 2011 Bella Sauvignon Blanc, which I was curious to try. The nose displayed all the typical Kiwi Sauvignon aromas you'd expect, from blackcurrant leaf to freshly cut grass, pineapple and passion fruit, while the palate offered mouth-watering acidity and surprising body and punch for a 9% abv wine. Having been charmed by Bella, we moved on to the 2011 Pinot Gris produced in Marlborough. The feminine nose showed exotic aromas of quince, fig, lychee and poached pear, while the unctuous palate offered both texture and clean acidity. To match, we enjoyed an autumnal tartine of aubergine and mushrooms in an earthy, creamy sauce.

For the main event, we moved on to the estate's signature wine, the 2011 Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc, releasing the inner philosopher in Cameron: "With our Sauvignon Blanc, it's about creating a moment in time in the vineyard." More fragrant than Bella, it had a zingy nose of cut grass, tropical fruit and freshly squeezed lime. Bright and alive, the palate was deceptively powerful, with impressive concentration and lift from the vibrant acidity and herbal notes, which proved a great pairing for the accompanying fillet of cod in a zesty sauce vierge – a virgin sauce made from olive oil, lemon juice and chopped tomato.

Up next was 2010 Sophie's Rosé, named after the founder of Zambesi. A pretty salmon pink, the fresh, summery wine burst with strawberries, raspberries, redcurrants and watermelon. A charming picnic wine, it proved a perfect pair for our pineapple pud. Saving the best till last, Cameron cracked open his 2009 Central Otago Pinot Noir to enjoy with the cheese. By far my favourite wine of the night, its deep ruby colour revealed a meaty nose of forest floor, red berry, smoky bacon and herbal aromas, while the soft, perfumed palate of bright red cherries almost longingly recalled a beautiful Burgundy. Was he aiming for a Burgundian style? "All New World winemakers that make Pinot Noir are aspiring to the heights of great Burgundy," Cameron admits.

Wine aside, both Cameron and Lightbourne take a great interest in art, sponsoring and setting up an Invivo bar at the 2011 Venice Biennale, and nurturing homegrown creative talent, including musicians, fashion designers and their latest discovery; a group of graffiti artists, TMD Crew, at the forefront of the global graffiti scene. Could this mean a daring new label for Invivo's next release? Watch this space...

Ravenswood

I recently spent two glorious weeks in California, taking in seven wineries en route. My first stop, Ravenswood in Sonoma, where Zinphomaniac winemaker Joel Peterson makes some of the best Zinfandels in the country. Here fellow wine nut Jimmy Smith and I taste the Lodi 2008 above a tombstone that reads: "To err is human, but to zin is divine, here lies the last wimpy wine."

English wine tasting

We all know about the merits of English sparkling wine – Ridgeview Estate's Grosvenor Blanc de Blancs 2006 recently won the UK Sparkling Over £10 Regional Trophy at the Decanter World Wine Awards, making it a contender for the Sparkling Over £10 International Trophy at the Decanter World Wine Awards ceremony dinner on 1 September, where it will be competing on a level playing field with heavyweight vintage Champagnes.

Sparkling wines aside, when my flatmate Jimmy Smith, who runs the West London Wine School in Fulham, mentioned he was hosting a Best of British wine tasting, I was the first to sign up, excited about trying the still wines on offer.

A modest and manageable eight wines were on show – four whites, one red and three sparklers. We seem to be experiencing something of a wine boom in England – planting is at an all time high. The 2009 figures show 1,215 hectares under vine, with Champagne grapes Pinot Noir and Chardonnay being the most widely planted, followed by trendy grape Bacchus, named, of course, after the Roman god of wine.

A whopping 75% of England's vineyards are in the south, clustered around Sussex, Surrey and Kent. Although winemaking in England dates back to AD43, when the Romans brought vines to Britain, it's only over the past 20 years that we've started to be taken seriously as a quality wine producing country. And things are on the up, with both foreign and local investment, a surge of skilled winemakers coming up through the ranks, and the effects of Global Warming, England is emerging as a serious player in the wine world.

There are currently 381 vineyards in England, stretching as far north as Yorkshire, and 116 wineries producing around 2.2m bottles a year, and a record 3.2m in 2009. Jimmy's tasting began with Stanlake Park Regatta White 2007, a blend of Ortega (named after the Spanish liberal philosopher José Ortega), Madeleine Angevine and Schonburger. The stunning, sprawling Stanlake Park manor house wouldn't look out of place on the Left Bank. The wine however, failed to impress. It had some attractive green fruit and crisp acidity, but was too light bodied to get me excited.

On to wine 2; Denbies Flint Valley NV from the Surrey-based winery boasting the biggest single vineyard in the UK. I have to admit to being both proud and nostalgic about tasting this wine. I was born ten minutes from the vineyard in Godstone a year before it was founded in 1984. There is something wonderful about trying a wine from where you were born. I felt the same pride (albeit disproportional) as natives of Bordeaux and Champagne do about their wines. A blend of Reichensteiner, Seyval Blanc and Chardonnay, it had a slightly oily texture, with a flinty, mineral core and sharp green apple and citrus notes.

Two Chapel Down wines were on show – Bacchus 2009 and Brut Sparkling NV. With 19 vineyards scattered across Kent, Chapel Down has won a slew of awards over the past few years. Along with Ortega, Bacchus is making a name for itself as an exciting variety to watch. The pronounced nose showed passionfruit, nettle and lime, while the sharp palate was filled with puckering lime and gooseberry - we just might have found England's answer to Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc.

The only red of the night, Bolney Estate Dark Harvest 2008, came from Bookers in Sussex. Made from the early ripening Rondo grape, with a small amount of inky Dornfelder thrown in, it was liquid proof of how far we've got to go with our reds. It tasted like a church – dusty and musty, but there were faint, pleasurable hints of Pinot Noir through its smoke, spice and soft red fruit.

We ended with a trio of sparklers – Chapel Down (as previously mentioned), Somborne Valley Rosé 2006 and, for the grand finale, Nyetimber Classic Cuvée 2005. Sharing Champagne's clement climate and limestone and chalk soils, England has the perfect terroir for sparkling wine – production is set to double in 2010, from 3m to 7m bottles a year. The Somborne had an odd, almost cheesy nose, but a wonderfully elegant palate of apples, strawberries and raspberries, with a creamy, lemony mousse. But the Nyetimber 2005 stood out like a diamond in the dirt. A rich golden hue, if I were to get this in a blind tasting, it would be almost impossible not to place it in Champagne. The nose sang of rich autolytic notes - biscuit, toasted almonds and brioche. The palate was rich and creamy, like a plate of hot buttered croissants.

The tasting has given me a lot to think about. Not only are we now making sparkling wines that can hold their own against the best vintage Champagnes, we seem to have found our own homegrown version of super seller Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc in Bacchus, and a rising star in Ortega. There is so much to celebrate in English wine right now - the future's bright.

Video: Tasting of Katnook Founders Block Cabernet Sauvignon

Wine and the City and Jimmy Smith of the West London Wine School taste Katnook Founders Block Cabernet Sauvignon, Coonawarra, 2007. You can find the wine at Bibendum for £9.99.

Katnook Estate was founded by a Scot, John Riddoch, in 1890. Originally called the Coonawarra Fruit Colony, Riddoch planted 140 acres of vines on the estate. His first vintages were modest affairs – the wines were made in a wool shed.

Today Katnook is one of the most esteemed domains in Coonawarra. Its vineyards are planted in Terra Rossa soil, spanning 330 hectares in the heart of this remote region in South Australia.

Video: Tasting of Vergelegen Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot

Wine and the City and Jimmy Smith of the West London Wine School taste Vergelegen Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot, Stellenbosch, 2007, made by outspoken South African winemaker Andre van Rensburg. You can find the wine at Majestic for £10.99.

Video: Tasting of Opi aka Rodolfo Sadler Malbec

Wine and the City and Jimmy Smith from the West London Wine School taste Opi aka Rodolfo Sadler Malbec, Mendoza, 2008, winner of the Red Single Varietal under £10 International Trophy at the 2009 Decanter World Wine Awards.

Video: Tasting of Saint Clair Poineer Block 10 Twin Hills Chardonnay

Wine and the City and Jimmy Smith from the West London Wine School taste Saint Clair Pioneer Block 10 Twin Hills Chardonnay, Marlborough 2008.

West London Wine School

Wednesday was a big night. My flat mate, Jimmy Smith, launched the West London Wine School at the Big Yellow Cellars in Fulham. A franchise of Newcastle Wine School, Jimmy set up the company in November after First Quench, his employer, became the latest tragedy of the recession.

He managed to charm Steven Spurrier into coming down to officially open the school, but there wasn't a red ribbon in sight, just lots of Champagne. Fresh from the Australia tasting, Spurrier rocked up in a sharp suit with Ron Brown of Maverick Wines.

Spurrier's speech was an ode to Michael Broadbent, who he described as the founder of wine education in the UK. It was fascinating to listen to my contributing editor paying such a tribute to a fellow wine writer. You forget that figures in the wine world at the top of their game have their own idols they look up to, and Spurrier made it clear how much respect he has for Broadbent as an educator.

The end of the speech touched on the need to pass the baton to a new generation to keep wine education thriving. Enter Jimmy Smith, a walking wine encyclopedia, with the enthusiasm of a puppy and the passion of a Frenchman. If anyone can fly the flag for wine education and make it exciting, accessible and most importantly fun, he can.

It was slightly surreal seeing Steven Spurrier open the school. I felt proud of Jimmy and all he's achieved. It takes cojones to start a business in the middle of a recession – hats off to him for taking a risk.

After the last guests evaporated, a group of us stayed behind, opened a Gevrey Chambertin and toasted the new company. We kicked about until midnight savouring the last drops and enjoying the moment.