A MAGIC brew bubbling quietly in a Blackdown Hills cellar is being hailed as Britain’s  answer to the finest French champagne.

Bollhayes cider maker Alex Hill, of Clayhidon,  is winning great reviews from food critics for his revival of cider fermented in bottles, champagne-style.

Oz Clarke, speaking on the BBC’s Food Programme, called it ‘a very fine cider’.

Food and drink writer Martin Hesp said it was  like sipping a Grande Marque champagne worth £400 a bottle.

When Alex offered him a glass in one hand and a slice of Iberico ham in the other,  he said: “It was the kind of fabulous combination that I could imagine a multi-millionaire paying ludicrous amounts of money for in a top Michelin restaurant”. 

Alex stopped making bottles fermented cider some years ago because of pressure of other work, but he has been building up stocks again and launched a smart new website, where it is on sale at £12 a bottle

A marketing campaign by Selena Mitford  on Facebook and other platforms,  is helping to develop Bollhayes as an interesting, lower alcohol alternative to sparkling wines.