On the same day as the Port Phillip Mussel festival at South Melbourne Market, we decided that a more lingering afternoon was on order, given the beautiful sunlight we had been blessed with on this spectacular Autumn afternoon in Melbourne.

My sparkling companion and I moved on to The George Hotel, diagonally opposite the market, on the corner of Cecil and Coventry Streets. As a market regular, I had often passed it, and only once so far had I eaten there, so it presented us with another opportunity for the day.

Because of the sheer volume of people at the Mussel Festival, no doubt many of the crowd had decided the pub was a good people watching spot as well. The George has a decent amount of outdoor bench and table seating, which is great as it promotes chatting amongst both friends and strangers.

The inside was buzzing with people but the day was too good to sit indoors, so we grabbed a spot outside with a group of strangers and had a fabulous afternoon chatting with them about life, food, what we were drinking...

Which brings me to the next taste-test that I did on the day. Most pubs have one, maybe two sparkling wines on offer, but The George Hotel gave me four to choose from! There was Stony Peak NV Brut (Central Victoria), Bianca Vigna Prosecco (Italy) and Les Petites Vignettes Chardonnay Pinot Noir (France) and Louis Roederer NV (France). The first three available by the glass, the latter, available only by the bottle.

How wonderful they've covered 3 fabulous winemaking regions of the world.

I went straight for the Bianca Vigna Prosecco, but with a bit of apprehension, as I haven't yet found an Italian sparkling that I'm truly enamoured with, compared to our Prosecco makers of the King Valley in Victoria. 

Luckily, this one didn't disappoint. It had the beautiful pale hue and taste-wise, what I'm learning to be the taste of pear and dry finish I really love.

To accompany my Prosecco, I had the Three Cheese Arancini Balls with Fire Roasted Capsicum Sauce served on a bed of rocket and parmesan, plus the more-ish beer battered chips.

Our newly made friends questioned why I was drinking sparkling wine in a pub. It's always interesting to me the image that is formed in people's minds about those of us who love our bubbles. These people seemed to think that a love of bubbles instantly means one of a few things: (1) That you are somehow upper class, or want to be, (2) That you are a "party" person, and (3) That you're an elitist of sorts because you're not drinking beer.

When I explained that it's a simple thing: I just really like it and love tasting new incarnations of it, they still thought I should be drinking what everyone else is drinking. But that's not me. Being a sheep is nothing I've ever done, and I'm not about to start now.

Bring on more bubbles I say! And thankfully, they certainly did…kindly buying myself and my sparkling companion the next 3 rounds – including the almost-fluorescent Aperol Spritz – making for a much more "bubbly" afternoon that either of us had expected.

For more information about The George Hotel South Melbourne, visit : http://www.tgsm.com.au