Crossword Genius

Winner getting silver finery, essentially, and this ? (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

champagne

'this ?' is the definition.
The definition suggests a singular noun which matches the answer.

'winner getting silver finery essentially' is the wordplay.
'winner' becomes 'champ' (I've seen this before).
'getting' says to put letters next to each other.
'silver' becomes 'ag' ('Ag' can be a synonym of 'silver').
'essentially' means to look at the middle letters.
The middle letters of 'finery' are 'ne'.
'champ'+'ag'+'ne'='CHAMPAGNE'

'and' acts as a link.

(Other definitions for champagne that I've seen before include "Celebratory drink" , "toast can be made with it" , "Someone whose life style belies their professed radical politics" , "Sparking drink" , "Fizz" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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