Against a happy background of the popping of corks and in front of an appreciative audience, Julia Trustram-Eve, Marketing Director of the English Wine Producers, guided us expertly through the latest facts and figures relating to the rapidly-changing market for English wines.
Derided a few years ago as a novelty item only, English wine is finally finding its feet, with the producers of „English Fizz‟ now blowing the socks off the French (and others) in international competitions. Hardly surprising when, as Julia reminded us, it was we Brits who first appreciated the qualities of that vital secondary fermentation and had the glassmaking technology to contain it, as well as an appreciation of the value of a good cork! Spend a moment in glad contemplation of the skills of Christopher Merrett – a Fellow of the Royal Society of Physicians, our medical members will be pleased to hear – who in 1662 first presented his paper on the use of what we might now refer to as the „méthode traditionelle‟ to the Royal Society. It took the French (who considered the bubbles a fault) another 35 years to catch up with our wily English hero!
It is generally considered that a new era for English wines began back in 1988 when an American couple, who had not been able to afford to buy a vineyard in Champagne, spotted the potential of the UK outcrop of the Paris Basin on the South Downs. With great attention to detail at every stage and at considerable cost, they planted their vineyard using the classic Champagne grape varieties, chardonnay, pinot noir and pinot meunier, and used the traditional method of vinification to produce their sparkling wine, not releasing their first vintage (the 1992) until 1997. The rest, as they say, is history. Or Nyetimber in this case!
It is anticipated that UK wine production will continue to increase, from about 3 million bottles in 2008/9 (worth an estimated £19 million) to around 5 million by 2012, of which about 45% (£8 million) is currently sparkling wine. The concept of terroir is also being used to differentiate quality English wines (note, not British – that has certain unfortunate connotations at the lower end of the spectrum!). Most new plantings are of chardonnay and the pinots, which would seem to indicate the percentage of sparkling wine will also increase. The UK currently imports around 30 million bottles of Champagne so there is quite a market for our UK producers to target! (And a two degree upward change in global temperatures would make the English south truly the „new Champagne!)
What of the wines themselves? First in our glasses was the Camel Valley ‘Cornwall’ 2007, a blanc de blancs made from 100% Seyval Blanc, the only wine tasted not to be made from a „classic‟ Champagne grape. The wine has recently come second in an international competition beating a Bollinger NV and is also bottled and sold as Fortnum & Mason‟s own label English sparkling wine. It was served to the Duchess of Cornwall during her recent visit to the vineyard. Quite a pedigree for a wine that has only been disgorged for 4 months! Claiming 8 grams per litre of residual sugar, the wine tasted sweeter than that, was lean, with good balancing acidity and had a long aftertaste. No champagne substitute this and a wine we were assured would stand cellaring and develop more toasty „brioche‟ notes.
Our two chardonnay wines were served as a pair, producing a considerable contrast. The local boy – from Wallingford - Brightwell Vineyard’s 2006 Sparkling Chardonnay, was greener both in colour and on the palate, with more floral and yeasty notes than the 2001 Nyetimber Blancs de Blancs. The newly-released and locally-sold Brightwell had spent around a year on the lees and has about 10 grams per litre of residual sugar. Higher in acidity, its youth was evident alongside the Nyetimber, which had five years on the lees. The 2001 Blanc de Blancs came 12th, ahead of seven champagnes, in a competition organised by Euposia, one of Italy‟s leading wine magazines, where the 52 entries were tasted blind by a panel of oenologists, winemakers, sommeliers and journalists. The competition was won by Nyetimber‟s Classic Cuvée 2003, with Nyetimber the only producer to have more than one wine in the top seventeen.
Next to be tasted was the newly released Nyetimber Classic Cuvée 2005, which is chardonnay dominated. Fuller and softer on the palate than the 2001 Blanc de Blancs, it was also longer and lower in acidity.
By way of contrast, the pinot-dominant Chapel Down Pinot Reserve 2004, from Tenterden in Kent, was tasted next. From what is currently the UK‟s largest producer, the wine was both more golden in colour and creamy on the palate than the chardonnay-dominated Nyetimber, with an aftertaste that one club member felt reminded her of sherbet lemon sweets. Some members may recollect that Frazer Thompson of Chapel Down presented to the Club a few years back.
Staying with the pinot-dominant theme, Wines six and seven, tasted as a pair, were the Gusborne Blend 2006 and the Denbies Greenfields 2002. Disgorged in June 2009 and newly released, the Gusborne is the first release from a new winery, which has been created by an orthopaedic surgeon. Only 5,000 bottles have been produced, with the wine having spent 24 months on the lees and 22 in the cellar prior to release. It is currently made under contract at Ridgeview‟s facility using yeasts from Champagne. Full and soft on the palate, the wine has undergone malo-lactic fermentation and showed considerable complexity. Although still hand-labelled, the Gusborne team have ambitious plans for a „Napa Valley-style‟ visitor centre (or should that be center) at their vineyards which are near the south coast, in Kent.
Moving from Kent to Surrey, Denbies, a 1980‟s English wine-making pioneer, now have around 265 acres under vine and are still owned by their founder. Already exploiting the tourist trade, the vineyard boasts a train tour of the vines, bed and breakfast, restaurants, an art gallery and more – even weddings are on offer! The wine itself? A Decanter silver medal winner, it was more steely, smokier and almost spicy on the nose and palate when compared with the Gusborne.
Another contrasting pair followed, both blanc de noirs, the Ridgeview Knightsbridge 2006 and the Three Choirs Pinot Blanc de Noir 2005, the latter the only 100% pinot noir wine of the evening. Founded by a chartered accountant who made a large fortune in software (OK we all know the old joke about how you make a small fortune in wine...) Ridgeview team‟s methodical attention to detail was evident in this deep golden, smooth, creamy wine, which had good but not intrusive acidity and an attractive savoury note. Made by the proprietor and current English wine maker of the year, Michael Roberts, the wine has spent about 24 months on the lees and a further 8 months in cuvée. In June 2009 this wine won the English Wine Producers Wine of the Year Award and also their trophy for Best Sparkling Wine.
Produced in Gloucestershire, the Three Choirs reflected this producers‟ general house style, with light floral notes on both the nose and palate. Best-known for their still wines, the Blanc de Noirs sparkling wine is a relatively new venture for Three Choirs, although the base wine is produced from relatively mature vines. Three Choirs is also exploiting the tourist opportunities their location presents and, as well as the hotel on-site, has introduced some romantic-sounding vineyard lodges.
Our last wine of the evening, the Hush Heath Balfour Brut Rosé 2006, amply illustrated the way in which English sparkling wine is targeting the luxury market. Marketed as England‟s most exclusive pink fizz, this is the only wine produced by Richard Balfour-Lynn‟s Kent-based Hush Heath Estate and represents his third vintage. It is currently made for him by the Chapel Down facility, with his own winery due to come into production later this year. The wine itself is light onion skin to copper in colour and on the nose and palate is redolent of wild strawberries, with some stalkiness evident and is long with a quite crisp acidity. Our most expensive wine of the evening, it retails for around £34.99. About 20% of the revenues from this wine is spent on marketing and their targeting of the luxury market was evident from the packaging and other marketing collateral on display. (A wicked thought did cross my mind – do they treat their apple juice – Hush Heath‟s other main product – in the same manner?)