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English Wine – A Progress Report
As a prelude to English Wine Week (24th May – 1st.
June) English Wine Producers chose St. George's day for their annual press and trade tasting. As usual there was a wide range of wines, varying greatly in style and quality. We have come to expect high quality from
the sparkling wines. Nyetimber and Ridgeview continue to match all but the top Champagnes with Chapel Down not far behind. A challenge, though, is coming from the Southwest. Bob Lindo and his award winning winemaker
son Sam of Camel Valley Vineyards in Cornwall have ignored the classic Champagne grapes for their "Cornwall Brut", which is a classy, fruity fizz made from Seyval Blanc, Reichensteiner and Huxelrebe. However they
also use Pinot Noir to great effect in a sparkling Rosé and even more so in their sparkling "Cornwall White Pinot", for my money among the best sparkling wines on show. Their still wines rank very highly ,too , the
Bacchus in particular.
Camel Valley Vineyards Cornwall Brut
In the past it has been the fashion to mock English still wines but the quality of wine
making has improved beyond measure, and a change in the grapes grown allied with better vineyard management has, in most, but not all, cases, brought vast
improvement. Nowhere more so than at Eglantine Vineyard in, above all places, Nottinghamshire where Tony Kuriat has made a dessert wine "Eglantine North Star "
which he calls "England's answer to Ice Wine" . Madeleine Angevine" grapes are harvested very late and then subjected to some time in the freezer and two years in barrel. His 2004 won Gold Medals at the "Vinalies Internationales Paris 2008", a Gold
at the "Concours des Vins des Vignerons Indepedents 2007" and a Silver Medal and best in class at the "International Wine and Spirits Competition 2007". It has a
beautiful nose and a luscious palate with a refreshing hint of acidity which prevents it being cloying. What is more you can buy it direct or on line.
For some time there have been complaints that it is not easy to buy English wine. Admittedly the main chain retailers carry almost none, but the supermarkets are
realising that there is a demand. The Co-op has its own brand, made by one of the better producers, Marks and Spencer are about to launch three own label English
wines made by Chapel Down and Tesco are to carry English Wines in selected stores near wine growing areas. Waitrose have been doing this for some years and sell most
of the range on line. They have recently announced the establishment of a vineyard at their own farm in Hampshire, but there will be no wine from there until at least 2114.
More and more English Wines are becoming available on line.
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Chapel Down Pinot Reserve
Some of the smaller producers are growing good quality grapes and having the wine
made by the larger wineries. For instance Sandyford vineyard in Essex has its wines made by Owen Elias at Chapel Down in Kent. I approved of both the red and the white.
Elias came to the stand while I was there to see how the wine had developed in bottle and was immediately deciding how to tweak the next batch. Chapel Down is part of
the English Wines Group, the country's biggest producer. They have a mere 25 acres at Tenterden, but source grapes from 180 acres in the South East – to be increased to
1000 acres in the next two or three years. They are setting the trend of grubbing up obscure Germanic varieties and planting Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, believing that the future lies in sparkling wines.
There is a future for English Wine, as long as the public can be persuaded that there is quality to be found.
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Last updated on May 21, 2008