Wine in a time of Brexit

Sign of the times? Seen in Kent. To Cape Town, Hawaii, Tokyo, Los Angeles.

A week before the referendum we left the London bubble for a wedding on the Somerset/Devon borders. Nothing could have prepared us for the Brexiteers and Brexit posters which were everywhere to be seen. Putting aside our own feelings on the subject, could Brexit favour English and Welsh wine? Plenty has already been written about that. Sterling is already more competitive but we're only going to export if there is a thriving home market and that is not going to happen unless Duty is abolished and perhaps a more favourable VAT rate is applied surely?

On a number of visits to English vineyards this summer we can report that quality is already approaching a level good enough to recommend home grown wines in the world market. Already we have a burgeoning reputation for sparkling wines which seems to be what home-grown we'll be famous for. Our interest here is more concerning table wines although all the producers we visited also make sparkling wine. We think we will need a USP for these table wines . Slotovino reckons we may have one already: our uniquely low ABV values. You may disagree but what other country produces the majority of its wine at 12% or under? We've indicated the alcohol levels wherever possible in this post.

Devon

Our first vineyard was Dalwood, East Devon.

At this nice shop in Honiton we heard about the villagers of Dalwood village nearby who had clubbed together to plant a 1.1 ha. vineyard with Seyval Blanc, Solaris, Madeline Angevine and

Pinot Noir. 

We drove up and down passing the St. George's cross flag outside the church several times trying to get sight of the vineyard. Finally we learned that it was some way up a muddy hill so we settled for a visit to the village shop.

A range of the Dalwood wines were on sale there. We didn't find out if there was a cellar door but this served the purpose well. We haven't tried the wine yet but what a great story and congratulations to the villagers on their Decanter Bronze medal. Maybe others will be inspired to follow in their footsteps?

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Also in the area were long-established and well known vineyards.

Yearlstone is the oldest in Devon dating from 1976. Here we must declare an interest.

What vines we have at our hobby experimental plot in the Thames Valley began with vines supplied by Gillian Pearkes who owned the vineyard until the early 1990s up to that time. Her book 'Winegrowing in Britain' was essential reading in those days and is still very interesting even though things have evolved tremendously since then. Triomphe d'Alsace was recommended to us at that time. As well as that we obtained the much better but much more difficult Bacchus from Yearlstone, so on meeting the current owner, Roger White, we introduced ourselves as his offspring.

Roger and Juliet White, owners of Yearlstone Vineyard

 After initial confusion, all was clear and Roger gave us generous advice and information.

Interesting red earth in the upper block

Roger has removed all the Triomphe and now farms Bacchus, Madeleine Angevine, Pinot Gris, Reichensteiner, Seyval Blanc and Siegerrebe for the whites and Dornfelder, Pinot Noir and Rondo for the reds. The vineyard extends over 7 ha. There is further land in an upper block but that would not be feasible with the labour he has - mostly himself and Juliet.

Nice welcome at the cellar door

Facilities aplenty

The bellwether Triomphe vine

 The only Triomphe vine left acts as a bellwether to calculate ripeness in the vineyard varieties.

The Yearlstone back label fits all apart from the alcohol level which changes slightly.

Reichensteiner, 11.5%

We purchased the Rose (from bought-in Regent), 11%

and the Red (Rondo) 11.5%

An interesting plan of the vineyard. How often do you see that?

 Roger had a career at the BBC and gave up his place on Radio 4's Today show to become a vigneron. He says he doesn't regret it one bit. It has to be said that all the estate owners/winemakers we met seemed to be fulfilled even if the financial rewards are not great. They are certainly much nicer than a lot of people you meet in the music world!

Sussex

Sussex is familiar territory for great Sparkling Wine names including Bluebell, Bolney, Breaky Bottom, Davenport, Nyetimber, Plumpton College and Ridgeview. Our goal was Sedlescombe, one of the only Organic/Biodynamic vineyards in the country. How they do it we cannot tell. Our experience in this country involves more chemical spraying than one likes to think of given our damp climate.

Note the St. George's cross and Indian flags!

But we overshot Sedlescombe only to find Carr Taylor. Carr Taylor was established in 1971 and they claim they were the first British commercial vineyard to produce traditional method sparkling wines that have a second fermentation in bottle.  They originally planted interesting varieties such as Gutenborner, Huxelrebe, Kerner, Schoenburger, Rechensteiner and Wurzer, but re-plantings have since favoured Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Dornfelder and Bacchus have also been added so you can find a complete English history of hybrid and vinifera trends in one vineyard.

The winemaker is Alex Carr Taylor, the highly qualified son of the founders. His wife is also involved so Carr Taylor remains very much a family affair.

There is a welcoming tasting room and cellar door too.

   

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We went for a bottle of Bacchus seeing as how that will allow us to make comparisons with so many other English and Welsh vineyards.

Here the bunting suggested another point of view from what we had become used to.

Meals are to be had at the Cellar Door/Tasting Room.

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Sedlescombe wines are to be found reasonably widely but here we could buy a 2004 Regent and there was even a red at nearly £70 a bottle. We'll take it it's excellent.

Varieties grown include Bacchus, Chardonnay, Dornfelder, Faber, Johanniter, Mueller-Thurgau (which they refer to as Rivaner), Orion, Pinot Noir, Regent, Reichensteiner and Rondo. All these grapes are grown to Demeter standards and are certified as such.

Roy and Irma Cook

Despite this astonishing achievement, production of delicious wines (we have especially enjoyed their Orion in the past), the vineyard is for sale due to Roy and Irma Cook's retirement. They have run Sedlescombe since 1979. True pioneers.

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The Sedlescombe 2013 Regent/Dornfelder came in an interesting tall bottle. On asking what the significance of this might be, we were told they ran out of normal bottles. Sweet.

Kent

 The next stop was Kent. Biddenden, Chapel Down, Gusborne, Hush Heath and Tenterden are some of the best known but to the East, we found Barnsole in the delightful village of Staple.

Phillip and Sally White greeted us hospitably while dealing kindly with other visitors. According to Phillip Barnsole is the only remaining vineyard out 13 in the area. They themselves acquired it only a few years ago after growing vines on an allotment and studying at Plumpton.

Phillip shining a light on Pinot Noir already in the fermenter in September

A lot of the equipment was already in place.

Varieties grown include Chardonnay, Pinot Meunier, Pinot Noir, Huxelrebe, Regent, Reichensteiner and Rondo. They also inherited a row of Dornfelder. Their sparkling wine is currently made from the original blend of Huxelrebe and Reichensteiner. 

Huxelrebe 13%

Reichensteiner 12%

Red Reserve (Rondo) 11.5%

Our 3 - pack consisted of Kent Classic (Huxelrebe) and Dry Reserve (Reichensteiner) and Red Reserve (Rondo). The Reichensteiner is the most characterful and least neutral of its kind we have ever tasted. Like Phillip, we are fans of Huxelrebe. His example reaches 13% which is rare. He says if he put Huxelrebe on the label no one would buy it. We agreed someone has to make a feature film with a Huxelrebe scene.

English wineries are on the increase no doubt but it is still a precarious operation. Things change in the so-called Off-trade. This nice shop in Broadstairs is for sale due to the retirement plans of the owners who have run it since 1988, picking up awards on the way.

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This Fruehburgunder/Pinot Noir/Dornfelder blend from Chapel Down was offered at a great deal less than at Harvey Nicks

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and we also bought this excellent Dornfelder from Gribble Bridge (Biddenden) which we had enjoyed before. Both Chapel Down and Gribble Bridge are Kentish vineyards.

Sussex (again), Hampshire, Lincolnshire and Norfolk

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 Plumpton Estate is in Sussex. The Cloudy Ridge Red is made from Rondo and Dornfelder.

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There are vineyards in Hampshire too. Somborne Valley seems an interesting one to explore another time. The combination of Pinot Blanc and Pinot Meunier would seem an obvious one but we can't say we have come across it previously anywhere else.

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Somerby Vineyards in Lincolnshire also merit a journey. We have been enjoying their Solaris for some time already. Now under the name Magna Carta it is available online from Waitrose at a good price.

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You'd have thought Winbirris had to be Australian but no, it's from Norfolk. Their Insignia red is a blend of Dornfelder, Rondo and Regent. There are now a mighty handful of really good English reds. This is one of them.

Wales

10%

Again, at the risk of repeating ourselves, here's a reminder of the only palatable wine from Triomphe we have ever come across; the Welsh Ancre Hill version made by Carbonic Maceration.

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We are going to have to make a pilgrimage to Ancre Hill also because of their Chardonnay which is to Chablis what Chablis is to white Burgundy, or so it seems to us. This is a refined effort with just the right touch of oak.