Slotovino: Some visits to English Vineyards in Dorset, Hampshire, Kent, Sussex and Norfolk in 2021

Busi-Jacobsohn, Eridge Green, East Sussex. Susanna Busi-Jacobsohn and Douglas Jacobsohn. 5 ha.

Coates and Seely, Whitchurch, Hampshire. Nicholas Coates and Christian Seely. 24 ha.

Flint Vineyard, Waveney Valley, Norfolk. Ben and Hannah Witchell. 3 ha.

Rathfinny Wine Estate, Alfriston, Sussex. Mark and Sarah Driver. 93 ha.

Sanden Vineyard, Groombridge, Kent. Mark and Sandra Puckett. 1.07 ha.

Little Waddon Vineyard, Waddon, Dorset. Simon and Karen Priestman. 1 ha.

Hello there, Slotovino reader. Do you remember when we used to post posts on a regular basis? Well, that rather went out of the window this year we don't know why. Nobody has complained.

Well, it's not that we have been inactive or lost interest. Looking back over the last few months we see we have managed to visit the above 6 vineyards from Hampshire to Kent. All of these make sparkling wines, three of them exclusively. Rathfinny also makes Gin, Vermouth, Grape Spirit and Brandy. That could have been worth 6 separate posts but it's December now and so there's a rush to get it all to bed before we embark on the Slotovino Awards for 2021.

The sign says Rathfinny

As you see, these vineyards or estates vary enormously. Rathfinny at 93 ha. The largest in the UK is Denbies with 107 ha. so Rathfinny comes close in size.

Just one of the many vine vistas to be seen on the long drive to the winery.

Rathfinny Cellar Door

Shop and tasting room

Quite honestly we were amazed at the size having had no inkling before driving up the road through the vineyards to the Cellar Door and Winery.

Simon and Karen Priestman

Little Waddon Regent vines

Little Waddon is indeed little by comparison being exacly 92 ha. smaller. That doesn't mean the Little Waddon wines are less good. Rathfinny produce still wines as well as sparkling ones. Their grapes include Phoenix, Seyval Blanc and Pinot Noir.

Mark Puckett, owner-vigneron at Sanden

Age is also very diverse. The oldest vineyard is Sanden, founded in 1987. The preponderence of Seyval Blanc there is typical of that era. That is not to say they can't make good sparkling wine from it. Like Peter Hall at Breaky Bottom (E. Sussex) mature - even old vines combined with lengthy experience mean standards are probably better than ever. They also grow some Pinot Noir.

The Witchells.

Little Wadden and Sanden are what Paul Draper of Ridge calls 'critter peroducers.' Flint is also small at 3 ha. but Ben and Hannah Witchell have already made their mark with Berry Bros. and Rudd being one of their stockists.

We have written about Flint more than once in this blog so it was good to go and see the property for ourselves.

The cellar door and outbuildings including the winery (not on show when we were there) would be appropriate for a larger estate. Perhaps they will expand one day?

We had hoped to buy some of Flint's marvellous Pinot Noir Precoce but they had sold out. We gathered that they had not planted a large amount and what they had planted had not been very obliging in the vineyard. No surprise there with Pinot Noir's reputation as a tricky variety to grow. There was a hint that if we were to wait for Christmas (this was in August) there might be a further release and in fact we did see on Flint's newsletter that they released a sweet verion - Pinot Noir Tardif at a very hefty price. Interesting.

Flint grapes include Bacchus for which they are famous, Pinots Blanc and Gris, Chardonnay, and as mentioned Pinot Noir.

Flint's Charmat Rose. Photo from a satsfied customer.

For their Charmat method sparkling Rose, they use Solaris, Reichensteiner, Cabernet Cortis and Rondo. They are the only UK producer using this method and the results are excellent.

The sign says Busi-Jacobsohn Tasting Room

Busi-Jacobsohn vines

Just above Flint's 3 ha. comes the 5 ha. Busi Jacobsohn estate. This is a very beautiful and elegant property with the vines looking perfectly manicured. Prices are in the high £30s. We have yet to taste a Busi Jacobsohn sparling wine but look forard to doing so one day. Varieties are the traditional Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier.

Coates and Seely tasting rooms and chaix.

Coates and Seely is an interesting operation. they have Stephane Derenoncourt no less as senior consultant and are the only producer in the UK to use concrete fermentation eggs. Nicholas Coates has a considerable backgound in finance but Christian Seely is a wine man throgh and through being CEO of Axa Millésimes who own among others Chateau Pichon Baron Chateau Suduiraut and Quinta do Noval. These big guns must be unprecedented in the field of English Sparling Wine.

This didn't stop them trying to popularise the name 'Britaine.' That didn't catch on but still survives on the sign on their Chaix. No still wines are produced there. Grapes are of the Champagne holy trinity only.

Georgie Balmain of Coates and Seely operations Manager with out vines from the French branch of Vivai Co-operativo Rauscedo.

there was a particular reason for our visit to Coates and Seely. We had ordered 450 new vines from VCR France to replace those lost in the hot spring of 2020. It was early days for the post-Brexit importation of plant material and for some time it looked as if we would not be able to get our baby vines at all. Thankfully a way was found around the barriers and our vines joined a much larger shipment to Coates and Seely. Thanks to the charming and efficient Georgina (Georgie) Balmain seen here we were able to collect our vines ready for planting the next day.

Some wines from these vineyards

We were rather taken by all three wines made by Little Waddon because they are biodynamically and ecologically made without filtration and low in alcohol. Also the pass the Slotovino English Wine test: you wouldn't know they were English wines.

The Col Fondo white is 100% Phoenix. Col Fondo is the Italian term for bottle-fermented wines on the lees.

Col Fondo Rose is Col Fondo white which has spent some time in a barell previously used for their red variety Regent. Little Waddon Red is 100% Regent.

These wines are not cheap but we think worth the price.

Also outstanding is Flint's Pinot Noir Precoce if you can get it. It passes our English wine test too.

Also outstanding is Flint's Bacchus. We are not a fan of this grape having grown it ourselves. What they don't tell you is that it is very sensitive to Powdery and Downy Mildew (or at least it was in our vineyard). We had to spray 13 times a season and we haven't met any other Bacchus growers whose experience has been very different.

The story is that shortly having given up on Bacchus and ripped out all our Bacchus vines we tasted Flint's version at the London Wine Fair and were pretty much blown away. At that moment we wondered if we had done the right thing in grubbing up our Bacchus vines.

Rathfinny's still wines are named after the Cradle Valley where the estate is situated. We always like a Pinot Blanc/Pinot Gris blend and this one didn't disappoint. It is also quite reasonably priced. You can get it for £12 if you buy multiple bottles from Rathfinny.