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| Tasting glass free to take home. A first! |
The 'Unmissable Event' - the Vineyard and Winery Show near Maistone, Kent had 100 English and Welsh wines on tasting as well as all the vineyard and winery equipment and machinery we wrote about in the previous post on this blog. As a reminder we wrote;
...we think it essential that anyone interested in wine should have some idea of what it takes to make it both in the vineyard and in the winery. This show gives you the opportunity to get an insight into what is involved and to rub shoulders with not only the people who make the wine but also those who toil in the vineyard.
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| Sparkling area |
There were separate areas for Sparkling and Still wines. It has to be said the crush around the fizzy ones was greater than around the still wines but interest in those was also high.
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| Still |
We decided to concentrate on the still wines leaving the sparkling ones to others. We also decided to forego signature Bacchus wines. Bacchus is a bit of a sore point with us because we had grown it ourselves and then grubbed it up due to its susceptability to the mildews. We also are not convinced that Bacchs represents the best we can achieve in this country and the following would seem to support that thesis.
Altogether whites far outnumbered Reds and Roses. Pinot Noir, Regent and Rondo were the dominant red grapes but there was a far greater range of white ones. Look out for the wine made with Muscat among the following.
Pinot Blanc
It was a great pleasure to discover so many wines and wineries for the first time at the show. None of these makes it to supermarkets but most are available from certain winemerchants and online or from the cellar doors.
Pinot Blanc and Pinot Gris are not yet mainstream here and some of the earlier attempts have been a bit pale in quality, These gave hope for significant improvements.
Penn Croft is a marque of Itasca Wines. Itasca buy in grapes mainly ftom Essex but also Somerset and make wine in a cutting-edge facility. they are contract winemakers also for a number of vineyards and provide technical assistance and laboratory services as well.. We will be hearing more from them without doubt.
Pinot Gris
Yotes Court is in Kent, not far from London. They specialise in Pinots Blanc and Gris but also grow Bacchus and Pinot Meunier from which they make a rose. They were awarded WineGB Best Newcomer of the Year 2021and are accredited under the Sustainable Wines of Great Britain (SWGB) Sustainability Scheme.
Heppington is a serious East Kent estate with an interesting back story and highly professional operation. They grow the 3 major Champagne varieties for their sparkling wines. Pinot Gris only makes up 10% of the vineyard. You can buy Rose and Pinot Noir as well as the sparklers.
Solaris
It was good to see these examples of Solaris. We think this is an excellent variety for our climate. 'Wine Grapes' warns that it can produce 'tooth-rottingly sweet' wines. There is little risk of that here.
Phoenix
Good too to see a 100% Phoenix. Of the German (Geilweilerhof) hybrids this is one of the best. It has Bacchus and Villard Blanc as its parents. We have enjoyed the wines of White Castle Vineyard before. Their Siegerrebe is also interesting if not for the faint-hearted. Pinot Noir, Regent, Rondo, Seyval Blanc and Cabernet Franc complete the range. Gwin Gwyn apparently means 'White Wine' in Welsh.
Sauvignon Blanc
The only UK Sauvignon Blanc we had seen until now was grown in a walled garden. This one seems not to have needed that protection.
Chasselas
We had always wondered if Chasselas wouldn't be a go-er in this country and now here was not just a Chasselas but a very good Chasselas from Ashdown just going to prove that there is a future for this variety here.
In fact this was one of the stars of the show.
Muscat/Madeleine Angevine blend
Truly amazing; Muscat from what was once the most northerly vineyard in the world and now the second. Renishaw Hall is on the Derbyshire/South Yorkshire border and was planted in 1972. There is also Madeleine Angevin in the blend. It tastes well too.
Pinot Noir
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 | The Burn Valley Estate is just off the North Norfolk coast. Grapes grown include Pinot Noir Precoce, Rondo, Regent, Pinot Noir, Bacchus, Chardonnay, Solaris, Seyval Blanc and Schonburger. |
Another Kent vineyard, winemaking in the area has a long if interrupted history;
Long history of viticulture in Chartham, Kent.
The Domesday Book mentions several vineyards in East Kent, including Chartham, and there is evidence of wine trading between the manors. The wine produced in these Kentish vineyards was probably a sour variety and needed to be sweetened with blackberry wine. In spite of its sourness and the uncertain yield in this northern climate, the number of vineyards increased through to the 13th century. In 1303 Prior Henry of Eastry built a manor at Deanery Farm and established vineyards. Records show that Prior Henry’s vineyard at Chartham incurred considerable costs of maintenance;
1286 Repairing the winery, 66 shillings and 7 1/2 pence
1292 New gate for vineyard with palings, 67 shillings and 3 pence
1297 Repairing the winery with appurtenances plus new stables, £30, 19 shillings and 6 pence
1310 New press house and cart house, £6, 3 shillings and 2 pence.
At this time the renowned Sir Robert de Septvans was active in the area as Constable of Rochester Castle, with the responsibility for controlling flooding and drainage in Kent and Sussex. He died in 1304 and his burial in Chartham church is marked by one of the greatest monumental brasses in the country. He stands in chain mail, richly ornamented, with seven winnowing fans (Septvans) and a lion at his feet.
The marriage of Henry II to Eleanor of Aquitaine in 1152 created a vast kingdom which included the best vineyards of France, resulting in the gradual reduction of English wine production due to easy access to French wines. The onset of the Little Ice Age in the mid-13th century led to cooler summers, and the Black Death which followed in the mid-14th century led to a huge reduction in agricultural labour, yet another setback to viticulture in this country.
Grapes are Bacchus, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris.
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| Brightwell is well-known in Oxfordshire. |
Given that most UK wineries make sparkling wine these days, it is not surprising that Pinot Noir is often the grape of choice for still red wines. Inevitably some are better than others. We have found some really good Pinot Noirs from the lokes of Simpson and Flint but they can be neutral, even watery and not worth the price in some cases.
No dobt people will master this variety. Already things are going in the right direction. We would like to see some more Pinot Meuniers too or Pinot Noir/ Pinot Meunier blends maybe?
Rondo
Rondo/Regent blend
Rondo/Regent/Pinot Noir
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Halfpenny Green is another quite northerly English vineyard - quite near Wolverhampton. They are a well established concern with an excellent website and quite a few retailers stocking their wines. They have almost 30 acres and 16 varieties. This is a blend of Rondo, Regent and Pinot Noir. the other grapes grown on the estate include Bacchus, Chardonnay, Huxelrebe, Madeleine Angevine, Schonburger, Seyval Blanc and Reichensteiner among others.
Dornfelder
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| Apologies for fuzzy image but it is Biddenden's Dornfelder. |
Good old Biddenden!
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