Bride Valley and other Dorset vineyards.

 

Steven Spurrier

The Bride valley vineyard

Steven Spurrier was an enormously consequential figure on the world's wine scene. You could say he single-handedly levelled-up the entire wine scene resulting in New World being taken as seriously as Old World for the first time.

That is now no longer a battle to be fought thanks to his initiative. 

As editor and senior contributor to Decanter Magazine over decades he also educated and informed an international audience. A tireless traveller and participant in wine events all over the world, he was truly a great key figure, universally respected and loved.

In a long career he was a wine retailer, educator as well as writer. Latterly he became a wine producer as well. 

The vineyard at Bride Valley, part of a family farm in Dorset was planted with the usual Champagne varieties in 2009, 11 years years before his death. 

He lived to taste his wine there and be happy with the result. In common with some other English Sparkling Wine producers, Bride Valley also releases still Pinot Noir and Chardonnay and very good they are too.

Litton Cheney is the nearest village to the Bride Valley vineyard, When yo drive along the A35 there is still a sign pointing towards the winery and tasting room but sadly after Steven's death, Bride Valley Wines has changed hands and the tasting room no longer exists despite the sign.

We hope Bride Valley wines will continue to prosper. They Certainly deserve to do so.

Dorset is the county of Bride Valley. It is also home to Furleigh Estate whose wines we have celebrated previously in this blog and continue to buy whenever we can.

Another promiment winery is Lyme Bay but they don't actually have any vineyards and buy in their grapes from far and wide including Essex for example. 

In spite of this their wines are really rather good.

Other Dorset vineyards include Little Waddon (excellent stuff already written up here), Langham, English Oak (with Dermot Sugrue consulting), Sherborne Castle, Melbury Vale and D'Urbeville.

Little Waddon's varieties are Seyval Blanc, Phoenix and Regent otherwise all the other Dorset vineyards grow only Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier mainly for sparkling wine. Furleigh have Bacchus as well as the Champagne varieties. 

Not shabby!