In 2008, Christian Seely received a phone call from a good friend, and soon to be business partner, Nick Coates, who, after months’ geologically mapping England in search of a suitable chalk site, had stumbled across the perfect place to plant a vineyard just two miles from his house near Overton, Hampshire. Continue reading “Importing concrete advice”
In light of this year’s ridiculously big, quality harvest, I, like many, already can’t wait to taste the fruits of the industry’s labour. Whether that is some time next year for still wines or over the next three years or so for the sparklers, there is no doubt that there is going to be an abundance of interesting wine. Continue reading “November’s words from the editor”
Christmas is looming and ‘tis the season of goodwill, so I am taking a more light-hearted look at the wines you should be devouring over the next few months in order to take the heat out of the ‘discussions’ which were stirred up by last month’s column! Continue reading “‘Tis the season”
It was amazing, the reaction to an email I sent out to various vinous luminaries, while researching this piece, asking if I could taste their top end English sparklers for an article in this august tome. Continue reading “Top end sparkling wines”
Pulling into the car park at Denbies Wine Estate at 8:30am the New Holland Braud SB 60 mechanical picker was already busy bustling its way through the estate’s Müller-Thurgau vineyard plot known as the Limes. Continue reading “Shake it off”
Over the past month I have relished every opportunity to get involved in harvest at some of my local vineyards – thank you to those who accommodated me. Not only was it incredibly therapeutic and empowering to break free from the confines of my desk for a few days, it was also enlightening to be able to see a mixture of labour forces at work. From a team of paid local pickers, comprising retirees, students and those looking for seasonal work, to a team of volunteers, seeking a greater sense of involvement in their favourite estate, to a team of professional Romanians, who made the job look like child’s play and were completing rows to the highest of standards quicker than you could say harvest 2018. Continue reading “October’s from the editor”
I could not have written this article five years ago. While I have been tracking the progress of English and Welsh wines for more than three decades, the advent of balanced, world-class red wine is a very recent phenomenon. Continue reading “Matthew Jukes: Red wines- a new dawn”
This month I visited Nyetimber, who are committed to using estate-grown fruit to fill their one million bottle per year winery. Finding suitable parcels of land has led to the creation of nine different Nyetimber vineyards spread over three counties. Proud of where its fruit comes from, regardless of geographic spread, each wine clearly lists which county(s) the grapes were sourced from. Continue reading “September’s Words from the editor”
Arriving at Nyetimber’s estate in West Chiltington, West Sussex, I was instantly filled with disappointment. It could not have been raining harder and it suddenly dawned on me that my Barbour and wellingtons were still hanging up in my hallway. Continue reading “Parcel by parcel”
There are currently around 150 acres under vine in Wales, spread across 23 vineyards, with production amassing to around 100,000 bottles of wine per year – a figure which is set to double over the next three years as new planting come into production. Continue reading “Editor’s visit: A taste of Wales”
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