Kinsbrook Vineyard, which lies in Thakeham, West Sussex has released a special, limited-edition wine: 21.

2021 was a tough year for English wine; producers were struck by repeated frosts, heavy rain, high humidity and a Summer with virtually no sun. The yields were modest at harvest time and Kinsbrook was unable to justify making their usual single-variety still wines, but saw an opportunity to create something new instead. 21 is a white wine that blends three grape varieties; Bacchus, Pinot Gris and Pinot Noir Précoce.

Joe Beckett, Kinsbrook’s owner, who, at 29 is possibly the youngest vineyard owner in the country, said: “21 is a limited-edition, vintage wine and is the only still wine we will be releasing from our 2021 harvest. It is really quite an exciting wine; it has the recognisably aromatic elderflower notes from the Bacchus when your nose is first in the glass. Then on the palate, it’s medium-bodied which gives it the ‘luxe’ quality we know to be from the Pinot Gris grapes. It also has a tropical component to it from the Gris that is almost sherbert-like, which is aided by the crispness from the high acidity. And then the Précoce, being a red grape, adds a further level of complexity, texture and perfume to the wine.

“In the winery, the grapes were crushed, de-stemmed and vinified separately and then blended. The wine is vegan and we used low-intervention winemaking techniques to allow each grape variety to express itself as clearly as possible”.

Rebecca Dancer, Joe’s partner and Creative Director at Kinsbrook, described the creative process behind the wine: “We decided to name the wine ‘21’ as it tells the story of 2021. The label features the bare bones of our first building, Kinsbrook Farmhouse, at the time of harvest in Autumn 2021. The build suffered so many delays and setbacks due to the pandemic and it felt like a nice parallel to draw. It’s important to us to be honest and to share and celebrate every part of our journey with our customers – the good and the bad – and 21 is the perfect example of this.

“We’re not going to pretend we weren’t affected by frost and had the perfect harvest, because that’s not always the reality of grape-growing. However, if we can take the setbacks and make something beautiful then that’s what we will always aim for.”

21 will be available from Kinsbrook’s cellar door in Thakeham, West Sussex, or via their website, from mid-August.

21 tasting notes

  • Bacchus-dominant white wine
  • Blend of all three grapes Bacchus, Pinot Gris and Pinot Noir Précoce
  • Tasting notes: elderflower, orange peel, tropical haribo.
  • 11% ABV
  • £22 RRP

Label preview

The label features an image of the shell of Kinsbrook Farmhouse at the time the grapes were harvested in October 2021. The location has changed from West Chiltington to Thakeham to be more geographically accurate. The KIN is gold foiled and there is a QR code to link to the website.