Just a few days before his death on 6 August 2026, Matthew wrote this column for Vineyard, which we are publishing in his honour and as a tribute to his talent, warmth and generosity.
I love old phrases and use them often. But I realise I sometimes have no idea of their origins. While preparing this month’s column, I described this trio of wines to my wife as those that push the envelope. But what does this actually mean?
The word ‘envelope’ originally referred to the performance limits of aircraft. Regular pilots were instructed to keep to safe speeds and altitudes, but test pilots were encouraged to break new ground, pushing these envelopes.
Lots of English and Welsh wineries stay safely inside the envelope, as they should. But some risk danger and push hard to see what might happen. I expect we don’t hear about the failures!
But when pushing hard results in wines like this month’s collection, these brave souls are worth celebrating. So, let’s raise a glass to those who have pushed the envelope so deliciously this month. I am so pleased that they have driven their wines past what might be commonly accepted to break new ground.
2020 The Weyborne, Wayward No.1, Limited Release Demi-Sec, West Sussex
£52.80, reduced to £49.99 each for six bottles
I have no idea when this wine will be released, and I have only recently seen a tech sheet, but in one fell swoop, I am confident that I can declare it England’s finest new Demi-Sec creation!
And I for one would not drink it with pudding, preferring to serve it as the ultimate aperitif, with its louche flavours and ultra-alluring palate. Thank goodness the exuberance is kept in place by knicker-snapping acidity.
Hand-picked, whole-bunch pressed, stainless steel-fermented and with nine months’ élévage on the lees in tank, it then spent five years of ageing post-secondary fermentation in bottle. The blend is a bracing 86% Chardonnay and 14% Pinot Noir, and it is rewarded for its efforts with 33g/L of residual sugar following its hearty dosage.
The touch of genius is that the residual sugar heartbeat within the glass comes across the palate as pure decadence instead of actual sweetness. It is utterly delectable, and I am wishing I had a glass beside me as I write this piece. Do not miss out, because it offers a completely different take on this rare style of wine to the acknowledged greats from say Nyetimber, Exton Park and Ambriel.
2025 Four Daughters, Riesling, Kent
£26.00
Only 750 bottles of this wine were made, so it is in very limited supply.
Interestingly, it is in fact an 85% Riesling, 15% Chardonnay blend, and this unusual amalgam has worked a treat. It is far and away the finest dry English Riesling I have ever tasted. That said, I have not enjoyed very many. But that is beside the point, because it really is a world-class creation.
It has all the élan of a succulent Eden Valley or Clare Valley dry Riesling, and I am still reeling that it is made here! But how did we get to this point?
Legend has it that the Four Daughters story began in Leicester, when back in 1943, Great Grandpa Baxter contracted tuberculosis, caused by poor air quality. His inspired doctor prescribed the rare but free medicine, ‘fresh air’, and this resulted in the family moving to Kent, where they bought 70 acres of land, and a new farming story began. Today the farm spans 200 acres, and 45 were planted with vines five years ago. I wonder if they thought that, even in their wildest dreams, Lucy, Amy, Emma and Sophie would make this ground-breaking, delicious, lime-zest-tinged Riesling.
2025 Williams Family Wines, Pinot Noir Précoce
£28.50
If there were an award for best ‘newcomer’, then Williams Family Wines would romp home with the gong.
While their 2025 Williams Bacchus does not break too much new ground for this style, it is certainly delicious. 2025 Williams Pinot Gris starts to nudge the envelope, with 9g/L residual sugar on board, which gives it an off-dry, near-Alsatian feel, but with a much perkier demeanour; the wine that pushes the category with all its might is my featured PNP.
It does a remarkable feat of culinary brinkmanship by utilising 45% English oak, 45% French oak, and 10% stainless steel to create a wine of elemental and brazenly unique appeal.
The fruit hails from Herefordshire, where warm, steep slopes and nutrient-rich red soils help to build an impressively toothsome wine, with bold fruit notes and a velvety texture. But the six months spent in English and French oak do something magical to the recipe, imbuing a rare sense of invisible patriotism, while cradling the contents gently and not overstepping the mark.
You are left with a wine that sits outside the traditional box of Pinot Noir, and its unpredictable journeyman cousin Précoce, while delivering a different side to the latter thanks to its clever choice of fruit and utterly inspirational carpentry.
I take my hat off to all this month’s vigorous envelope pushers. The more the merrier, and to think that Williams is both a new arrival on the wine scene and a member of this collective says more than mere words.
