Black Chalk launches HiDE 2021 at HIDE, Mayfair.
It was a pleasure to attend the launch of Black Chalk’s new single vineyard sparkling wine, HiDE 2021, held at HIDE restaurant in Mayfair. The tasting took place in the restaurant’s first floor private dining room, Hide + Seek, in an informal drop-in format that brought together press and trade across the afternoon. The whole Black Chalk team was in attendance to talk through the sparkling wine range, including the newest release, for a relaxed and genuinely engaging few hours.
The full winemaking team behind HiDE was on hand: founder and CEO Jacob Leadley, winemaker Zoë Driver, and assistant winemaker Andy Wiles, who joined in May 2024, alongside Sales Director Neil Irvine and Events and Marketing Manager Rebecca Herbert. Having every member of the team on hand meant each wine was talked through by the people who actually made it. It was also a chance to taste through the wider range, including Paragon, Inversion and Eighty Nine Point Six 2020 Magnum, all exceptional wines that demonstrate the depth of talent within the Black Chalk team. Tastings like this one matter for the English wine industry, giving trade and press the chance to hear that story directly from the people behind it, rather than from a tasting note alone.
The venue was a fitting choice. HIDE is a Michelin-starred restaurant overlooking Green Park, opened in partnership with Hedonism Wines. Hide earned its star within six months of opening, going on to become one of London’s most talked-about restaurants. The building’s three floors take their cue from trees, down to a root-inspired basement bar, The Bar Below, since named Best Cocktail Bar in the UK at The Restaurant Awards, with diners also able to draw on Hedonism’s 9,000-bottle list.
Black Chalk began in 2015 with a leap of faith from Jacob and grapes bought in from local Hampshire vineyards, with the first wines released in 2018. In 2020 the team found a permanent home in a group of unloved farm buildings and established vineyards in Hampshire’s Test Valley, now known as BC HQ. It remains a winemaker-led project, with every member of the small team involved across both vineyard and winery, and a commitment to making vintage wine only, so each release stands as a true record of its own year.
HiDE 2021 comes from the Hide vineyard, planted in 2011 on shallow chalk soils that, despite the site’s relative warmth, force the vines to work hard, producing small yields of consistently exceptional fruit. It is also among the estate’s hardest sites to manage, a vineyard that demands precision. The wine is a blend of 48% Pinot Noir, 47% Chardonnay and 5% Pinot Meunier. The 2021 growing season, as for so many English producers, was a difficult one, with frost at bud burst, a difficult flowering and fruit set, and heavy disease pressure through a humid August, before a warmer, drier September and October rescued the vintage. The later harvest and lower yields produced fruit that the team rate among the best they have seen, particularly the Pinots. Fermentation is predominantly in stainless steel, with partial malolactic fermentation adding subtle depth and richness, and the wine spends a minimum of 46 months on lees, enhancing texture and complexity. Production is limited to 2,682 bottles, and the result is a precise, tension-filled expression of the site: chalk-driven and elegant, with real purity, lively acidity and fresh orchard fruit.
HiDE 2021 is available direct from Black Chalk at an RRP of £80. It is also served at HIDE, including by the glass, and is available through the restaurant’s sister wine merchant, Hedonism.
