The Auswine Forum

We are heading to the UK for a few weeks in July/August. I've heard the wine industry is very small but I'd like to check out a few areas/wineries. Any assistance would be appreciated.

Carl

Im not as enamoured with the sparkling wines from Kent as others are. Nyetimber is one of the better known ones

Exploring English* sparkling wine is well worthwhile. It is easily on a quality par with Champagne (let alone sparklers at an international level). Nyetimber (West Sussex) still has the edge IMO, but Coates & Seely's (Hampshire) rosé‎ is great, and even the relatively well known RidgeView (East Sussex) is good.

There are easily over 100 wineries in England now, but most have very small holdings. Three Choirs (Gloucestershire), Chapel Down (Kent), Denbies (Surrey) - the biggest and most commercially-orientated, and Camel Valley (Cornwall) have had a good reputation for many years now. Hendred (Oxfordshire), Herbet Hall (Kent), Hidden Springs (Sussex) and Hush Heath (Kent) - don't ask me what it is with the letter H - have gotten some favourable attention more recently.

*There's a designation distinction to be made because "British wine" can be made from imported grapes/must whereas "English wine" or "Welsh wine" cannot.

Thanks guys. Much appreciated. That gives us a few to look out for as we graze our way around this great country. A single malt or 3 will also be on the menu. Looks like full bodied reds may be in short supply so will pack a few. Any ideas on the maximum amount of alcohol you can take in duty free?

Just won't mention cricket.

Carl

You should have no trouble finding full bodied red wines in the wine shops (or the supermarkets) but they won't be locally produced. If you go to a good wine shop, you'll find a better selection of EU wines than you'll find back here. If you want any particular Australian wines (eg to show friends), especially from small producers, then it'd be best taking those with you.

Chapel Down are very good, so worth a visit. Camel Valley Vineyard are meant to be good, but I haven't had a chance to visit yet. Breaky Bottom Vineyard makes an excellent sparkling wine, but you'd need to make an appointment to visit. There's a fairly extensive list of vineyards at http://www.englishwineproducers.com/ .

It's worth trying a few still wines too, though the sparkling ones are probably the strongest offerings. There's some good still white wines made from Bacchus, and Chapel Down makes a very good Pinot Blanc. I've yet to be convinced by any made from Madeleine Angevine, though. A few places make pretty decent light red wines, either from Pinot Noir Precocé, or varieities such as Regent, Rondo and Triomphe d'Alsace.

dingozegan wrote:Exploring English* sparkling wine is well worthwhile. It is easily on a quality par with Champagne .

Really???

Sorry, I don't mean to come across as rude, but IMO, the quality of UK sparkling wines isn't even close to their counterparts over the ditch. I think the best comparison for UK sparklers are with the good ones made in Tasmania.

Maybe the better 'vintage' releases from the UK are on par with the industrial NV wines made in Champagne. But put a grand cru millesime up against the best UK sparkler (let alone a tete du cuvee such as Salon, Clos du Mesnil, DP, Clos des Goisses) and it will be blown away. And then do the comparsion of the same wines in 15 years and I think the qualitative difference will be even greater !!

That said, I do believe, like in Australia and California, the quality of the sparkling wines continue to improve, but they have a long way to catch up to the French.

Just my $0.02 (or should I say £0.02) worth...

Thanks

Mike

I don't drink enough of either English sparkling wines or champagnes to be able to comment on how they compare, quality wise. I'm not even sure how one would go about this -- they are different terroirs. Nonetheless, some of the good English sparkling wines are very good, and worth considering as serious wines. It'll be interesting to see how they develop as the wine industry in the UK matures.

penguinoid wrote:It'll be interesting to see how they develop as the wine industry in the UK matures.

Absolutely. Global warming (without trying to ignite a science / political debate ) adds another variable in the UK's favour.

Mike

Mike Hawkins wrote:

dingozegan wrote:Exploring English* sparkling wine is well worthwhile. It is easily on a quality par with Champagne .

Really??? Sorry, I don't mean to come across as rude, but IMO, the quality of UK sparkling wines isn't even close to their counterparts over the ditch. I think the best comparison for UK sparklers are with the good ones made in Tasmania.

Completely fair points, I should really have qualified my statement!

I didn't mean to imply that the best of English sparkling wine was equivalent in quality to the best of Champagne. I definitely agree the English sparklers would get blown away in such a comparison (sparklers from anywhere else in the world simply can't match the quality of the best Champagnes).

However, I am not sure I'd compare UK sparklers to Tasmanian sparklers - either in quality, or actually even in their character. As a generalisation, I consider the best of English sparkling wines to show superior quality (balance, elegance, complexity) to Tasmanian sparklers. Admittedly I'm talking English vintage fare (with the exception of an occasional NV like the rose I mentioned before), but at least that's how I feel when it comes to (vintage and NV) Arras, Bay of Fires, Clover Hill, Jansz and Stefano Lubiana. If you think otherwise, I'd certainly be interested in which Tassie sparklers you consider the best quality. Cheers.

dingozegan wrote:

Mike Hawkins wrote:

dingozegan wrote:Exploring English* sparkling wine is well worthwhile. It is easily on a quality par with Champagne .

Really??? Sorry, I don't mean to come across as rude, but IMO, the quality of UK sparkling wines isn't even close to their counterparts over the ditch. I think the best comparison for UK sparklers are with the good ones made in Tasmania.

If you think otherwise, I'd certainly be interested in which Tassie sparklers you consider the best quality. Cheers.

I don't think I have tried even one English bubbly so I really can't contribute to the overall debtate, but in terms of which Tassie sparklers are the best - anything by Arras. The Freycinet Radinet is also first rate.

Arras is the one I'd put at the top, the Hanging Rock crowd (from memory) have a good one, and I hear Jansz are starting to produce some better ones as well.