English Wines

[Bribie]

When I lived in the UK the only English wines were the likes of VP and QC made from concentrates and a good way of getting smashed on a Student income Who can forget Apricot Wine. yeah.

However I was listening - with surprise - to a report on BBC World Service about the growing British wine industry - apparently thanks to warmer nights and a better understanding of soils and varieties, growing conditions are great for Champagne style sparklings.

Anybody tried them?

[Dr. Dextrin]

I've tried a few, but mainly freebies at shows because they're not cheap to buy by the bottle. They're often quite respectable, I'd say. If you like good acidity in a white wine, they'll usually deliver - but that's not really my thing and I wouldn't claim to be an expert.

[fatbloke]

I've not tried any of them, despite the vineyards being just up the road. I do keep an eye on any info though, because they're also customers of my employer. One of them recently gave me 400 odd used bottles, used as in "used in process" that were scheduled for the recycler. So they just needed washing/sanitising. Which was great, as the local home brew shop will sell standard 750ml "Bordeaux" type bottles for 75p each (packs of 15) or I'd also found that I could get them by the pallet from the Glass merchant in South London, at about £220 per pallet (1014 bottles per pallet) plus VAT/sales tax and I'd have to sort the transport myself.

Hence 400 freebies for nothing, other than the hygiene requirement, was bloody brilliant.

As for the cost of the locally made ones ? for sparkling, it's in the region of £20 to £30 a bottle and for still, you're looking IRO of £10 to £15 a bottle. It varies from vineyard to vineyard (locally, I have Ridgeview, Bolney and Nyetimber)

p.s. and my lack of trying any, is more about not being much of a gambler. If I'm gonna pay ten to fifteen quid a bottle, it's gonna be something of known quantity. Like Chateau Neuf du Pape, or perhaps a St Emillion...

[MartinC]

I've tried several whites over the last 3 years or so and have been impressed. The last one was made from a grape called Madeline Angevine (from the Loire valley) and was gorgeously fruity and aromatic. £9 per bottle so not cheap, but not rediculous either.
I would like to try some reds but I can't seem to find them. Perhaps white grapes are better than reds in the UK because reds need more sunlight?
Cheers,
Martin

[rootsbrew]

English wines can be good, especially the rosé and the sparkling. The whites tend to have great aroma and fall short on the palate, while the reds just end up being incipid - gross generalisation. It seems the best varieties and ripest grapes go into the rosé and fizz, leaving the obscure/unripe for the still wines. Having said that, the climate is ideal for sparkling and rosé, so why not make the best return on it?

Regarding price, production costs are rediculously high, even compared with Loire/Chabis/Champagne - mostly because it's a new industry, land prices and tax system doesn't favour wine production (c.f. beer or other agri). The upside of paying a bit more is quality, because producers know they can't flog rubbish and be competitive so, at worst, a modern english (or welsh!) wine will be dull, as opposed to actually bad, which is good. And, there's no doubt that the best English sparklers are a lot better than those from Champagne at a similar price (a couple of producers mentioned above).

The other week we went for a long bike ride round Box Hill area and just as the nearby winery was closing, we picked up a bit of rosé and collapsed under some vines to recover. Perfect!

[dcq1974]

My Ph.D. was a study on the Aroma and Flavour Chemistry of English wine (Chilford Vineyard in Cambridgeshire - small 25 acre vineyard).

All the wines produced there are second to none and have won many awards. Varieties grown and made into wine include Ortega (Müller-Thurgau x Siegerrebe cross), Siegerrebe (a Gewürztraminer x Madeleine Angevine cross), Schönburger (a Pinot Noir x [Chasselas Rosé x Muscat Hamburg] cross) and Huxelrebe (a Chasselas Doré x Courtillier Musqué (a Muscat variety) cross). These varieties are important in ‘cold climate’ vineyards, such as those of the UK. They are able to ripen their grapes reliably and are especially prized for their aromatic (or spicy) wines.

I can vouch that these wines are trully fab! The sparkling rose is excellent