Sparkling English Wine

Our Sparkling English Wine bar in the shadow of the beautiful Glynde Place

We’ve just got back from a weekend exhibiting and selling glasses of English fizz at the superb Glynde Food and English Wine Festival at Glynde Place. And what a festival it was…

We were lucky enough to be among 8 other vineyards from Sussex and Kent at the show, each showing off their superb wines for visitors to sample and purchase. The wine marquee was packed most of the time (especially during the downpours on Saturday!).

There was amazing food produce aplenty in the food tents and stalls lining the lawns of the beautiful house’s grounds. Big names in the cookery world, including MasterChef’s very own John Torode, (who was an enormous fan of the Nyetimber wines we were selling by the glass) were conducting masterclass demos, and there were tutored wine tastings from Stephen Skelton MW and Ewan Lacey MW.

John Torode and MasterChef crew cooking up the Feast!

The Saturday evening saw the MasterChef crew, John Torode, Dhruv Baker, Lisa Faulkner and Tim Anderson were all slaving away over hot stoves for the feast, which was very well attended, and we managed a wine bar in the tent. Bolney Bubbly was served to guests on reception and we sold bottles of this alongside the Lychgate White and Bolney Pinot Noir . All the wines went down very positively and with two bars either side of us (Snowdrop Inn of Lewes, and the Sipsmith Distillery Gin bar) much alcohol was consumed!

The festival offered many people the opportunity to try some amazing food and wines from around England, from producers small and large. A favourite of ours was Timmy’s Pies, run by the lovely Tim Wilkes, who endlessly creates some mouth watering pies, including slow roasted pork shoulder, with beetroot, rhubarb and potato. Mmm…

Tim and Nicki manning the bar

On our stand in the English Wine Marquee, we had Court Garden Vineyard‘s Classic Cuvée 2009, RidgeView Estate‘s brand new release Bloomsbury 2010, Gusbourne Estate‘s Sparkling Rosé and Pinot Noir 2010, Davenport Vineyards‘s Limney Estate Blanc de Blancs 2007 and Horsmonden Dry White 2011, Nyetimber‘s Rosé 2008, Blanc de Blancs 2003, and Classic Cuvée 2007, and Hush Heath Estate‘s Balfour Brut Rosé 2008. All these wines went down very well, and it was a pleasure to talk the many visitors and tasters through English wine production and wines.

Other wine producers exhibiting included, Bluebell Vineyard Estate, Breaky Bottom, Stopham Estate, Upperton, Plumpton College, Bolney Wine Estate, Biddenden, Sedelscombe, and a stand run by the South East Vineyards Association.

We’re already looking forward to next years event, and hope the weather is that little bit better next time round!

Furleigh Estate in full summer bloom...

Summer’s here (apparently!), Murray’s doing well at Wimbledon, and we’ve been flat out here at Sparkling English Wine HQ. With a number of private events recently as well as the Three Wine Men roadshow (in Manchester and Edinburgh) we’ve barely had a moment to breathe!

We’re currently preparing for the Glynde Food and English Wine Festival next weekend where we’ll be running a dedicated Sparkling English Wine bar selling Nyetimber by the glass.  We’ll also be showcasing some wines from top producers from Kent and Sussex in the English Wine Pavilion at Glynde. Come along and see us to sample some superb wines…

To mark the summer time’s arrival, we’ve decided to add a few more products to our ever-growing range of English wine:

Following success at the UKVA wine of the year competition, we’ve recently got hold of some of Furleigh Estate‘s Blanc de Noirs 2009 and their Jubilee Rosé 2009, to complement their most outstanding wine of the year trophy winner, the Furleigh Estate Classic Cuvée 2009.

Danebury Vineyards, whom I visited a month or so ago have impressed us so much with their still wines, that we saw no reason not to pop them on the site too. Joining their delightful Cossack 2005, is the Madeleine Angevine 2009, and the Schonburger 2009, as well as their soon to be listed Reserve 2010.

Sparkling English Wine stalwart Bolney Wine Estate have recently allowed us to show their Foxhole Vineyard Pinot Noir 2011 and Lychgate Red 2009 at the Three Wine Men events to give us a little red wine to prove to the public we can do it here, and they’ve gone down so well, we’re happy to say that we’ve got them both for sale here too…

Gusbourne Estate picked up a big award at the Decanter World of Wine Awards last month for their Blanc de Blancs 2007, and as a result have subsequently sold out of it, along with their equally superb Brut Reserve 2007. They assure us that new vintages will be released in coming months, but to provide more than just their Sparkling Rosé 2008, we have decided to take on their beautifully elegant Pinot Noir 2010, a silky still red that is ideal for summer barbecues…

Davenport Vineyards have recently released their Limney Estate Blanc de Blancs 2007, which is tasting delicious, as well as the new still dry white, the Limney Horsmonden Dry 2011 (coming soon).

Hush Heath Estate have also recently released a new sparkling rosé, their Balfour Brut Rosé 2009, which will be coming to the site soon. We’ve also got their two premium still wines: Nannette’s English Rose 2010, and Skye’s English Chardonnay 2010. We’ve created the Hush Heath Triple Pack, discounting the range of Hush Heath’s wines just for you!

Last, but by no means least, English sparkling wine champions RidgeView Estate have just released their Merret Bloomsbury Cuvée 2010, to follow on from the success of the 2009 vintage. This is the first of RidgeView’s 2010 vintage to be released, and a very exciting wine…

Enjoy some English fizz this summer, and maybe even try a few stills…!