The Wine Pantry's English Wine Festival, and some thoughts on 2008s

I went down to this mini-festival of all things English on Sunday, held in the Jubilee market section of Borough Market. It was also the day of the Jubilee Pageant on the River, and in typical fashion the skies were grey and drizzle was abounding. There were jolly scenes in the market though, with lots of wines on show, as well as some tasty nibbles (although I probably should have saved the smoked eel until the end). I tried to focus on the sparklers. Firstly, a few tasting notes, then a few general thoughts:

Jenkyn Place Brut 2008Chardonnay/Pinot Noir/Pinot Meunier. Fragrant green apple, lemon zest and macroon aromas here, with the citrus character dominating the palate, which is a little bit brisk at the moment. I find it verging on a lemon juice flavour profile, which may be down to the vintage (more of that later)....dosage a little low perhaps?

Meopham Valley Cuvée 2008Unusually Pinot Gris is included in this wine, along with Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Slightly riper fruit profile here, more red apples and even a touch of berry fruit. Shades of richness too, with ground almonds and a bit of bakery aroma. Pure and elegant mouthfeel - an easier wine to enjoy that the Jenkyn Place at the moment.

Gusbourne Estate Blanc de Blancs 2008Another 2008 to compare here. I like the scented bramley apple and vanilla nose, and there's a noticeable step up in savoury complexity on the palate here over the last two wines. It is still brisk and verging on austere, but it feels very fine and essentially in balance, and will benefit from a few years tucked away.

Nyetimber Blanc de Blancs 2003A step back in time, and a step up in, well, most respects. There's some vinous depth to this wine, with toasted macaroon and whitecurrant aromas, vanilla and dried apple on the palate and a lovely lift of honeysuckle on the finish. 2003 was an unusually warm year, but there's no lack of freshness and precision to accompany the slightly more generous nature of this wine. Somewhat alarmingly for some of the younger wines here, this is just starting come into its own and will be drinking very nicely for a few more years.

Camel Valley Pinot Noir Brut Rosé 2010 This is all lively, primary fruit; strawberries, raspberries and a touch of creaminess, set off by a grassy, meadow-like aroma. The palate certainly fits the style, with a strawberry-cordial like sweetness to balance out the acidic zip. It's quite a young, simple wine - very fresh and fruit-driven, but not my favourite rosé here.

Gusbourne Estate Sparkling Rosé 2008
This is made from all three champagne grapes. It is mineral and restrained, with rosehip and icing sugar on the nose and a supremely elegant mousse delivering pure strawberry shortcake flavours. Balance and finesse here.

Nyetimber Rosé 2008Chardonnay and PInot Noir. This is slightly more outgoing and expressive than the Gusbourne with its complex redcurrant-led fruits and pleasing savoury dimension on the palate. There's a little biscuity richness going on too. Really like this.

Hush Heath Estate Balfour Brut 2008Pale salmon in colour with fragrant fresh strawberry and crabapple fruit, delicate minerality and impeccable balance on the palate. It feels ethereally bone dry and (drier than the Gusbourne and Nyetimber examples), but absolutely pulls it off. Unique.

I also tasted the Camel Valley Sparkling Red 2010, from Rondo grapes, partly because it is something I had thought of doing with my Leon Millot in Kent. Fun stuff, all herb-tinged cherry and hedgerow fruit, with sprightly but gentle bubbles. Made me want a barbeque and a cheeseburger. And more importantly, some sunshine....

In general it was the Rosés that stole the show here - they work better as younger wines than most white sparklers, and all three of the 2008s were in a more drinkable place than their white counterparts. Chardonnay, the latest to ripen of the three champagne grapes, had a very tough year in 2008 - Stephen Skelton reports that in some cases acidity levels reached 14 or 15 g/l. Those are truly epic acidities. I felt that the Jenkyn place was just over the edge in this sense, and could have done with a higher dosage. I enjoyed the Meopham, and the Gusbourne was in balance but felt young and coiled up - it will open up over the next 3 or 4 years, but I think that the most successful 2008s will be ones that include a fair percentage of the Pinots.
A special mention must go to Nyetimber here. This is a winery on a mission - they are simplifying their portfolio, beautifully rebranding their wines and selling their wines with just a bit more age behind them than some of their competitors. I slightly worry that, with cooler vintages like 2008, we might be releasing some difficult adolescents into the world. Camel Valley is an example of how to turn around some delicious wines in a short period of time, but for vineyards with ambitions towards a more complex, savoury style and lower dosages, time is an essential ingredient.

Chapel Down Vintage Reserve Rosé Brut

I've been following Chapel Down, based in Tenterden in Kent, for many years. I grew up in the area and remember the first visit to the vineyard about a decade ago, when still wines were a bigger part of the portfolio but the concept of English Sparkling Wine was just starting to get a little bit of a buzz.
Chapel Down were one of the pioneers of quality winemaking in the UK, establishing themselves in the 1980s with still wines from Seyval and Müller-Thurgau and with its (still excellent) Bacchus wines through the 1990s. For me, one of Chapel Down's problems through the 2000s was that it was a bit slow off the mark in joining the vanguard of top sparkling wine producers making wines from only champagne varietals. Whilst they had shelf presence in Marks and Spencer and Waitrose and were well-known name, they never quite had a world-class sparkler out there in any quantity to compete with specialists Ridgeview, Nyetimber, and the newer names such as Gusbourne.
All that is changing. Whilst their range is still very large, I think it is slowly coming into focus. This 100% Pinot Noir is by far the best wine I have ever had from them. In fact, I would go so far as to say it is one of the best I've ever had from the UK.

This has been in my cellar for a year. It is a beautiful peachy-pink colour, which gleams invitingly through the clear glass on this very classy bottle. Immediately this very engaging on the nose, with wild strawberry and loganberry fruit, crabapple and red rose. What I really love is the malty, burnt-sugar richness that accompanies the fruit, which reminds me of digestive biscuits and toasted meringues. This comes through on the palate very nicely with a well-judged sweetness (you only notice it if you think about it) like crabapple jelly. The elegant acid structure you expect from English sparklers is there, but there's real vinosity here that screams 'Pinot!'. This is stunning stuff - it comes in at £22.99 on their website and makes most pink champagne look absurdly over-priced and underwhelming. Also, I must say that it makes Hush Heath and Nyetimber Rosé look rather expensive....

Colosia Fino, Jerez, Spain

I love fino. I think sherry is slowly winning the battle against the Harvery's-Bristol-Cream-sipping granny image it needs to shake off in the UK, but there's still a way to go before it gets on the radar of most shoppers looking for something to go with dinner. This is beautiful and complex on the nose, with aromas of sweet fennel seed and pine, fresh seville oranges, almonds oyster. That 'seaside' element is quite strong here, like wet pebbles on the beach. There's real savoury intensity on the palate, with more of that sweet and salty oyster flavour, finishing with almonds and a gentle floral lift. Just love it

Raso del Cruz Tinto 2010, Cariñena, Spain

This little gem from M&S offers up lush, fragrant raspberry coulis from its syrah fruit as well as some curranty and prune notes and a touch of milk chocolate. With the savoury, slightly meaty garnacha and sweeter, violet-tinged syrah in lovely balance it is quite a simple but elegant drop, particularly when chilled down a little. Pleasingly crunchy, fresh tannins and bright acidity complete a bargain bottle at £6.99. Lovely

Bolney Estate Pinot Grigio 2011, Sussex, England

2011 was a very unusual vintage in the UK, with many vineyards reporting record ripeness levels thanks to very low yields and an extended Indian summer. In practice, in the UK this means that winemakers were widely able to make still wines without chaptalisation and/or de-acidification, which are unfortunately necessary in our climate at times. Of the three main Pinot grapes, Pinot Grigio is firmly in third place in the UK in terms of plantings behind its siblings Pinots Blanc, Meunier and Noir due to its later ripening and unsuitability as a sparkling wine grape. It only really makes great wine in Alsace and in isolated pockets of Northern Italy, and I'm not sure the UK will be challenging these top wines for now.
This is quite a charmer on the nose, with its sweet red apple, peach blossom and even a bit of the perfume of fresh strawberries. The palate reminds me of fresh lemonade with its tangy acidity and gentle pear-like sweetness. It is primary stuff, all fruit/sugar/acidity, much like many of the northern italian wines. A tipple, and one that could spark a whole piece about still wines in the UK - but that's for another day! I look forward to tasting some more wines from the 2011 vintage, but this is a very solid start.

Some contrasting London beers

London is awash with microbreweries. It's a city with a proud brewing history, and I'm really excited to taste some of the new beers popping up from my neck of the woods. Three breweries here; first the notes, and then I'll offer a few general opinions.

Camden Town Brewery Pale Ale
Quite gentle on the nose - honeyed, with bitter herbs, lemon zest. Lightly moussy feel to drink, not big flavours here but nice persistent citric hops. Pretty good.

London Fields Brewery Pale Ale -
Quite a cool, clean beer, aromatic with orange zest on the nose and with a slightly smoky maltiness and gentle floral hoppiness. Really like this, and very drinkable at 3.9 %.

Redchurch Brewery Great Eastern IPA
Ok, this is 7.7% and is very different in style. Big fruit aromas here, with stewed plums red berries, and an interesting green-ness that reminded me of celery. Powerful, persistent delivery of complex flavours and malty sweetness on the palate, which really carries that savoury hoppiness through. Really enjoyed this beer, even if it is a bit of an extrovert.

London Fields Brewery Hackney Hopster
Peaches and pineapple, quite floral and fresh. Hops certainly dominate but it doesn't quite carry through as a balanced beer - feels a touch hollow and finishing very bitter. Some refreshment factor, but I think the Pale Ale is a better brew.

Redchurch Brewery Hackney Gold
So the IPA isn't a one off....darker and richer on the nose than I was expecting. 5.5%. These are quite big interpretations of the styles on the label. The fruit is rich and ripe, almost raisiny. It's bold and mouthfilling with a pleasing marmalade sweetness and a long, quite delicate finish. Very convincing, tasty beer, but not what I was expecting from a 'Gold'.

Forgot to make notes on the London Fields Gold. Just drank it. Probably a good sign.

I've had the Camden town beers before, and I'm afraid I don't think they're in the Premier League of London breweries. My impression is that they're focussed on taking on the big brewers in bars and pubs, particularly on the lager front, and good luck to 'em frankly. I did quite like the Pale Ale, but it was probably my least favourite beer here.
Redchurch and London Fields breweries have very contrasting 'house' styles - the Redchurch beers here were both big and bold. Not session beers, these. The Hackney Gold was my pick of the beers - alcohol and sweetness can be flattering in any drink, but I think the flavours here were complex and interesting. I thought the Hackney Gold was a bit heavy-handed, though. After this I really enjoyed the London Fields Pale Ale - their 'house' style is obviously more bright and aromatic.
One final word - value. Poor, in this bottled format. Running a brewery in London is not going to be cheap, but £2.70 retail for a 330ml bottle represents a lot of cash for, well, small beer. All these beers (apart from the Camden town) were bottle conditioned, and I'd have liked to have seen them in full bottles (as with the LFB Pale Ale), but that would have pushed the price up to the same sort of price you'd pay per pint in a pub. The logical conclusion has to be; find a pub that serves these beers well and try them there. That's next on my agenda.

Masseria Del Feudo Chardonnay 'Haermosa', Sicily

It's been quite a wine-free few weeks. Time to make amends.
This is an organic chardonnay from inland Sicily, cultivated at 480m above sea level. I came across it as the importer, Paola from Harmonicande, had a few bottles open from this producer in Bottle Apostle down the road. The Chardonnay really stood out for me, as well as quite an unusual bright young Syrah.
There's some real class on the nose here, which reminds me of French apple tart with just a touch of warm nutmeg spice and vanilla to sweeten the deal. Perhaps someone let a few slices of pineapple slip in too. It doesn't veer towards buttery or mealy though, staying clean and quite chiselled on the palate, which has just enough in the way of acid structure to hold it together with the help of a pithy and quite savoury backbone. I really like this - it's elegant and pretty serious. Probably the best Chardonnay I've had from Italy (a small catergory I'll admit).