If anyone asks me if I have tried English wine I reply with a resounding 'yes'!
However I hadn't realised how many different wines until I looked back over my blog posts. That's the primary reason I write Aimetu's - wine, food and travel; it's full of our adventures and wonderful memories.
Those great memories include visiting Love Wine in Birmingham, Guildford and Birmingham again the following year with friends, it's where we have discovered and tasted many English wines. Unfortunately this year's Guildford Love Wine was postponed, we're looking forward to the new dates when we can again meet with some fantastic winemakers from near and far.
From our visits in 2017 and 2018 we discovered these English winemakers; always in holiday mood I'm already planning a few mini breaks with vineyard visits for when life allows.
Our first actual tour of an English vineyard was in September 2015 and was the start of my 50th birthday celebrations. Driving north early on a Sunday morning in my new car with it's perfect 65 plate, I was filled with excited anticipation; Wroxeter Vineyard did not disappoint. We had a brilliant day, walking the vines, discovering new grape varieties and tasting superb wines whilst enjoying a super lunch.
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| Our first English vineyard visit |
Our first 2018 visit was to an English winemaker you've probably read about in my recent writings - Oatley Vineyard. As part of our wine weekend holiday with friends I arranged a visit to this, at the time, unknown vineyard tucked away in rural Somerset. It was an absolute delight and a treasure to find.
I have fond memories of our visit in early 2018 and thanks to our recent online order we are now enjoying Oatley wines with friends here in the Midlands, virtually of course!
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| Our visit to Oatley Vineyard |
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| Virtual Oatley tasting in lockdown |
We were amazed by their wines, especially their new Rosso vermouth, and equally amazed by their beautiful vineyard. Set down a small leafy lane The Bolney Estate has a great cafe with balcony seating overlooking the vines. Their wines are elegantly laid out in the shop, so much choice, all so inviting. The Eighteen Acre restaurant follows on from the shop and offers a great range of food. We had a very enjoyable lunch with a glass of wine and would have loved to have stayed for a tour, we will certainly be visiting again.
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| Our lunch stop visit to The Bolney Estate |
Essex is not an area we had thought of for wine making however Dedham Vale grow a variety of grapes around the vineyard and in the neighbouring area. We had an extensive tour of the vines followed by a tour of the working parts of the vineyard; our tour ending with a super wine tasting with views across the beautiful English countryside.
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| Dedham Vale's beautiful setting |
At Langham we treated ourselves to lunch accompanied by a glass of their delicious Blanc de Noirs. Another superb vineyard producing a great range of sparkling wine, with drinking restrictions due to driving we just had to bring some home. This English wine estate is stunning example of the beautiful countryside we have in our country, our next visit will definitely include a tour and longer time to enjoy not only super wines but the super food too.
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| My glass of Langham Blanc de Noirs |
2020 has certainly been a different year, no vineyard visits, no wine events but that hadn't stopped everyone talking about, sharing and discovering wine .... especially with superb live wine chats hosted by (amongst others) Brad Horne - Wine Time London.
Thanks to Brad I now have more English winemakers to add to my visit/tasting list, an ever growing list that now includes:
With shopping online and nationwide delivery there is no reason to not enjoy English wine at home, Hubby and I will certainly be ordering more to enjoy here whilst looking forward to when we can spread our wings and go visiting again.
As I said this post is full of links to our past adventures and the variety of English winemakers we have discovered, however I could not finish without mentioning the best English wine
...... it's priceless ...... and is of course .....
I have over the years made many wine, following in my Grandfather's footsteps. 2014 was a good year resulting in Dandelion, Rhubarb and Elderflower wines, each receiving compliments from those who have tasted them. I have since made Tea Wine and Rhubarb Wine .... bottled ready to drink!
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| Chateau Hearnden Dandelion, Rhubarb and Elderflower |
Cheers everyone .... enjoy English Wine Week 🥂
1 comment:
The red miller 2018 is the first english red to win a gold medal at the international wine challenge. It was made from grapes fermented for three days on the skins before being aged in french and american oak barrels. Source for more about Weddings & Civil Ceremonies : The English Wine Centre : English Wines, Sussex Wedding Venue, Restaurant & Hotel.
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