Carr Taylor

Sunday saw us up bright and early for a mid morning tour at Carr Taylor vineyard. Situated north of Hastings, protected from the sea mist and winds, Carr Taylor were the first vineyard to produce English sparkling wine. 

They grow a variety of wines although we only a few varieties saw on our walk. It was very interesting to see the older vines, the Reichensteiner are nearly 50 years old, planted using the Geneva curtain style. However the other vines such as Bacchus, Pinot Blanc and Pinot Noir are planted in the French row style. It all depends on how much land is allocated for each variety, Carr Taylor find the Geneva curtain planting gives good yeild even if needing more land.

The vines looked quite forlorn standing in the fields all bare but the buds were beginning to grow and I'm sure by the summer the vineyard will look very different. 

Carr Taylor believe in tradition and as such their sparkling wine is still degorged and capped by hand with a machine purchased in the 1980s. It is certainly nothing like I have seen before either in the UK or in France. 

Unusually the vats were made of fibre glass, again a new concept to me. It was very interesting to see where and how Carr Taylor made their still and sparkling wine.

After our tour we enjoyed a wine tasting; four sparkling wines and a still wine. All the sparkling wines had plenty of bubbles but with quite different flavours.

Carr Taylor Rosé gains its light colouring from the Pinot Noir skins. There were plenty of rasberry and redcurrant flavours. 

Carr Taylor Brut was plentiful in crisp apple flavour with a slight biscuity aroma.

Carr Taylor Demi-sec was slightly sweeter with a peachy nose and an apple flavour with hints of vanilla.

The vineyard will be focusing on their sparkling wine in the future, especially Carr Taylor White Pinot. This sparkling wine has crispness from Pinot Blanc and fruitiness from Pinot Noir. 

We did try two still wines: Cannonball and 1066. The first was a light wine with hints of elderflower and lemon, the second was similar but a little weightier with added notes of lime and apple and was a good accompaniment to our ploughman's lunch.

Sunday's are made for days out, especially vineyard tours and tastings. It is always nice to discover more about wine and wine producers.