Showing posts with label English Sparkling. Show all posts
Showing posts with label English Sparkling. Show all posts

Friday, May 29, 2020

Canadian Duo Keep Nyetimber Top In English Sparkling Wine.

Canadian Duo Keep Nyetimber Top
 In English Sparkling Wine.

Married couple Cherie Spriggs and Brad Greatrix first joined Nyetimber, the leading English Sparkling Wine producer, as winemakers in 2007, after trying a bottle gifted to them by Cherie’s parents. They instantly recognised the promise of this early wine, and since 2007, Cherie (now the head winemaker) and Brad have been integral to building Nyetimber into a sparkling wine producer that rivals the best in the world.

Liberty Wines MD David Gleave introduced the Canadian couple at the start of the latest in a superb series of online masterclasses and said it was fascinating to watch the couple guide Nyetimber to a step-up in style and quality over the last ten years or so. “The fact that Nyetimber are No.1 for years is down to attention to the small details, and that was acknowledged in 2018 when Cherie was awarded Sparkling Winemaker of the Year at the International Wine Challenge – the first time that the accolade was awarded to a winemaker outside Champagne, an achievement which speaks for itself.”

Brad was keen to tell us about the details, enthusiastic that they were given free rein so “we can go deep” and they did. Nyetimber was founded in 1988 “when the holy trinity of sparkling wine grapes – Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier – found a new home in the lee of the South Downs.” And it did well and even better when new owner Eric Heerema arrived in 2006 and soon he recruited Canadians Cherie and Brad.

Now Nyetimber stretches over three English counties (Hampshire, West Sussex and Kent). In all there are 327 hectares and 11 vineyard sites, including one newly planted.

So why sparkling wine in this area of England? Take a look at the geological chart and you’ll see that the similarity between here and the Champagne area in France.

Cherie took us into the soil, the two types here: Greensand and Chalk. And one big advantage is that both are free-draining, essential to cope with the English rain. Take a look at the climate chart to see the numbers between April and September. Note too that the Nyetimber budburst, flowering, véraison and harvest all fall 3 to 4 weeks behind Champagne. One good thing about the delay is that “sugar, flavour, and phenolics all converge towards the end, a very good factor in England”.

“If you’re serious about sparkling wine, you pick by hand,” Brad emphasised. As they pick, they use trays that are wide and shallow so that grapes at the bottom aren't damaged. 

It is all about care and attention and of course that extends to the winery. They have a state of the art pressing facility, “very simple, ultra gentle”. Here the juice is divided into three “fractions”: “cuvée”, 1st press, 2nd press. The cuvée is more or less guaranteed a place in the final product, the 1st press (itself divided into two, 1A and 1B!) may or may not be chosen while the 2nd and final press goes to the compost. The selections are all done by taste!

For bottling “you need a healthy yeast culture, but yeasts need a lot of air, a lot of aeration. But at Nyetimber, we said to ourselves, they don’t need all that aeration.” So they modified the line to get a little nitrogen in and, after quite a few trials, were rewarded when the wines showed extra freshness by comparison with those that hadn't got the nitrogen treatment. And not just freshness, more elegance and purity as well, “an amazing difference”. And so they “rolled it out in 2011.”

3 sections
Sparkling Wine lovers are always keen for extra information. Nyetimber are not shy and make it easy to find out various dates such as bottling, riddling (a more important date than many think, according to Cherie) and disgorgement. If you have a bottle of Nyetimber you’ll see a code on it. Go to the website, enter your bottle’s code and you’ll get all the info you need!

Brad then held up what looked like a black bottle. It is in fact an amber one. But why amber? Brad joked: “It makes a nice back-drop for the packaging!”. “But, much more importantly, it protects the wine from particularly harmful wavelengths of light.”

And then Cherie talked to us about closures, beginning with traditional cork. Did you know the cork is divided into three layers? And that the thin bottom layer must be of the very highest quality. But the duo weren’t totally happy with their corks early on. “Traditional cork can bring extra flavours, nice ones like vanilla, but it is not consistent.” 

DIAM is an artificial cork, one material from top to bottom, that looks much like the traditional one and Nyetimber decided to do multiple trials. The result was that DIAM proved the more consistent and is now used on their bottles since 2008.

Stainless steel is their vessel of choice for fermentation as it can keep the character of the vineyard “pretty pure”. By the way, their vineyards are subdivided into over 100 + plots, so they have 100+ tanks, all with individual controls.

During the closing Q&A session, they were asked about the “absolutely astonishing 2009 Prestige Cuvée”.
Cherie said they had often thought about the possibility, from the early days. “Then came the quite extraordinary 2009 vintage, everything perfect. While blending, we felt we had the components across the three grape varieties. Afterwards we knew we needed significant time before release and it took us until Autumn 2018 to bring it to market. It was a big decision as the industry is relatively new in the UK and we have to make important decisions without the comfort blanket of history.”

Q: How is the 2020 vintage shaping up?
A: “It’s been an unusual year. Spring was generally good but then came very late frosts in some vineyards. May's been wonderful so if no frost damage, it will be great, if there is frost damage, normal. In years like this, we are grateful for the spread of vineyards and counties.”

Delightful. Insightful. Masterclass by Giovanni Manetti at Fontodi in Chianti Classico



Monday, January 22, 2018

Dr Brendan O’Regan Cuvée. A Special Wine for a Special Man

Dr Brendan O’Regan Cuvée

A Special Wine for a Special Man


Born in Sixmilebridge in 1917, Brendan O’Regan went on to achieve much in his life, most notably perhaps the establishment of the world’s first duty free area in Shannon Airport, not too far from his Clare birthplace. He would go on to leave a permanent mark on the Shannon Region, on Ireland and indeed on the world.

After a few years at the Foynes Flying Boat base (where he is handsomely commemorated in the museum there), he was appointed Catering Comptroller General at Shannon in 1945. By 1957, he became chairman of Bord Failte, a post he held until 1973. From 1959-1978, he was chairman of Shannon Free Airport Development Company and, from 1974-1979, he was joint President of State Agencies Development Co-operation Organisation. Just a few of his major achievements.

His wine-maker grand-nephew Dermot Sugrue, from Kilfinane, was always fascinated by his grand-uncle’s achievements and was a proud attendee at the 1917 centenary commemorations. He was inspired to remember the great man and did so with a special wine, an English sparkling wine of outstanding quality, the Dr Brendan O’Regan Cuvée, produced by Sugrue Pierre, Dermot’s company in the South Downs.

The climate of the south east of England makes it particularly suitable for sparkling wines and the industry there is a multi-million pound one. Indeed, the climate and the chalky soil is fairly similar to the Champagne area and well-known champagne maker Taittinger have purchased a vineyard here. 

Dermot has played a key role in putting English sparkling wine on the map. After time honing his craft in France, he’s been making top quality fizz in England for many years ,with Nyetimber, Wiston Estate, Digby Fine English and Jenkyn Place just a few of the award winning names under his belt.

I have spoken to Dermot a few times over the past two years about Dr Brendan O'Regan and so I was delighted to get a bottle of the cuvée to try out. And where better place to do just that than at L’Atitude 51, Cork’s leading wine-bar. Proprietor Beverly Mathews and Chilean wine journalist Fran Jara made up the trio as we opened the precious bottle in the upstairs bar.

Beverly poured and soon we saw those tiny little bubbles, fountains of micro-bubbles, in a non-stop rise to the top. It could, and would, pass for a top class champagne, very “brioche-y”, very zesty too, round and balanced with great acidity and incredible reverberating length, bone dry too. It is labelled Brut. That “dry” quality makes the saliva work and whets the appetite so it makes a terrific aperitif and should also be a superb match with oysters and mussels. These were some of the comments as we sipped.

Later, I collected the considered opinions of my colleagues. Fran: “Sugrue Pierre has fine and energetic bubbles, is bright and dry with flavours of citrus fruits, green apples and a creamy-like texture. In two words, I would say that is extremely enjoyable.”

Beverly was also enthusiastic: “A delicious wine, mouthfilling, very complex and a great long finish. A delicious complex English sparkling wine celebrating a remarkable Irishman. Would make a fab gift. I'd like to get one in a few years time as I think it will age very well indeed.”

Dermot has created this prestige multi-vintage wine from a blend of Chardonnay (60%) and Pinot Noir (40%) aged in oak barrels. All the fruit was sourced from two exceptional vineyards, some 26 miles apart on the South Downs. “It possesses outstanding ageing potential, combining both power and structure with subtlety and finesse. Beautiful to enjoy now, it will grow in elegance and complexity if cellared for up to a decade.”

The accolades for this cuvée have been pouring in. Recently described as “Best Gift” in Olly Smith’s Mail on Sunday Christmas drinks round-up, who also said “This is the finest English fizz I’ve yet tasted.” So there you are. It is on sale for £79.00 on the Sugrue Pierre website but do watch out for it on your travels. You’re sure to see it in an airport shop soon. Don’t leave it behind you. Bring it safely home and when drinking, toast the Clare man who helped Ireland emerge from the doldrums and the Limerick man who provided the sparkling wine to celebrate!

Read more about Dr Brendan O’Regan here




  

Thursday, April 14, 2016

Sparkling Intro to Le Caveau Tasting


Sparkling Intro to Le Caveau Tasting
Sparkling Sugrue

Limerickman Dermot Sugrue was in sparkling form in Cork’s L’Atitude 51 yesterday. And why not? Didn't he have his superb Wiston Estate wines all lined up on the first table of the Le Caveau Trade and Press Tasting.

These English sparkling wines are on a par with the top offerings of Champagne. Indeed, the Wiston Estate Blanc de Blanc NV commands a higher price per glass (and per bottle) than a very well known champagne in the Chiltern Firehouse, an exclusive London restaurant. “It is a great restaurant”, said Dermot. “An old fire station, architecturally impressive, and it's great to in there and poured by the glass!”

This NV, all Chardonnay, has a broad appeal, “a social wine”. It is mainly 2011 but contains twenty per cent of 2010 reserve, which plays a key role in this amazing wine. The grapes come from three different vineyards, all West Sussex, all chalk. The Wiston Estate vintage wines are from single vineyards.
Mark of Cockagee.
Next up was the “accidental rosé” of 2011. It was the warmest summer for 140 years. “The wine made itself”, said Dermot. ”But what pleases me is the way it has sustained itself since. The 33% of Chardonnay is now growing in influence.”  It is a magnificent drink and you are very highly recommended to get your hands on a bottle or two.

And it seems there is more good news to come on the rosé front. There was a great vintage in 2014 and the results to date “are extremely encouraging”.

This pleasant sparkling interlude was finished with a tasting of the Sugrue Pierre 2010, a family effort with even Noodle the dog getting his cartoon on the label. It is made from 60% Chardonnay and 40% Pinot Noir, matured in old barrels (50%) and stainless steel. Two and a half years on lees, disgorged in 2014 and then two years in the bottle. It is superb, fantastic body and finish. And Dermot put much of it down to the time in bottle, reckoning that many underestimate the importance of time spent under cork.
Stephane of Chateau Turcaud
I had been doing some “homework” in preparation for this tasting and one of the most pleasant parts was the bottle of Cockagee cider I treated myself to. Read all about it here.

At the moment, Cockagee producer Mark Jenkinson has just the one product but he’s working on some new ones. “I have some on lees since 2012 and will be disgorging this year on the way to making a full champagne cider. It will be a few months yet but is tasting very well at the moment.” And he is also working on an ice-cider!

Great to meet up then with Stephane Le May of Chateau Turcaud in Bordeaux. I was in his village two years ago but didn't know about his superb wines then. Now I do and now too I have an invitation to call next time I’m Entre-deux-Mers! His Cuvée Majeure (named after the local abbey) is outstanding and one of the finds of my “homework”. “It is wonderful”, agreed Stephane.”A wonderful freshness. It was a good summer and then we had a great September and that helped a lot.”  Turcaud exports about 50% of production, most of it to the East Coast of the US.
Orange alert!

Menade’s Nosso Verdejo natural 2014 was another of the highlights of my “homework” and I renewed acquaintance with this beautiful wine thanks to Eleonora Infuso who was at L'Atitude. “It is only our second vintage of this wine. It has been a  very big success for us and it is what we want to do.”  

She had another pleasant surprise for me: their V3 2012. Some of grapes for this come from their 30 ha of pre-phylloxera vines (over 140 years old!). It is fermented in 500 litre French oak for between 8 and 10 months and then aged 1 to 3 years in bottle. Rich and full and with a very crisp acidity, this is another gem from one of the leading estates in Rueda.

Stayed with the whites when I met Chris Forbes of Taylor’s Port. I do like my Taylor’s Chip Dry White Port and Chris had just the recipe for me. “To make a refreshing and original summer drink, mix one part of Chip Dry white Port with two parts of chilled Tonic water in a tall glass, adding a sprig of mint or a twist of lemon.” Obrigado. Cheers.
With Eleonora of Menade