Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
-
Wine Enthusiast
A restrained but pure note of lemon constitutes the nose, suggesting both tangy zest and juicy flesh. The subtle mousse of tiny bubbles and a sonorous backdrop of autolysis counters all of this freshness and allows it to blanket the senses with its shimmering, lemony but also creamy briskness. That luminous lemon core leaves a lasting impression on the palate. Purity, slenderness and elegance are its hallmarks. Lovely now this wine will age with grace. Drink 2017–2025.
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2013 Blanc de Blancs has a crisp, quite austere but quintessentially Blanc de Blancs style bouquet that is full of energy. The palate if fresh, quick out of the blocks with Granny Smith apples and fresh lime. This feels brisk and lively, an English sparkler with commendable weight and very good persistence. You can feeling this Blanc de Blancs tingling long after its slate-like finish. This is the best of three examples I tasted from Gusbourne and it comes highly recommended.
Representing the topmost expression of a Champagne house, a vintage Champagne is one made from the produce of a single, superior harvest year. Vintage Champagnes account for a mere 5% of total Champagne production and are produced about three times in a decade. Champagne is typically made as a blend of multiple years in order to preserve the house style; these will have non-vintage, or simply, NV on the label. The term, "vintage," as it applies to all wine, simply means a single harvest year.
The limestone soils of England’s southern end have proven ideal for the production of British sparkling wine. While it might seem too damp and cold for grape growing in England, recent warm summers and the onset of global warming signify great future growth for the British wine industry.