Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
Glorious notes of ripe Golden Pearmain apples shine in the glass. They are amplified by the autolytic depth of biscuit and dough. The palate is rounded and poised, carried aloft by an elegant, creamy mousse highlighting lemon at one point, chalk and bread the other. This makes no concessions to ordinary prettiness but stands as a serious, well-brought-up wine with a straight, upright back. The longer you linger, the more you find: a touch of honey or candied lemon, chalk and baked apple, Demerara sugar and naked stone. The finish is dry and long—making you crave more.
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.