English wine has had a somewhat chequered history fuelled by ’70s & ’80s brands such as Hirondell, Country Manor, Black Tower & Blue Nun to name but a few. Many of these wines weren’t even made from English grapes! The intervening years have been much kinder with a metamorphosis of the English wine industry to the point where we’re now, in some cases, actually producing better wines than those of our Beret wearing neighbours! This has mainly been achieved through the production of wonderful sparkling wines from producers such as Nyetimber, Camel Valley and others. These wines regularly beat renowned French Champagnes in blind tastings. Nyetimber Blanc de Bancs 2001 & Camel Valley Noir Rosé Brut 2008 both won Gold Medals at the recent International Wine Challenge. The inaugural vintage of Ancre Hill Estates in Monmouthshire won a Silver Medal in the recent Decanter Wine Awards for their 2008 White Welsh Regional Wine.
We now have some 381 operational vineyards making around 1.5 million bottles of wine per year. With growing demand and the effects of global warming the industry looks set for continued development. We’ve had some excellent recent vintages from the hot 2003 which has yielded some outstanding wines, to the 2009 vintage which is being touted as one to watch out for!
With this in mind, I set off to visit the Welland Valley Vineyard situated near the pretty village of Marston Trussell near Market Harborough in Leicestershire. David Bates had been tinkering with growing vines in his allotment since the ’70s. With retirement in mind, David sourced a sheltered two acre South-facing site near his house in 1991. The site is gently sloping and has a row of impressive eucalyptus trees running down one side and a range of apple trees at the top. Not content with just making wine they also make a range of cider too. Whilst the site is further North than most other English vineyards, it rarely experiences frost and has a low average rainfall. David planted a range of both German and French varieties which he continually adds to. The main varieties planted are Seyval Blanc and Reichensteiner, used principally for sparkling wine production. The vineyard is too small to be run as a commercial entity, producing around 1,000 bottles per year of which 50% is sparkling wine. Most of the wine is sold locally and the sparkling wine is particularly popular as a wedding tipple.
The romanic ideal of sitting in one’s vineyard basking in the sun, whilst gently sipping the fruits of your labour, is somewhat far from the reality. Far from being retired, David works tirelessly at the vineyard seven days per week. All the vines are hand-pruned and the grapes hand-picked in early October by friends and family. With foresight in mind, David is training the next generation of the family, in the guise of his grandchildren, to all things vinous in the hope that they may lend a hand when they graduate out of nappies. All the wines are made by David on the site using traditional methods but utilising modern technology. The base wines for the sparkling wines are sent to Three Choirs Vineyard in Gloucestershire and transformed from still to sparkling wines.
I was invited into the tasting room, a converted old railway carriage which was purchased from an old client of David’s. We kicked off with:
- Tickled Pink 2006 – a pink sparkling wine made from Seyval Blanc, Reichensteiner with the addition of a little red grape juice. The wine is salmon pink, soft and fruity with a dry finish. This wine sells for around £15
- Bacchus 2009 – a medium dry white wine made from Bacchus grapes. Pale white in colour with a zesty, limey character. Sells at around £7 per bottle.
- Hunting Pink 2009 – a Rosé wine made from Acolon grapes. Vibrant cherry colour with nice ripe fruit and a dry finish.
Whilst English wines aren’t necessarily the cheapest, if you are selective there is some very good drinking to be had. Now, with English Wine Week about to start (29/5-6/6), what are you waiting for! Go out and support our local vineyards and let me know what you’re drinking and what it tasted like?
