In praise of English wine

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Posted at 10:58AM, 27 May 2008 by Sarah Jane Evans - Master of Wine

Have you ever bought a bottle of English wine? And, once you've got it home, have you ever dared to offer it to friends? I ask because I am a fan of England's top wines but I find that it can be like pushing water uphill to get friends to try them without being prejudiced. They just aren't willing to belive they are 'real wines'.

Don't get me wrong, my friends are normally very open-minded, but if I offer them English wine they think the wine is bound to be bad. No one ever says to me, 'ah, Bacchus from Sussex, what a treat!', though they would all cheerfully say 'New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, yes please'. So all too often I duck out of the stress and offer a crowd-pleaser from France or NZ. Buying English isn't a cheap option - it's expensive growing grapes in the UK.

No one ever says to me, 'ah, Bacchus from Sussex, what a treat!', though they would all cheerfully say 'New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, yes please'.

If you have bought an English wine recently, what was it? Was it from your local winery? I'm a real fan of the good sparklings - companies such as Ridgeview, Nyetimber , Camel Valley , Chapel Down - and some Champagne houses are investing in English vineyards because the soil is the same, and the climate improving. There's a great array of floral, light whites, along with roses. Reds are improving all the time and there's a little community of sweet wines.

Since it's English Wine Week, for the sake of the growing English wine industry, discover an English wine this week. But donÃ¢ÂÂt stop there; buy and discover another after the week is over, and then another. The UK's winemakers are every bit as serious as their New World counterparts, and we need to support them if we like their wines.

To paraphrase an advertising campaign slogan: Wines from the UK's vineyards are for life, not just for English Wine Week.

Comments

Gayns

28 May, 11:35AM
Gayns

I am a massive fan of Nyetimber which is my top English Sparkling Wine- much better than many leading champagnes. I have found it best to serve an English wine and then once everyone wants to know what it is they are bowled over and want to explore themselves with wines that are produced in the UK. Lets support these UK Vineyards more and reduce the carbon footprint of importing!!

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Sue

1 June, 3:47PM
Sue

I would happily give my friends English wine - I judge on flavour not where it comes from. I'm living abroad at the moment but am planning an English wine tasting weekend and am inviting friends to come with me. Occasionally, persuasion is required, but my friends know that when they're at my place they probably going to be trying something different. Thanks for this blog, I now have an English wine to start with.

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Sian

2 June, 2:13PM
Sian

We visited Camel Valley vineyard in Cornwall last summer. We walked there along an old railway path on a beautiful day and drank glasses of their delicious wine in the sunshine overlooking the vines (our children drank local apple juice). It was one of the highlights of our holiday and we bought more bottles of wine than it was really sensible to walk home with!

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James

2 June, 3:53PM
James

Oh the power of tasting sessions. I was in the no-thanks crowd for english wine.... until coming accross a couple of tastings - on at Hotel Olympia and the other by Heart of England Fine Foods. English wine making has moved on from the beginings 15 or 20 years ago when it may have been pretty dire. If that's what people still think they need to get out there and try it. I go to three choirs in Newent a lot (there cuvee is superior to champagne, and I'm getting into their red too - yes we can do reds in this country too) . Tiltridge wines (near Malvern) are a great discovery too - perfect for summer drinking. Also looking at Monkhide Wines website (small scale artisan producers) I see that they're making wines again ths year (they had stopped to just concentrate on their liquers) so I will have to track them down at a farmers market somewhere..... but they also do mail order now which is great news.

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Belinda

3 June, 9:47AM
Belinda

From a Belgian reader: see the point, I'm proud of offering Belgian wine to my guests! After the initial surprise, most of them are ready to buy them as well.

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joe2091

22 June, 5:55PM
joe2091

I'm definiteley no wine expert, but didn't the French take the idea of Champagne from British sparkling wine?

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