DrinkBritain

A time for celebration

Sparkling wine producer RidgeView has beaten top champagnes costing up to three times as much to win the Decanter International Trophy for Sparkling Wine over £10 for its Ridgeview Grosvenor Blanc de Blancs 2006.

Founded in 1995 by Mike and Christine Roberts, RidgeView is no stranger to accolades – earlier this year it won Wine of the Year for the second year running in the English and Welsh Wine Awards – but this is likely to command a special spot on its ever-more crowded wall of awards.

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Is it a champagne? Is it a sparkling wine? No, it's a beer!

Need a celebratory gift for a beer lover? Someone who won’t thank you for a bottle of champagne’s finest? Look no further. Those groovy guys at Adnams have come up with just the tipple.

Brewed to commemorate 350 years of brewing at the current site, Sole Bay is a 75cl, 10% Belgian-style beer that arrives chicly disguised as a sparkling wine, complete with tin.

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Bolney’s first sparkling red is named after one of the most visible stars in the night skies, the super red giant, Antares – its radius is about 800 times that of the sun. Made in the traditional manner from Dornfelder, a grape that does well in the cooler climates of England, less than 200 cases were produced, so this is one to catch while you can.

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Sparkling success: Pebblebed wins Dragon's backing

Within 12 hours of Geoff Bowen’s appearance on BBC’s Dragon’s Den, he had received 100 requests for more information – not something you’d normally expect from an English vigneron in the rural Devon town of Topsham.

But then there’s nothing that “normal” about the way Bowen runs his business. To begin with, rather than ending up in hock to the bank, he persuaded 20 other families to get involved with his initial Pebblebed vineyard purchase. Currently he has 22 acres spread over three sites.

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Wine: nature or nurture?

What makes a great drink? Obviously it’s down to flavour and taste, but what are the key factors? Is it the ingredients – the fruit, the hops or the barley? Or the weather or the site? Or perhaps the thinking, be it traditionally-inspired or forward-looking? Or is it down to the people or the community from where the product hails?

With UK drinks producers getting their own category in the BBC’s highly respected Food & Farming Awards, a panel of judges led by leading chef Angela Hartnett will be examining just these questions later this year.

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Tiny price for a tiny tot

Master of Malt have introduced a mini-delivery charge for its popular Drinks by the Dram whiskies, with a new flat rate of £2.45 for a single 3cl bottle.

For those wanting a few, the standard £4.95 super saver rate  remains the most cost-effective method.

And if you are contemplating a bit of research, the first of a number of tasting sets has gone online, including the Scottish Whisky Regions set and further afield, the Whiskies of the World set. With hundreds of tiny bottles to choose from, Master of Malt sales director Ben Ellefson says they have “many, many more ideas up our sleeve”.

Touring Scotland by dram

A bit of watch that space perhaps…

www.masterofmalt.com

Oz Clarke congratulates Bob Lindo, left, and son, Sam

Sparkling rosé has a strong future in England says the UK’s Winemaker of the Year, Sam Lindo of Camel Valley in Cornwall. Having just been awarded the International Wine Challenge’s Sparkling Rosé Trophy for his Pinot Noir 2008 ahead of rivals in Champagne and across the world, Lindo said that the whole family was “delighted” and admitted that the news “was still sinking in”.

“I really honestly believe that rosé can become synonynous with England,” he told DrinkBritain.com. “There’s more raspberry and strawberry flavours.” continue reading…

Don't be shy, there's plenty to go around

Now is a great time to be a whisky explorer. Although nothing beats a trip around the distillery – see below for some ideas on where to get started if you are heading to Scotland this Summer – Charles Maclean’s World Whisky, out last year, is to be joined by Dave Broom’s World Atlas of Whisky this autumn. Typically beautiful – well it is produced by those lovely people who brought you the World Atlas of Wine and Dave’s other evocative book, Rum – this sizeable tome is likely to be a welcome addition to any malt-lover’s bookshelves.

Placing this most complex of products in its context, both in terms of history and flavour, is a fascinating exercise. Where else can a dent in the production vessel have a pivotal role on the final taste – or be so imprtant that any new containers must replicate said “flaw”?

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The artisan innards of boutique brewery, Grain

A bit like the Easter Bunny, Tindall’s Summer Loving makes just one appearance a year and this year’s public sighting will be at Grain’s Summer Festival, Saturday 26 June.

Perfectly poised near the Suffolk / Norfolk border near the picturesque village of Alburgh (pronounced Arrbraa), Grain is one of East Anglia’s most go-ahead small breweries.

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More than just music: Glastonbury Abbey revives cider magic

Festivals have played as much a part in sharing the joy of cider with a wider audience as any amount of ice-cube inspired campaigns. So, as tents get pitched and guitars are tuned, the news that a Glastonbury Cider beat off 360 rivals at the Royal Bath & West Show to be named Supreme Cider Champion might not be too surprising.

What is unusual is its origins: the grounds of Glastonbury Abbey. Apples have been grown here since medieval times with records showing the monks enjoying a tipple or two, but 2009 was the year the Abbey teamed up with cider revival pioneer, Julian Temperley of the Somerset Cider Brandy company.

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King Sam, UK Winemaker of the Year

For the second time in four years, Cornwall-based Camel Valley has picked up the Winemaker of the Year Trophy in the English & Welsh Wine of the Year annual awards. Not to be outdone, sparkling wine specialists RidgeView Wine Estate took the Wine of the Year trophy for the second year running. Top medal tally goes to Kent’s Chapel Down Wines for its haul of five golds, two silvers and four bronzes. continue reading…

Andy Howard, centre with SEVA trophy winners Andrew Weeber and Kevin Sutherland

Senior M&S buyer and chair of the SE Vineyard Association’s judging panel Andy Howard is looking forward to M&S developing closer links with the English wine industry, perhaps by working with Plumpton College, the UK’s leading practical wine educational establishment, or devising initiatives for next year’s English Wine Week.

At the moment M&S stocks five English still and sparkling wines, including top sparkling rosé, Balfour Brut, and a few from Chapel Down. Howard said this might change in the future. “We can’t have a huge selection,” he told DrinkBritain.com after the SEVA 2010 awards. “But customers do want to see new things, there’s a lot more interest in English wine and local sourcing helps.”

Howard’s words of advice for the UK wine industry? “Keep a focus on quality. Push that forward even more, and keep an eye on the diversity of styles.”

Winning duo: Gusbourne's Andrew Weeber, right, with his "perfectionist" of a winemaker, Mike Roberts, Ridgeview

“Astonishment!” That was the one word reaction from Gusbourne Vineyard’s owner Andrew Weeber on the news that his Classic Blend 2006 had picked up not just Gold for its inaugural appearance but the South East Wine of the Year trophy for 2010 at the SEVA’s annual awards ceremony on 8 June.

“Our grapes were wonderful,” Weeber continued. “And Mike Rogers [who makes the wine for Gusbourne at RidgeView] is the most wonderful perfectionist. This is a reflection of his commitment to producing wonderful wines for himself and for others.” continue reading…

Brit Beer takes over at Tate Modern

Forget Brit Pop, it’s Brit Beer turning heads at the UK’s leading galleries. The Tate Modern is trialling an all-British beer list with a view to extending the concept to all its other bars and restaurants.

The 20-strong list reads like a Who’s Who of the new British beer movement, with Punk IPA and Paradox from Scots rebels, BrewDog, alongside Lovibonds’ summery wheat beer, Henley Gold, and Sambrook’s Wandle from up the Thames in Battersea. continue reading…

Denbies: off to the fields with you

Want to find out one of the techniques for ensuring a good harvest? Known as bud-rubbing – or bud busting if you’re from Down Under – it’s the removal of unwanted baby shoots around the base of a vine and Denbies in Dorking would like to share the skills with you. Renowned for its Vine and Dine harvesting days in October, for English Wine Week this year it is holding its first Vine Bud Rubbing experience on Tues 1 June.

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Simon says... winemaking techniques come in handy for producing good perry

What luck! News in mid-May that Simon Day’s Ribston Lawn Sparkling Perry 2008 had been crowned joint Sparkling Cider & Perry champion in the annual Hereford Cider Museum’s International Cider & Perry Competition came the day I had – guess what – nestled in my fridge? Yep, said beverage. The other category winner in this, one of the top three shows in the cider and perry world, was Oliver’s Herefordshire Cider.

To be honest, the Ribston Lawn had been in my possession a while but I had been waiting for a suitable occasion to crack the smart-looking bottle. And a birthday picnic in the delightful environs of Reigate’s Priory Park with our Argentine friend, Juan, his family and international coterie of friends provided just the setting. continue reading…

With St George’s Day fast approaching and one of the finest vintages under its belt in recent years, just how is the English wine industry’s strongest calling card faring? The answer, according to the first ever blind tasting of sparkling wines available to bars, pubs and restaurants appearing in Imbibe, is not bad at all.

Three years ago I had to pull in a few favours to gather my tasting crew to compare English wines – still and sparkling of all hues – with their global peers. This time, however, I had no such trouble. Yes, it was on the back of much hype following a pleasantly auspicious vintage, but we all know that one warm autumn does not a fine wine make. Even more so with sparkling wine. Fine fizz relies on good works being done over many years. continue reading…

Out in the cold: Once upon a Tree's little sweetie

The elegant bottle with its apricot-coloured liquid had been peaking seductively at me for a little while now. But then you need to prepare yourself for something rather different like a dessert cider. I’m not talking about limbering up or putting on the glad rags, more having the right grub on offer, and I have to say that’s a challenge I hadn’t faced before.

But then I won’t be alone in this dilemma — this is after all the first dessert cider to be produced in the UK.

The brainchild of Simon Day, founder of the award-winning Once Upon a Tree, his Blenheim Orange (after the apple) dessert cider is made from fruit from his family’s inspiringly named Dragon Orchard in Herefordshire’s apple growing heartland of Putley near Ledbury. continue reading…

Building bridges: Urban Wine 2009

A few weeks ago, in between an extensive Spanish tasting and donning my posh frock for the Benevolent’s annual ball, I zipped across town to a tasting with a difference. Fighting my way to the bar amidst the grandeur of the Le Gothique restaurant, it could have been any first growth launch. But no, despite the film crews this wasn’t a 99 pointer à la Monseiur Parker, rather it was the 2009 release from the Urban Wine Company, a refreshing rosé nicknamed Chateau Tooting made from grapes from the gardens and allotments of Greater London.

Community activist and Tooting resident Richard Sharp got the inspiration while holidaying with his young family in the south of France a few years ago. continue reading…

Shiny, happy microbrewery in The Old Brewery

Beer is being brewed again at one of Britain’s most naval historic spots. Following a 140-year hiatus, the Meantime Brewing Company is fermenting once more on the site of the old Royal Naval Hospital’s brewery.

Linking seamlessly with Discover Greenwich, the newly opened visitor centre for the Old Royal Naval College site, Meantime’s The Old Brewery will be responsible for beers both ancient and modern. Its shiny copper brewkit stands smartly to attention in one corner of the café/bar complex.

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