Vineyards of Hampshire Wine Festival
Jenkyn Place
Get thee hence to Jenkyn Place, between Alton and Farnham, on Sunday July 13th to support, sample and secure a stash of English sparkling wines from six Hampshire-based producers. I don’t mind being parochially jingoistic (is such a thing even possible?) about English bubblies – generally we’re doing really quite okay, thank you very much, on the quality stakes with these wines. We sometimes even beat the French at their own game in blind tasting competitions. A little nod of grudging approval, perhaps?
Jenkyn Place is a beautiful spot (see their website for event details). There’s a lovely view across the Wey valley from the top of their south-facing vineyard slope. They have a pagoda-summer house type thing at the top, which I’m told is going to be occupied by a local musical artist, for your additional entertainment.
A £5.00 ticket gets you entry and a tasting of six wines. Food is being organised in conjunction with Hampshire Fare, so I anticipate a hog roast, among other things, will be on the menu.
A wintry Meonhill
The focus is on the wines though, which is why I’m wading in. There’s going to some informal taste sessions with the winemakers, so …
- Ask about what grape varieties they use and how the grape varieties influence the flavour of the wine. There’s quite a relevant flavour split in the UK between bubblies that use “Champagne” grapes (chardonnay, pinot noir, pinot meunier) and bubblies that use varieties more historically planted in the UK (reichensteiner, scheurebe, auxerrois, seyval blanc). It makes a difference to the flavour (though not necessarily to the price).
- Ask about where the fruit comes from and, importantly, does it matter to the flavour? The UK is such a small industry that while all these producers are based in Hampshire, some of the fruit for some of the producers comes from outside the county. I usually refer to that as “estate” production i.e. all the fruit is from the estate, versus “buying in” fruit.
- Ask about how long they leave the wine maturing “on its lees” (the spent yeast cells that created the bubble in the bottle). Typically a longer time on lees, measured in years, creates bready, toasty, almondy, nougat and honeyed notes of complexity in the wine. You might like this, or you might prefer something that’s ‘fruitier’, i.e. with less time on the lees.
I don’t know exactly which bubblies they’ll be showing. Of those producers present, these are my top three wines of recently tasted stuff:
Jenkyn Place, Brut 2009 ~£25.00
Meonhill, Brut Reserve NV, ~£22.00 [Ed: yes correct website – just been bought out]
Hambledon, Mill Down Brut 2010, ~25.00
Here are others from these producers (not all of which I’ve tasted).
Meonhill, Chardonnay NV, ~£23.00
Hambledon, Classic Cuvée, Brut NV, ~£25.00
Hattingley Valley, Classic Cuvée 2011, ~£30
Danebury, Cossack Vintage 2008, ~£25.00
Cottonworth, Blanc de Blanc 2009, ~£25.00
Let me know your favourites, and how they all answered those questions!
