Tuesday Tipplers Tuesday 14th March 2017 English or Welsh Wines but not "British"!

English wine: confusion clarified! Wine grown and made Wine made in Britain Don't confuse the two - in is genuine from imported you want what's grown

English wine concentrate is called here and made here "British wine" English wine is growing in popularity and is increasingly recognised as a premium wine producing region, with approximately 1,800ha of land under vine, more than 450 vineyards and around 3.15m bottles produced a year. Sales of English wine reached almost £100million by the end of 2015, with particularly high volumes at Christmas. The most popular grapes varieties grown in English vineyards are , and , as well as others including and Ortega. Whilst vineyards are found across the whole of England, the climate of the South East makes it a particularly popular region for growing vines, especially Sussex and . In December 2015, Taittinger announced it was buying a vineyard in Kent and would produce an English .

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Denbies Wine Estate is home to the largest vineyard in the UK and is one of the largest privately owned vineyards in Northern Europe. With 265 acres under vine, Denbies can produce up to 400,000 bottles from a good harvest.

Denbies accounts for 10% (approximately) of all wine produced in the UK from 18 varieties of grape. The winery at Denbies uses a combination of traditional methods with modern equipment including stainless steel tanks, modern pneumatic presses and state of the art filters to create their fine wines.

Grape Varieties:

Predominant varieties are: Seyval Blanc, Reichensteiner, Müller-Thurgau, Bacchus, Ortega, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Dornfelder.

The current range of wines have been divided into three categories:

 Classic Collection (a well-established range of wines, offering quality and consistency)  Cellarmaster’s Choice (a range of exceptional wines made from premium grape varieties grown on the estate and specifically selected by our wine maker) and  Vineyard Select (a range of outstanding limited release wines, made only in the best of years from select parcels on the estate).

Wine styles:

 Still white (dry to sweet) – 8 different wines ranging in price from £8.99 to £24.99 per bottle  Still Rosé – 2 different wines ranging from £8.99 to £10.99 per bottle  Still Red – 2 different wines ranging from £11.95 to £17.95  Sparkling white – 5 different wines ranging from £18.50 to £27.50 per bottle

All prices are when bought direct from Denbies Winery. Delivery is free if 12 or more bottles are bought.

The wines in these ranges have won many awards both nationally and internationally, including 33 awards in 2015.

Lidl Launch First English Wine Range 04 January, 2016 By Mathew Lyons

Discount retailer Lidl is to stock English wine for the first time, the company has revealed.

It has partnered with the -based Denbies Wine Estate to list three wines as part of its Easter Wine Cellar range, which launches in early March 2016

The wines will appear under the Broadwood Folly label.

A white and a rosé will retail for £7.99, while the sparkling will have an RRP of £14.99.

“The English wine industry is growing and is something we as a retailer are keen to support, therefore we are excited to have partnered with the Denbies Wine Estate to stock three delicious English wines; a white, rosé and a sparkling wine.”

Tesco Finest English White £9.00 per bottle 11.5%

Made exclusively for Tesco by Denbies Wine Estate.

Evocative of a traditional English orchard with fruity flavours of apples and pears complemented by subtle notes of freshly cut grass, elderflower and fruit-blossom. A deliciously crisp wine, with a dry and refreshing finish that encapsulates the mouth-watering juicy bite of a fresh-picked English apple.

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Wine No. 1 – DENBIES SURREY GOLD WHITE WINE Wine No 2 – DENBIES FLINT VALLEY WHITE WINE

Surrey Gold (Classic Collection) has been in production since 1990 Flint Valley (Classic Collection) is a dry wine similar in characteristic to a and is still England’s best selling English wine. French Loire Chenin Blanc. This blend is a lightly oaked dry wine. This wine has a herbal, fruity, citrus quality, with lovely fresh elderflower aromas. Fresh, clean, light and balanced.”

Grape Variety Grape Variety Müller Thurgau Bacchus Ortega A blend of Seyval Blanc and Reichensteiner. The popular blend is a long established favourite Reichensteiner is a popular grape variety in the UK and currently the second and perfect for all occasions. most widely grown variety after Seyval Blanc.

Tasting Notes Tasting Notes Deep lemon in colour with gold tints. A pronounced floral, honeysuckle and A lively nose of lime zest and ripe pear leads to a fresh and vibrant citrus peach infused nose leads to a well-structured palate, with citrus and stone palate with good minerality and well balanced acidity. fruits. There is a pleasing flinty backbone to the wine and hints of spice on the finish. Food matches Food matches • Fish dishes and Moules Mariniere A good aperitif wine • Medium soft cheeses Spicy food – particularly Asian/Chinese. Spicy shredded duck • Sausages

Alcohol: 11% Alcohol: 11.5% Price: £8.99 direct from Denbies Winery (£9.79 from Waitrose) Price: £8.99 direct from Denbies Wine Estate (£9.49 from Waitrose) It is the UK’s bestselling English white wine Waitrose Overall rating value is 5 out of 5 stars. “Deliciously fresh & perfumed wine from pretty vineyards near Dorking” Waitrose overall rating 5 out of 5 stars. “Attractive, floral notes with hints of spice”

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Wine No. 3 – DENBIES ROSE HILL ROSÉ WINE Wine No 4 – DENBIES REDLANDS RED WINE

A later start to the 2015 harvest meant that the vineyard could Waitrose Trophy for Best English Still Rosé fully benefit from the early autumn sun. Excellent quality fruit was produced in this vintage. A full flavoured rosé (Classic Collection) rich in colour, benefiting from the English cool climate, resembles Winemaking: The varietals were picked and harvested characteristics of a rosé from the Loire region. separately. 30% of the wine was aged to oak, with the balance in stainless steel to maintain a fruit forward style.

Tasting notes: Crimson red in colour, on the nose this wine has notes of Grape Variety strawberry and raspberry with a hint of vanilla. Loaded with ripe red berry A blend of Dornfelder Pinot Noir fruits, the medium-bodied, dry palate is smooth and rich with a velvety texture

Tasting Notes Food matches: A vibrant nose of summer fruits leading to a palate bursting with punnets of strawberries and raspberries, a hint of toffee apple and a persistent cassis Roasted red meats  Grilled vegetables with garden herbs  English cheeses. finish. Composition: A blend of red varietals from the Denbies vineyard Food matches • White meat Alcohol: 11.5% • Salads Price: £11.50 direct from Denbies Wine Estate (£12.99 from Waitrose)

Not graded by Waitrose but they say it is “a real red treat from Surrey” Alcohol: 11%

Price: £8.99 direct from Denbies Wine Est (£11.99 from Waitrose)

As recommended this month in Waitrose Food Overall rating value is 4 out of 5 stars.

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