Coals to Newcastle

[Gob]

It captured the hearts of the French some time ago, but now English sparkling wine is preparing for its next major breakthrough – America.

A view of the Camel Valley vineyard in Nanstallon near Bodmin, Cornwall

This week the first full container of English wine will be shipped to the US – 5,000 bottles from four different producers, including some of the best-known names in English wine.

The wines, from Digby Fine English, Hush Heath Estate, Bolney Wine Estate and Camel Valley, are produced in Kent, Sussex, Hampshire and Cornwall. All are award-winning sparkling wines made in the traditional method, and are destined for nine states including New York, Pennsylvania, Montana and Massachusetts, as well as the capital, Washington DC.

For the past five years English wine has been on an unstoppable upward curve. Investment in equipment and expertise, together with a gradual increase in global temperatures, means Britain’s sparkling wines – 90% of which are made with chardonnay, pinot noir and pinot meunier, the three grapes used to make champagne – rival the world’s best fizz.

Such is the suitability of the chalky soils of southern England that two champagne houses, Taittinger and Vranken-Pommery, have invested millions in setting up operations here. One owner of a major vineyard said he had turned down an offer from another champagne house of “more than €6m” for his business. America has been slower to catch on, but word is spreading beyond New York, where any sommelier who reckons to have their finger on the pulse will know about English wine. “It’s no longer a novelty. It’s now known there are great sparkling wines coming out of England,” said Liz Willette of New York importer Grand Cru Selections. In Washington DC another importer, Siema, is busily taking orders for cases of Ridgeview, one of the best-known English wines. “Interest is overwhelming,” said the company’s Andrew Stover.

The latest batch of exporters are concentrating on the smartest retailers and restaurants. “It’s a huge deal for us. This is a world-class product and it deserves its place on all the great wine lists,” said Trevor Clough, head blender at Digby Fine English. Digby’s 2010 Vintage Reserve Brut sells for £39.99 in Selfridges and Harvey Nichols and will cost around $75 in the US.

[MajGenl.Meade]

Oh that brings back memories! Camel Valley Vineyard. We stayed in Lion's Barn



And I have to agree. We drank their sparkling wine in preference to all else they made. It wasn't champagne but it was good. Brilliant place!

[rubato]

Captured the hearts of the french? What a fucking joke. I have been in many parts of France and none of them were so debased as to put english wines on the menu.

English wine is more useless than English beer. It will never rise above 3rd rate.


If I wanted cheap but good I would buy Spanish or Italian wine. Both excellent quality for a very low price.


yrs,
rubato

[MajGenl.Meade]

Bigot alert!

[Bicycle Bill]

Bigot alert!

rubato may have some pre-conceived notions about things, but in this case I am going to stand firmly and squarely behind him.
De gustibus non est disputandum. Suum cuique.
And if this makes rube (or me) a bigot in your eyes, then maybe you should worry less about the chip on rube's shoulder and more about the two-by-four on your own.

-"BB"-

[kmccune]

"If thy wine offends thee,pour it out "."Better to have a pounding beer hangover ,then a furry tongue ".

[MajGenl.Meade]

Bigot alert!

rubato may have some pre-conceived notions about things, but in this case I am going to stand firmly and squarely behind him.
De gustibus non est disputandum. Suum cuique.
And if this makes rube (or me) a bigot in your eyes, then maybe you should worry less about the chip on rube's shoulder and more about the two-by-four on your own.

English wine is more useless than English beer. It will never rise above 3rd rate.

That's not taste (other than bad) - it's just plain insulting bigotry and prejudice. Not a word in the post about "My taste...." - it's all outright fact - French hate English fizzy; more useless than beer which is 3rd rate.

How much Camel Valley wine has rubato tasted? How many have you had a go at, Bill?

If it's taste that counts, surely you have tried it?

[Gob]

Captured the hearts of the french? What a fucking joke. I have been in many parts of France and none of them were so debased as to put english wines on the menu.

You've never been outside your state, you lying turd..

English sparkling wine was on Wednesday toasting a spectacular victory over the French version – as an elite group of Parisian experts said it was better than champagne.

In the first tasting of its kind in Paris, those taking part said the English sparkling wine was better in two out of three categories, and it drew with the champagne in the other.

Among the successes was a £40 bottle of 2009 Nyetimber sparkling wine produced in West Sussex. Nine members of the 14 member panel thought it was better than a £65 bottle of Billecart-Salmon Grand Cru champagne.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/04 ... d-tasting/

Taittinger is to become the first French champagne house to produce fizz in the UK after investing in a former Kent apple orchard.

The company has teamed up with British wine agents Hatch Mansfield and private investors to buy 69 hectares of farmland near Chilham and expects to fill its first bottles in five years.

In a £4m investment plan, the first 40 hectares at Selling Court farm will be planted with chardonnay, pinot noir and pinot meunier grapes in 2017 to produce English sparkling wine – only fizz produced in the Champagne region of France can carry the title.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/20 ... ne-in-kent

English wine is more useless than English beer. It will never rise above 3rd rate.

Ah, well now people who actually know what they are talking about would disagree. But there again you know nothing about anything, so that's the normal state of play for you.

[oldr_n_wsr]

The taste of it was not on the radar. Where it came from was not even considered.
I drank for effect.
Proof/percentage of alcohol, now that mattered.

[dales]

[BoSoxGal]

The taste of it was not on the radar. Where it came from was not even considered.
I drank for effect.
Proof/percentage of alcohol, now that mattered.

I don't think I could be that kind of addict, although I suppose that's where things eventually end up. Did you start out drinking good stuff for the taste, and then eventually it didn't matter anymore?

I like a good quality drink, whatever variety. For that matter, of a substance I do tend to abuse, I like really good quality food and can't stand watching the reality shows about weight loss where the food abusers consume 15-20,000 calories a day from fast food and Little Debbie snacks.

Me, if I was ever gonna get HUGE, it would be from crusty garlic loaves slathered with melted Camembert and gorgeous pasta dishes heaped with quality EVOO and cheese and garlic-butter-topped filet mignons and many, many trips for take-out Pad Thai, etc.

Thank goodness I'm too poor for that!

[Guinevere]

Champers/sparkling wine is my favorite beverage in the world (maybe other than water), and I've had a lot of it -- but never ever any from England. Not to say I wouldn't try it, but I definitely have my preferences, which are based on the mix of grape varieties, and then the soil/flavor/conditions in which the grapes are grown. I generally prefer the mix of pinot varieties and chard that the classic French houses use (Veuve and Moet in particular). I'm not a fan of the 100% chardonnay bubbles, but will drink them if forced to do so

Moet started growing grapes and producing sparkling wine in California quite some time ago, and they make a decent product for a very reasonable price (especially the Blanc de Noir, which is my favorite from that label).

[Sue U]

What Guin said, as our views on wine are virtually identical (except that I have no pronounced preference for sparkling over still).

And say, Guin, aren't you supposed to be on vacation? Get out of here and go get some dinner -- those lobstahs aren't gonna boil themselves.

[Guinevere]

Two weeks disappears in a flash. I'm home, and now caring for a little old lady who apparently contracted pneumonia in Maine (aka, Mom). It's never easy, is it? Sigh.

[Gob]

English wines 2016 Award Winners

6 wins Decanter World Wine Awards

94 wins International Wine Challenge

7 wins International Wine & Spirit Competition

36 wins The Champagne & Sparkling Wine World Championships

32 wins Sommelier Wine Awards

3 wins Effervescents du Monde

[dales]

That's all well and good, Gob.

But will they get you DRUNK?

[oldr_n_wsr]

Did you start out drinking good stuff for the taste, and then eventually it didn't matter anymore?

I liked the taste, always did. (especially JD) But at $25 a quart, I could get three quarts of cheap vodka. Bang for the buck so to speak. And when you go through over a quart a day, money disappears pretty fast. And if you gulp it really fast, it goes right past your tasted buds.

Me, if I was ever gonna get HUGE, it would be from crusty garlic loaves slathered with melted Camembert and gorgeous pasta dishes heaped with quality EVOO and cheese and garlic-butter-topped, bacon wrapped filet mignons and many, many trips for take-out Pad Thai, etc.

FTFY

There are all types of addictions.

[kmccune]

Man I really missed out,that many tasty types of Mad Dog 20-20 ?

[Jarlaxle]

I deliver to a store that has one dude who buys and drinks a 30-pack of Genessee Cream Ale every DAY.

[BoSoxGal]

I deliver to a store that has one dude who buys and drinks a 30-pack of Genessee Cream Ale every DAY.