English Sparkling Wine

After literally sliding out of Simpsons Estate we returned to The Pig, only mildly inebriated, and got ready for dinner. They had got two more English wines in store to pair with our food. It is a multi-vintage blend comprising 60% Chardonnay and 40% Pinot Noir sourced from two select vineyards in the South Downs and aged in Burgundian oak. The vintages in the blend are old giving it some real depth and complexity from the off. Critics such as Sir Hugh Johnson and Matthew Jukes rave about this…

If you missed part 1, you can start by clicking here. After a ready heady start at Gusbourne, Simpsons Wine Estate was the next stop, with their famously limited Q Class Pinot and Chardonnay on the menu. Located in the small, quintessential English village of Barham, just outside of Canterbury, it provided a nice quiet spot to tour the vineyards. We met Henry Rymill, sales and events manager, to show us around. A short walk to the first vineyard, the iconic Roman Road vineyard, was filled…

Thanks to the charity of the Pig at Bridge Place, Gusbourne and Simpsons Wine Estate, as part of a prize for a charity auction, I have had a fabulous tour of some premium English wines. The day began with arrival at The Pig at Bridge Place, a 17th century building filled with period furniture, somewhat gothic architecture and an enticing cellar (definitely one to visit for a weekend getaway). We met the sommelier who beetled us off in a very rustic Land Rover Defender, on a baking May day, just…