About Blossom Hill
Simply the biggest brand in the UK! Blossom Hill was created only 20 years ago, and has become the darling of the wine drinking public, with its distinctive floral label, and easy-drinking, fruity styles. Californian wines have taken the UK by storm over the last 15 years, with their fruity styles, and have now overtaken France to take 2nd place behind Australia, in terms of sales.
History
Blossom Hill was set up as a tiny wine company in 1992, the brainchild of founder Carol Thorup. Twenty years on, it’s the number one brand in the UK, and exported all over the world. The brand was created to appeal to people who drink and enjoy wine, as part of their every day lives, rather than trying to appeal to the wine writers and wine experts.
So Carol and her team embarked on a vast amount of research and interviews, with wine consumers to find out what they wanted from a glass of wine... flavour, taste and enjoyment were the answers... and thus Blossom Hill was born!
Blossom Hill is all about flavours and tastes. Go to their website, and you won’t find pictures of vineyards, or lots of words about where the grapes are grown. You’ll be asked to explore which style of wine you like, easily split up into the following: Juicy, spiced, mellow, crisp, smooth, fresh or fruity.
There’s a wide range of Blossom Hill wines to fit this easy-drinking, relaxed enjoyment idea of wine, and the brand have recently added a couple of new wines to the range with the launch of Blossom Hill Vie, a 5.5% lower alcohol range.
All the labels feature the style of the wine, for example crisp and fruity, or smooth and mellow. There are 3 main ranges within the brand, the Vineyard Collection, the Classic range and Winemakers’ Reserve.
Styles of Blossom Hill
Blossom Hill wines are all about flavour, taste and fun. Choose the style of wine you like and go with it! It’s all about taste and flavour. The front labels all have taste description, so it’s easy to decide which one to pick.
There are 4 different ranges:
Vineyard collection – labelled ‘aromatic and delicate’, it’s a refreshing, light, and soft white. The similarly labelled ‘aromatic and smooth red’, does what is says on the label – it’s soft, smooth and has flavours of berries.
The Classic range – this is the range that made Blossom Hill famous, with its feminine, flowery label. Here you will find a ‘fresh and juicy’ white, a ‘crisp and fruity white’, a ‘crisp and fruity’, and a ‘soft and fruity’ red. Medium sweet Grenache Rose and White Zinfandel complete the range.
Winemakers’ Selection – this is a range of varietal wines, which are full of ripe, fruity flavours and a little more depth than the previous ranges – zesty Sauvignon Blanc, peachy Pinot Grigio, and a creamy, fruity Chardonnay; add to this a gently fruity sparkling Pinot blush – and finally a mellow Merlot and a rounded Cabernet Sauvignon.
Vie – a new addition to the Blossom Hill stable, and only 5.5% alcohol, there’s a white, described as ‘elegant and fruity’, and a medium sweet rose, ‘delicate and fruity’.
Matching Food with Blossom Hill
The Blossom Hill range of wines is all about a variety of tastes and flavours. These are wines to be enjoyed, not to be taken too seriously, and to add enjoyment to entertaining! The wines are generally soft, very fruity, with no harsh edges. These wines are great with a wide range of foods, and occasions, with the focus on relaxed occasions, entertaining and easy lunch and supper plans.
Here are some suggestions:
Vie range – great for lunchtimes, picnics and when you don’t want to go heavy on the alcohol.
Vineyard Collection – this fruity pair will work well on their own, or with anything with a hint of spice – nachos, piri-piri chicken, Thai curry, and flavour-packed salads.
Classics – the whites will be great with fish pie, roast chicken, Caesar salads, mild chicken korma, and seafood pasta. The Roses are perfect on their own, or with strawberries, desserts and even mild Indian dishes, whilst the reds will be good with shepherds pie, beef tacos, and spicy, red meat curries.
Winemakers Reserve – the sparkling Pinot blush is a great party wine, whilst the Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio and Sauvignon will go with most fish, and white meat dishes – piri-piri, risottos and salmon steaks, as well as pork chops. The Merlot and Cabernet are soft, easy drinking and a match for simple meaty pasta suppers, mild curries, and barbecues.