County Business Club Wine of the Month May/June 2022

As we come into summer and to celebrate the Queen’s Jubilee I have chosen an English sparkling wine from the Wiston Estate, which is based on the beautiful South Downs, 10 minutes North of Worthing. This wine has been produced by Dermot Sugrue who, in my view, is the UK’s most talented wine maker who makes wines for many other English wine brands. The wine of choice is Wiston NV sparkling wine which is the entry level offering of the Wiston wines and the most popular of their range. 

I would say that this is the benchmark for English sparkling wine and is made in the same way as Champagne using the same three grapes with a typical split of 35% Chardonnay, 35% Pinot Noir, 30% Pinot Meunier. This wine was named as Best Sparkling in the Independent English Wine Awards 2019 and, in my view, is a benchmark for English sparkling wine and would beat most Champagnes. The wine has consistent fine bubbles, with a pleasant fruity nose which is backed up with a perfectly balanced initial green apple and citrus backbone followed by a bakery notes from the bottle aging.  

Tasting notes from the winemaker are as follows;

Our Brut NV combines a purity of green apple and ripe lemon flavours with a rich and complex maturity. This multi-vintage wine is a highly-scented sparkling wine with fine bubbles, lots of toasty, biscuity autolysis from long lees-aging and a long finish.

FOOD PAIRING
– Tapas, charcuterie, cheese, antipasti

This wine is the perfect aperitif or accompaniment to canapes. I can think of no better wine to cheer on the Queen’s Jubilee Celebrations. Why not try a bottle or visit the excellent Wine Tour or Chalk Restaurant off the A24 which provides an appropriate platform to present these excellent wines and locally sourced foods? The owner, Pippa, originally comes from South Africa and so the facilities have a grandeur which reminds me of the 300-year-old vineyards from Stellenbosch in South Africa. This wine is available from multiple wine specialists across Sussex, Brighton and Hove Wine Club or direct from the vineyard. 

Michael Yeoman,
English Wine and International
Wine Specialist

Michael Yeoman produces his own range of sustainable spirits with Spirit of the Downs (www.spiritofthedowns.co.uk) and works with small batch local vineyards with his Brighton and Hove Wine Club (www.brightonandhovewineclub.co.uk)