County Business Clubs’ Wine of the Month April 2023

Tickerage Chardonnay 2018 – a wealth of ‘perfect fruit’

Wine of the month comes from the ‘best harvest’ in a quarter of a century for England.

The choice for this month is a still wine from a small vineyard, based in the village of Blackboys in East Sussex and crafted at Tickerage Vineyard. The estate is owned and managed by Anthony and Zena, who make a range of excellent still and sparkling wines as well as ciders.

After working for many years in London, in May 2007 they decided to plant new roots with their very first vines, beginning a new exciting chapter of their lives. There was no illusion to the fact that this was just the beginning of many years of hard work but something they were used to, albeit in a different way.

In Anthony’s own words: “There’s no grand plan, no exit strategy, we’re in this for the long-term and for the love of it. There are simply 5 acres of vines that demand attention each day, come rain or shine and the resulting grapes express the variations of the weather each year. It’s the challenge of the unknown, the unpredictable, that makes this such an exciting endeavour. 

“As a family, we feel privileged to live within the Wealden and Ashdown Forest backdrop and the plants and wildlife that our little slice of paradise attracts during the ever-changing seasons.”

About the wine

The Chardonnay vines gave a wealth of perfect fruit in the 2018, the best harvest for 25 years in terms of yield. The juice from these grapes was aged for 11 months in tank and a further 11 months in bottle before release. A pale, lemony gold in colour, it has a fresh, zesty nose with hints of asparagus and tropical fruits. This unoaked Chardonnay has been created with minimal intervention and is unfiltered. This retains as much of the flavour as possible, fresh and creamy on the palate with notes of ripe lemon zest and fresh cut pineapple. A smooth, fresh finish, clean and crisp on the palate with good longevity.

It was a Silver Medal winner at the Independent English Wine Awards 2020.

Michael’s comments

This wine has great freshness, minerality and engaging acidity, Many have commented that this is an English version of Chablis. High praise indeed, but shows the quality of wine we are now producing in the UK. For me it is great to see a small batch sparkling wine producer such as Tickerage producing a range of still wines which are such quality. Once again, this is a small batch producer with just 3,000 bottles of this fine still wine so get a bottle or a case when you can.

This wine retails at £20 a bottle and can be purchased directly from the vineyard at www.tickeragewine.co.uk

Written for County Business Clubs Sussex by Michael Yeoman, English Wine Specialist and producer of Spirit of the Downs, artisan award winning local spirits.