County Business Clubs’ Wine of the Month March 2024

Celebrating women and a wine from Plumpton Estate in East Sussex   

To help celebrate International Women’s Day on the 8th March, we have focused on a wine estate that employs some of the English wine industry’s most respected women. Several have worked extensively in the wine industry in a range of areas such as wine research, global wine sales and marketing and vineyard management. With their combined experience, passion and knowledge, the Plumpton Wine Division can certainly position themselves as one of the best wine training colleges in the world as well as producing some award winning fine wines. They are based within the stunning South Downs National Park, near Plumpton. Below are some of the women who have helped build Plumpton’s excellent reputation.

Sam Linter – Director of Wine

Sam has a wealth of experience and is Director of Wine and also Chair of Wine GB. Prior to joining Plumpton College, she served as the Managing Director and Head Winemaker at Bolney Wine Estate, where she achieved remarkable milestones that transformed the brand into one of the UK’s top ten wine producers.

Dona Frost – Programme Manager Wine Skills

Growing up on an organic farm in Wales and frequent visits to family in Franconia, Germany, has meant that the food and wine culture is very much part of Dona’s DNA.  Dona has a particular interest in food production systems and spent many years as the Senior Certification Officer for the Soil Association where she managed more than 250 organic farm licences in the UK and internationally.

Rebecca Apley – Wine Business Lecturer

Rebecca has been working in the business of wine for 15 years, and is a lecturer in Wine Business at Plumpton College. Her experience in the hospitality industry is wide ranging, with a portfolio of clients across Yorkshire and Sussex, including time teaching WSET courses for the fantastic Yorkshire Wine School.

Sarah Midgley – Winemaker, Lecturer and Programme Manager for Wine Apprenticeships

After completing a Grad. Dip. at Lincoln University in NZ, she made wine around the world and worked as Assistant Winemaker at Camel Valley vineyard in Cornwall.  She worked as Plumpton College winemaker from 2014-2020 and is now a Wine Lecturer and heads up our apprenticeships in wine as Programme Manager.  She is passionate about the wine industry and sustainability, and is current Chair of the Sustainable Wines of Great Britain (SWGB) Winemaking group.

Deepika Koushik – Winemaker

Her winemaking experience includes stints in the Russian River Valley in the USA and Burgundy, where she was awarded the Confrérie des Chevaliers du Tastevin Award (2019).

March’s Wine of the Month is Plumpton Estate Brut Classic NV

Production notes

Plumpton Estate Brut Classic NV is made by the traditional method using a classic blend of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Pinot Meunier. Grapes are hand-picked and fermented before our winemaker carefully crafts our signature blend with the help of our wine students. The wine spends at least two years ageing on lees in the bottle before riddling and disgorging.

Description

Dry, with refreshing acidity and delicate fine yet persistent mousse. This wine displays complex crisp apple and citrus fruit notes perfectly balanced with creamy brioche roundness and a long refreshing finish. Quality English sparkling wine at its finest.

Grape Type

Chardonnay (45 %), Pinot Noir (41 %), Pinot Meunier (14 %)

Winemakers tasting notes

Fermented in a stainless steel tank, unoaked. Dry, clean and balanced with a soft, round finish owing to malolactic fermentation during the winemaking process. Lively citrus on the nose and tropical pineapple on the palate. A special wine.

Awards for Plumpton Estate NV Brut Classic (75cl)

CSWWC (Champagne and Sparkling Wine World Championships) Best in Class English Brut NV – 2023

Plumpton Estate NV Brut Classic (75cl) UKVA Silver medal 2016

Michael’s tasting notes

The Plumpton NV is a classic style of English sparkling wine with floral and butter on the nose. This followed with a fresh and crisp apple and citrus coming through. The wine has good acidity and buttery notes with a rich toastiness from several years of cellar ageing.  Get it whilst you can as this award winning wine will not be available by the end of the year.

Where to buy

Plumpton wines are available via their website directly or local vintners for around £28 to £30 a bottle.

Interested in studying at Plumpton?

It’s also worth mentioning that at Plumpton College they offer a range of wine courses to suit various levels of expertise and interests both part and full time. Some of the courses available include:

BA (Hons) International Wine Business

BSc (Hons) Wine Production

MSc Viticulture & Oenology

Level 3 Crop Technician (Viticulture) Apprenticeship

For more information on these courses please access the following link; https://www.plumpton.ac.uk/courses/wine-division/

Michael Yeoman, Founder of Brighton and Hove Wine Club

Michael Yeoman specialises in working with small batch wine producers in and around Sussex and the South Downs. He founded Brighton and Hove Wine Club and also creates a range of small batch  Sussex Brandies, Grape spirits and Vodka through Spirit of the Downs based at Bolney.