Jamie Oliver & Jimmy Dougherty try winemaking at Ridgeview
1st February 2021
Author EditorPosted on Categories News
Jamie Oliver and his best mate Jimmy Dougherty tried their hand at winemaking on a visit to Ridgeview.
Filmed before the pandemic in the Summer of 2019 as a part of their Friday Night Feast programme, Jamie & Jimmy visited the vineyard in the South Downs of Sussex on their quest to explore English sparkling wine.
To be aired Friday 29th January 8pm on Channel 4, Ridgeview feature alongside guest host Susan Sarandon in the final episode of the current series. As a part of every show Jamie & Jimmy set themselves a series of challenges. In this show Jimmy leads the way to the South Downs where he has heard that English sparkling wine is competing with some of the best sparkling wines in the world and wants to learn more.
Jamie & Jimmy joined Ridgeview’s Head Winemaker Simon Roberts as apprentices by helping blend the base wines. It was then Simon’s job to judge which apprentice had created the best blend. The team at Ridgeview had such a great day welcoming Jamie and Jimmy to the estate. Simon Roberts commented: ”What a great honour to have Jamie, Jimmy and the team spend the morning with us at Ridgeview. With their passion for all things wine and knowledgeable palates, they made for great apprentices. It was such a great experience as we have always been big fans of Jamie & Jimmy. Most of all we had so much fun filming and lots of laughs.”
Whilst Jamie & Jimmy were at Ridgeview they had the opportunity to taste the final end product of Ridgeview sparkling wines which Jamie describes on the episode as “Amazing with a smooth fresh flavour”. After the Ridgeview visit, at the end of the programme Jamie & Jimmy take bottles of Ridgeview into London for some sampling to spread the word about English sparkling wine. With Jamie & Jimmy being such incredible champions of English produce, the programme is great piece and well timed to help spread the word of the joys of English sparkling, putting a spotlight on this very exciting and rapidly expanding industry.