Before 2023, we had typically reserved this blend of our Pinot Noir and Chardonnay grapes for a sparkling rosé, this year, however, we decided to have a go at making a Blanc de Noirs.
Now the wine aficionados amongst you will notice that this wine consists of both Pinot Noir and Chardonnay as opposed to 100% Pinot Noir which would dictate a “true” Blanc de Noirs in regions such as Champagne. In England, however, this is not the case, there is more flexibility on blends allowed and so our “Blanc de Noirs” expression is less about the wine being solely made from red grapes and instead showcasing a Pinot dominant blend and utilising these red grapes to still produce a white wine, it has had much less skin contact time that we would normally reserve for this blend in order to produce a sparkling rose.
This is the first time we’ve produced this wine and I’m very excited to release it, aged 36 months on lees, it’s tasting fantastic! It also marks the return of one of our favourite labels for this wine which depicts the famous Sopwith Camel fighter aircraft from WWI which as it happens, the Estates owner's Great Grandad helped to design so this label pays a little homage to him and to all those who fought and lost their lives in the war. The Sopwith Camel was widely considered the most successful allied fighter aircraft of World War 1, credited with shooting down more aircraft (1,294 confirmed kills) than any other allied type. Another cool little piece of history is that Bryn Parry CBE who helped design these labels for us, a famous cartoonist within the country sports sphere also co founded help for heroes! So all in all it’s fantastic label and one with many stories behind it.
ON THE NOSE: LEMONS, GREEN ORCHARD FRUIT AND YEASTY NOTES.
ON THE PALATE: LEMON SHORTBREAD, KIWIS, CREAMY MOUSSE WITH A DASH OF CUSTARD CREAMS
