A glass of champagne or a glass of Sussex? 'Sussex' is given special protection.

[Thunder Bolt]

One of the reasons why there's been a massive expansion of vineyards in Sussex -- and in other locations with marginal climates, where the best wines are produced -- is because of the warming climate. It's a long-term decision to plant vines. It takes three to four years before they yield fruit that is vinified. So there are plenty of predictions on the subject of wine vintages. It's a point where expertise is merging into economic activity. The insurance industry have been at the forefront of such activity -- in other words, they think you're spouting nonsense on this particular subject.

There is evidence of vineyards around the Roman villa at Chichester.

 

[Machiavelli]

There is evidence of vineyards around the Roman villa at Chichester.

Yes, but what have the Romans ever done for us?

 

[Machiavelli]

Where can we buy this? I wouldn't mind trying the local wine. Are they in any supermarkets?

Waitrose, Western Road sells it, but I see you're not up that way. Try wine-searcher.

 

[Notters]

Where can we buy this? I wouldn't mind trying the local wine. Are they in any supermarkets?

Most supermarkets sell some English wine now. Lidl have a Plumpton white and a Denbies Rose, which is fantastic. Sainsburys have chapel down and Waitrose have Bolney, Plumpton and Nyetimber, at least.

 

[Cesar Chavez]

I was reading that the soil is very similar to the champagne region. The climate differs a little but over time the grapes will adapt to the slightly wetter and windy conditions. This latter point has, in part, led to the improvement in quality over the past 5 or so years and it will get better and better apparently.

Global warming will also play a part as the ideal climate band shifts north across the channel


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[jakarta]

Where can we buy this? I wouldn't mind trying the local wine. Are they in any supermarkets?

West Chiltington Post Office.


Oh...

 

[Raleigh Chopper]

I was reading that the soil is very similar to the champagne region. The climate differs a little but over time the grapes will adapt to the slightly wetter and windy conditions. This latter point has, in part, led to the improvement in quality over the past 5 or so years and it will get better and better apparently.

You are correct, which is why a Champagne house has recently purchased land in Kent to grow grapes ( can't remember which one) many English vineyards have also brought in French Champagne experts to help them.
Our local vineyard, Camel Valley produces excellent sparkling wine with help from the French,which has won numerous international awards and has been preferred to quality Champagnes in blind taste testing.
The problem lies with 2 issues, the price and the fact it is not called Champagne, ordinary punters who are not in the know would buy Champagne over English because it is a similar price and most people think that English sparkling wine is going to be awful.
I believe that both Cava and Prosseco are not even comparible, they are purchased because a) it's a bubbly and b) it's cheap compared to Champagne, most would not even consider buying English over Champagne and English is nowhere near as widely available.
English is stuck right in the middle of not being cheap and does not have the snob factor of Champagne.
Having said all that English does not even come close to quality Champagne like Dom Perignon but like Burgundy whites it's all very pretentious and vastly over priced, I would much rather drink a bottle of Camel Valley than any mid priced Champagne as it has the dryness and buiscuit like taste that a lot of other English wines fail to create.

 

[Superphil]

It says so on their website.

That's a fair point, having visited the place a number of times it's not something that's been mentioned before. That said, knowing how sniffy the people are that own Nytimber, they may well not want to be associated with the "Sussex" tag, they are a bit (a lot) up their own arses (IMO, and based on my experience of course, they might be lovely in some peoples eyes).

 

[Superphil]

West Chiltington Post Office.


Oh...

Indeed they (Cherilyn) do sell it, a couple of varieties too. They also sell some of the Nutbourne wines (also local to here). You can also buy Nytimber in most Waitrose stores.

 

[vegster]

All the English wine I have ever seen is ridiculously overpriced, I remember some expert say that Majestic have a great deal on Whatever it was down from £29.99 to ONLY £26.99 !!!!! needless to say I did not go for the offer.

 

[vegster]

You are correct, which is why a Champagne house has recently purchased land in Kent to grow grapes ( can't remember which one) many English vineyards have also brought in French Champagne experts to help them.
Our local vineyard, Camel Valley produces excellent sparkling wine with help from the French,which has won numerous international awards and has been preferred to quality Champagnes in blind taste testing.
The problem lies with 2 issues, the price and the fact it is not called Champagne, ordinary punters who are not in the know would buy Champagne over English because it is a similar price and most people think that English sparkling wine is going to be awful.
I believe that both Cava and Prosseco are not even comparible, they are purchased because a) it's a bubbly and b) it's cheap compared to Champagne, most would not even consider buying English over Champagne and English is nowhere near as widely available.
English is stuck right in the middle of not being cheap and does not have the snob factor of Champagne.
Having said all that English does not even come close to quality Champagne like Dom Perignon but like Burgundy whites it's all very pretentious and vastly over priced, I would much rather drink a bottle of Camel Valley than any mid priced Champagne as it has the dryness and buiscuit like taste that a lot of other English wines fail to create.

You can buy 4 bottles of quaffable Prosecco or 5 bottles of reasonable Cava for the price of one bottle of English Fizz. I have nothing against them making it but I get cheesed of when they say " A snip at only £28.00 a bottle ".....in fact that is 3 haircuts with a pound tip at my local barbers.

 

[vegster]

As an aside, I bought a cheapish bottle of red from my local Co-op tonight and it is pretty crap I must admit, quite sour in fact but had a sudden thought... So, the simple addition of a shot of my homemade Raspberry Gin and it's gorgeous !!!!!!!

 

[SIMMO SAYS]

You can buy 4 bottles of quaffable Prosecco or 5 bottles of reasonable Cava for the price of one bottle of English Fizz. I have nothing against them making it but I get cheesed of when they say " A snip at only £28.00 a bottle ".....in fact that is 3 haircuts with a pound tip at my local barbers.

To be fair we have done work for the fella that runs Breaky Bottom vineyard.
In the Lewes floods his house and vineyard went under water and it took years to recover.
He's also had a few years since when he has lost production due to the weather.

 

[vegster]

To be fair we have done work for the fella that runs Breaky Bottom vineyard.
In the Lewes floods his house and vineyard went under water and it took years to recover.
He's also had a few years since when he has lost production due to the weather.

Surely he could hold down a day job doing something else for most of the year ? the Tories have created so many jobs an opportunities since Gordon Brown caused the last recession that there must have been some amazing opportunities to work hard and get on.....ohhh, tell you what, cheap red mixed with Raspberry gin is an absolute result...

 

[SIMMO SAYS]

Surely he could hold down a day job doing something else for most of the year ? the Tories have created so many jobs an opportunities since Gordon Brown caused the last recession that there must have been some amazing opportunities to work hard and get on.....ohhh, tell you what, cheap red mixed with Raspberry gin is an absolute result...

Whatever you've been drinking tonight has made you into a ****

 

[KingKev]

All the English wine I have ever seen is ridiculously overpriced, I remember some expert say that Majestic have a great deal on Whatever it was down from £29.99 to ONLY £26.99 !!!!! needless to say I did not go for the offer.

It's not overpriced imho. it's normally around the same price points as champagne for non-vintages and a bit less expensive for the (excellent) vintages that are now appearing.
That's a good deal given the scale of production for most English wineries is very low and so they have proportionately higher overheads to cover.
Oh, and in my opinion £ for £ English sparkling is generally better quality than champagne and is just nicer to drink, that's why our house has been drinking English (mostly sussex) fizz for a good 10 years and we are now nearly champagne-free. Just buy a couple of specific champers for specific occasions out of tradition.
I have over 30 different English sparklers in the rack at the moment (plus one champagne), the result of some great recent deals in Waitrose on-line and in Majestic. Waitrose in particular has a fantastic list of wines that you can get online, whereas they only stock a limited number of 'local' wines in each store. I've used this to branch out to try some from Devon, Buckinghamshire, Gloucestershire etc but the core of my stock is from Sussex and the surrounding counties (I did have a Welsh rose, but it wasn't great tbf...).

 

[Dave the OAP]

We hardly drink anything else these days than English and New Zealand wine. Denbies in dorking has some lovely whites. Our favourite are lamberhurst estate in Kent ....their Bacchus blend is fabulous. English sparkling wine is excellent.

We had a tour of denbies and the lady doing the tour told us that French and Italian wine growers were buying up huge chunks of the South Downs and the Weald in Kent to plant vineyards. Golf clubs across the county are being turned into lines of vines. If you get a chance to drive between alfriston and new haven/ seaford, there are huge swathes of vines. She was also saying that as the climate warms, the hotter weather in the med is too hot and Italian grapes in 20 years will be raisins! That is why the European growers are moving north.

If you are happy paying between £10 to £15 a bottle, try English Lilly white or Bacchus from M&S. you won't be dissapointed.

 

[vegster]

It's not overpriced imho. it's normally around the same price points as champagne for non-vintages and a bit less expensive for the (excellent) vintages that are now appearing.
That's a good deal given the scale of production for most English wineries is very low and so they have proportionately higher overheads to cover.
Oh, and in my opinion £ for £ English sparkling is generally better quality than champagne and is just nicer to drink, that's why our house has been drinking English (mostly sussex) fizz for a good 10 years and we are now nearly champagne-free. Just buy a couple of specific champers for specific occasions out of tradition.
I have over 30 different English sparklers in the rack at the moment (plus one champagne), the result of some great recent deals in Waitrose on-line and in Majestic. Waitrose in particular has a fantastic list of wines that you can get online, whereas they only stock a limited number of 'local' wines in each store. I've used this to branch out to try some from Devon, Buckinghamshire, Gloucestershire etc but the core of my stock is from Sussex and the surrounding counties (I did have a Welsh rose, but it wasn't great tbf...).

Marvellous, hope you continue to be able to afford it. I'll just stick with what I can afford which is neither.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

It's not overpriced imho. it's normally around the same price points as champagne for non-vintages and a bit less expensive for the (excellent) vintages that are now appearing.
That's a good deal given the scale of production for most English wineries is very low and so they have proportionately higher overheads to cover.
Oh, and in my opinion £ for £ English sparkling is generally better quality than champagne and is just nicer to drink, that's why our house has been drinking English (mostly sussex) fizz for a good 10 years and we are now nearly champagne-free. Just buy a couple of specific champers for specific occasions out of tradition.





I have over 30 different English sparklers in the rack at the moment (plus one champagne), the result of some great recent deals in Waitrose on-line and in Majestic. Waitrose in particular has a fantastic list of wines that you can get online, whereas they only stock a limited number of 'local' wines in each store. I've used this to branch out to try some from Devon, Buckinghamshire, Gloucestershire etc but the core of my stock is from Sussex and the surrounding counties (I did have a Welsh rose, but it wasn't great tbf...).

30? All round to [MENTION=19854]KingKev[/MENTION]'s for Xmas

 

[The Oldman]

Waitrose, Western Road sells it, but I see you're not up that way. Try wine-searcher.

Got the last bottle of Bolney Pinot Noir at Western Road Waitrose. Was on offer too at £12.79