English Wine? I can hear you all spluttering into your glasses of chilled Sancerre. But I'm not talking about British wine, or for that matter, British Sherry- I can remember the horrors of "Olde Sedgmoor"- a so called British sherry, made from sugar, water, and grape concentrate, mixed up in some factory down in the South West; I'm talking about English wine, which wine experts are, at long last, beginning to take seriously.
Think about it: there's no scientific reason why decent wine can't be made in this country- apparently there is less rainfall here than in the Germany, we have lots of suitable sheltered valleys with chalky soil, and with global warming, and resulting rising temperatures, the prospects for the fledgling English wine industry are beginning to look good.
So, a few nights ago, I opened a bottle of Chapel Down Flint Dry. It's supposed to be a bit similar to Chablis, and I certainly got the mineral, dry, flinty flavours. There was a hint of elderflower, too. I liked it! Next up for a tasting is going to be Denbies Greenfields Sparkling Cuvee (several vintages available) which has consistently won various International Wine Challenge Award medals. I'll report back...
