Newsletter - Feb 2000

TOP ROSÉ AT THE SHOW

The English Wine Festival this year moved to Plumpton College near Lewes, and most visitors agreed that it was a great improvement on the previous site at Eastbourne. The festival atmosphere returned, helped by some spectacular September weather. For us it was our 4th year at the festival, and we continue to find more supporters each year. The highlight of the weekend was winning the Trophy for the best Rosé at the Festival. We won a commendation for the 1997 Rosé in the previous year’s show, so I was more than pleased to get the 1st prize this year.

DAVENPORT WINE AT THE MILLENNIUM DOME

I haven’t been to the millennium dome yet, but I will be going soon, especially because the Davenport 1997 Horsmonden dry is being served at two of the dome’s restaurants. It was chosen at a tasting of 70 of England’s best wines to represent English vineyards in the dome for the first 3 months of the year. So if you are planning a visit, don’t be surprised to see a familiar name on the wine list at your lunch table.

A TOP QUALITY SPARKLING WINE

There has been much publicity about the quality of some of England’s home-grown sparkling wines, and having tried some of them I can see why. We have a perfect climate for producing this style of wine, and we can grow a wide range of suitable grape varieties. Some of the vineyards who have made serious efforts at sparkling wine, have been rewarded by some very impressive results, which will compare well with wines from some of the better-known producers abroad. This is why Davenport Vineyards has planted 4 acres of Pinot Noir and Auxerrois - designed specifically for making the best sparkling wine possible. We now have our first ever release of Davenport English Quality Sparkling wine, made from grapes picked in October 1997, and aged for over a year in the bottle. The grape variety chosen for this wine is Faberrebe, a cross between Muller-Thurgau and Pinot Blanc. It shows a fine rose-petal aroma and good fresh fruit. The balance is fairly dry, and I expect it to age well over the next 3 years or so, developing a softer style with maturity. However it makes a delicious drink in its youth, suitable for any sparkling occasion. Production volumes are reasonably low, and I expect this wine to sell out over the coming summer. The few people privileged to have tasted this wine have expressed great admiration for its quality.

1999 VINTAGE REPORT

The bud-burst came early again this year with a warm spring, and all grape growers were just waiting for the inevitable frost that we have come to expect after warm springs. The frost did not disappoint, but it was not severe enough to kill the new growth on our vines. The Horsmonden vineyard was left completely unscathed, while the Rotherfield site was only slightly affected. While not necessarily the hottest Summer, this year has been ideal for vines: plenty of heat and sunshine, particularly during the important flowering period, followed by some rainfall in August and then back to the sunshine for the first half of September. Mid September rainfall was heavy, but short-lived, and we managed to pick the Siegerrebe on the 21st September in sunny conditions. The total harvest was better than last year, although realistically this is the 3rd consecutive "below average" sized harvest. Most varieties were at least a week ahead of normal at the end of September, however we decided to make the most of the fine October weather and delayed picking until around the normal dates. This enabled the grapes to fully recover from the effects of the September rainfall. The wines in tank at the end of the year show some promising flavours, with softer acid levels than expected. This is despite our decision not to chemically de-acidify any grape juices this year (a decision which is part of our on-going process of not using chemicals in the winery). The 1999 Huxelrebe was fermented without the use of any inoculated yeast, relying on the yeast that occur naturally on the grapes and in the winery. This fermentation completed without problems, and the resulting wine shows a little more varietal character than previous years. Although it is still early to decide, we may be bottling a single variety Faberrebe this year, in place of the Bacchus that has been produced in 1996 and 1997. Several of the wines are showing the potential to be kept as single variety wines, so the 1999 Horsmonden dry blend should be an excellent vintage! A little fruit was picked from our Limney vineyard, and this is being used for the 1999 sparkling wine base. Overall I am extremely pleased with the year, especially when we have successfully managed the vineyard without chemical weed-killers. Attention to the soil is the key for the next year, using only natural methods (no chemical fertilisers), to improve the health of the vines later into the Autumn.

HORSMONDEN DRY WINS AGAIN AND YET AGAIN!

Since the first "Horsmonden" dry was released for sale in 1995, we have been consistently on the award-winners podium. We enter a selection of wines into a range of competitions each year, and have a winning success rate of over 60%. In fact every wine made since the 1995 vintage has won at least one serious competition prize. In 1999 there were five notable successes for our current wines:

3rd Prize in the CLA English & Welsh Wine of the Year Competition - 1997 "Horsmonden" dry - Wines for this competition come from all over the country, and only 3 prizes are given, so it is particularly pleasing that this is the second time we have been among the top three in the last three years.
Bronze medal in the South East Vineyards Association Wine of the Year Competition - 1997 "Horsmonden" dry - A tough contest fought between the vineyards of Kent, Sussex and Surrey, this competition was judged by a panel of 3 experts, including two MWs. Judging takes a whole day, so to emerge as one of the dozen awards is a great confirmation of the quality of our wine.
Highly Commended in the United Kingdom Vineyard Association Wine of the Year Competition - 1997 "Horsmonden" dry - This year’s competition issued only 39 awards out of 140 wines, far less than any previous year - perhaps the judges were being tough.
Seal of Approval in Wine Magazine’s International Wine Challenge - 1997 Bacchus - It is excellent to win at the largest international wine competition, judging over 8000 wines from all over the world.
1st Prize for the best Rosé at the English Wine Festival - 1998 Rosé - Our Rosé is only produced in limited amounts, so it does not get entered into the larger competitions. There were several producers at the festival with wines in this competition, and the judges chose ours as the best!