CW |ENGLISH FIZZ
A sparkling achievement
CHAMPAGNE’S NEAREST RIVALS ARE THE VINEYARDS OF SOUTHERN
ENGLAND. MIKE ROBERTS, FOUNDER OF THE RIDGEVIEW VINEYARD IN SUSSEX, HAS HELPED PUT THE SPARKLE BACK INTO ENGLISH WINE-MAKING.
T
he renowned wine critic Jancis Robinson has pronounced: “There is only one region which could emulate the region of Champagne with latitude at the extreme, chalky soils and long growing season. That is the southern counties of England.”
The Champagne area is a mere 88 miles south from where Mike Roberts and his wife Chris, after building up and selling an IT software and hardware business, started their winery in 1994. Since then, from the romantically named Ridgeview Wine Estate in Fragbarrow Lane, Ditchling Common, Sussex, Roberts has become one of the chief protagonists for the cause of English wines. He is chairman of the English Wine Producers trade body, which represents about 20 companies, and he received an MBE in 2011 for his services to the burgeoning industry. Ridgeview sparkling wines – they are all sparkling – were served at two of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee lunches during the celebrations in early June this year. They were also on the menu when the Queen celebrated her 80th birthday in 2006 and when Her Majesty entertained President and First Lady Obama at Buckingham Palace in May 2011. The Ridgeview label has been found in every Waitrose store in the country since 2004 and the estate also makes Marksman, an exclusive cuvée for Marks and Spencer developed in partnership with Sue Daniels, the M&S winemaker.
GAINING ACCEPTANCE
The Wine Society, the Sunday Times Wine Club and select merchants like Berry Bros & Rudd all sell Ridgeview. Fine hotels
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www.christopherward.co.uk
and restaurants are also very pleased to have Ridgeview on their wine lists, but many are disappointed because demand for this excellent English product far outstrips the production capacity. In 2010 Ridgeview produced 250,000 bottles of sparkling wine but virtually all were spoken for. If he’s lucky, Roberts might produce 300,000 bottles this year, but there will not be many unwanted spares lying around.
These sought-after bottle-fermented wines are produced from about 20 acres of vines in Ditchling Common plus another 100 acres operated by other growers with whom Roberts has built up a series of partnerships. In some cases the other vineyards’ grapes go into Ridgeview wines; in some instances, Ridgeview acts as a contract winemaker to the partner.
flavour, but which aren’t high in alcohol, as this prevents fermentation, which creates fizz. Because we get cold nights even in summer, English grapes have super-acidity – the hallmark of a good sparkling wine”. The original 30-acre estate was converted into 20 acres of vineyard growing the holy trinity of grapes preferred in Champagne – Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier. These three are blended in different ways to create different types of sparkling wines, emulating “l’assemblage” of the classic Champagne Houses. Ridgeview’s line-up includes a Blanc de Blancs, Blanc de Noirs, Rosé and a chardonnay-dominant signature blend sold under the Bloomsbury name. Rather as Christopher Ward has done for watches, Ridgeview, along with other southern
“There is only one region which could emulate the region of Champagne with latitude at the extreme, chalky soils and long growing season. That is the southern counties of England”
Asked why an IT executive chose to buy a 30-acre plot of “commercial forest and six sheep” to start a wine business in 1994, the laconic Roberts replies: “It seemed a good idea at the time.” And why the concentration on sparkling varieties? “It’s always good business practice to see what your neighbours are doing well with and our neighbours are in the Champagne region,” he says. “To me, it was obvious that sparkling wine was the way to go because what you get here in Sussex (and in Champagne) is fully ripe grapes with great
English sparkling wine brands like Nyetimber, Chapel Down, Hush Heath, Denbies, Bolney and Camel Valley, has helped transform the public’s perception of home-grown excellence. “The attitude has changed dramatically since we started thanks to the media, which keep writing about English wines,” says Roberts. This is not just jingoistic trumpeting by the wine writers, however. The reputation of the new breed of English wine makers is well- deserved. Some 17% of Ridgeview’s output is exported to markets as far apart as Norway,
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