I first discovered All Angels wine a couple of years ago at the WineGB Trade Tasting. Their Classic Cuvée 2015 was one of my star wines of the day in a really strong line-up of England's finest. So it was with great pleasure that I had the opportunity to visit and enjoy a tour, amazing lunch and special tasting which included the launch of their 10 Year Anniversary Release Classic Cuvée 2014.
Based at Church Farm in Enborne, near Newbury, West Berkshire, All Angels is a boutique English wine producer, currently making traditional method sparkling wine only. Established by former corporate lawyer, Mark Darley, it's named after the 12th century parish church of St. Michael's & All Angels that overlooks the first vineyard planted in 2011.
Chardonnay now comprises 45% of what they grow at All Angels, with Pinot Noir in second place at 28%.
Around half of the 14 hectares of land is covered with vines. Starting with Pinot Gris, Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier and Rondo, Mark has since added Pinot Blanc, as well as more Chardonnay in its own small vineyard, planted in 2015. This will be used for a special multi-vintage Blanc de Blancs (their other wines are single vintage) with extended lees ageing. He then planted a third vineyard in 2020.Vines benefit from sunny, south-facing slopes that can reach an altitude of 120 metres. The terroir is particularly good for grape growing, as Mark explains. "Our soil is a great combination of sandy loam and greensand, so it drains freely. There are heavy deposits of gravel and flint, so it warms up nicely too. The layer of clay helps retain nutrients in the wet weather and if you go down deep enough, there's chalk as well. Also, probably key to all of this, is that the angle of the slope is 67 degrees. That's important because it helps protect against frost, which is the biggest worry we have."
The unsettled weather this year means that harvesting is around three weeks behind normal schedule and Mark expects to harvest his Chardonnay in November. Fortunately, Mark is hugely positive about this year's crop. "The Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier and Chardonnay look outstanding", he says.
All Angels is a member of WineGB's Sustainable Wines of Great Britain scheme. Environmental protection is an important ethos and the land around the vineyards is a haven for wildlife.
Brought up in West Yorkshire, Mark developed a massive love of nature, so he and his wife, Christine, planted a wildflower meadow and apple orchards and created ponds for wildlife. "Everything we do around here", he says, "is designed to be in sympathy with nature - not just to maintain it, but actually to enhance it. So we have rabbits, foxes, hares, otters and, at our largest vineyard, badgers. We have eight different species of bat, including two extremely rare ones, one of which roosts in the ground, and we positively adore them because they just hoover all the bugs up. We never have to even contemplate using insecticide."
Mark demonstrating a bougie candle
In addition to their many animal vineyard assistants, at All Angels they protect their vines using bougie candles, a frost fan, frost guards (propane burners that pump out hot air) and infrared lighting tubes that radiate heat. Additionally, they use green harvesting and treat with copper and sulphur when required.
Mark is keen to point out that his focus from the beginning was always on quality. No surprise then that his original winemaker was award-winning Emma Rice, then of Hattingley Valley where the wines are made and now presided over by Rob Macculloch MW. "We're not a volume player", describes Mark. "We're not interested in producing the most. We only want to produce the best."
Mark Darley and Chef Henry Kremer-Ireson
The wines we tried were specially paired with the amazing culinary creations of nearby Damson Restaurant's Head Chef, Henry Kremer-Ireson. His cuisine is based on modern British food, guided by the seasons, with ingredients foraged locally as much as possible and zero wastage.
Nine percent of the blend was barrel-fermented and all the Chardonnay went through malolactic conversion.
🍇 Blend: 50% Chardonnay, 28% Pinot Noir, 11% Pinot Meunier and 11% Pinot Gris.
🍬 Residual Sugar: 6.12g/L.
🧬 Total Acidity: 8.4g/L.
🍞 Lees ageing: 9 years.
🎚️ ABV: 12%.
📅 Disgorged: February 2024.
👃 Nose: Refined aromas of stone fruit, citrus and lightly toasted bread.
😋 Palate: Fresh and fruity with notes of peach, peach kernel and citrus, a touch of lemon cream and croissant plus superbly balanced acidity.
👨🍳 Chef Henry's food pairing: Brioche French toast and mushroom tartlet appetisers.
🤤 This is a delicious wine now, but will continue to develop over the next few years. Perfect for any celebration, it would grace many canapés and smoked salmon appetisers, but equally enjoyable and stylish drinking on its own.
This was All Angels' first ever commercial sparkling wine, released in 2017.
🍇 Blend: 60% Rondo, 32% Pinot Gris and 8% Pinot Noir.
🍬 Residual Sugar: 6.2g.
🧬 Total Acidity: 8.1g/L.
🍞 Lees ageing: 2 years.
🎚️ ABV: 12%.
📅 Disgorged: February 2017.
👁️ Colour: Salmon pink with a slight copper tinge.
👃 Nose: Aromas of strawberry and nectarine with hints of orange and tangerine.
😋 Palate: A gastronomic rosé delivering flavours of red berries, stone fruit and citrus with touches of orange peel and brioche plus refreshing acidity and a hint of cooked strawberries as the wine warms up a little in the glass.
👨🍳 Chef Henry's food pairing: Buttermilk custard, preserved tomato, elderflower, basil, fennel.
🍣 This would also go brilliantly with smoked salmon.
Now almost sold out, this was All Angels' seventh commercial wine and their third Classic Cuvée release, launched in October 2022.
2015 was a cool year and the Chardonnay was harvested on 4th November. The blend went through full malolactic conversion.
🍇 Blend: 58% Chardonnay, 19% Pinot Noir, 13% Pinot Meunier and 10% Pinot Gris.
🍬 Residual Sugar: 7.6g/L.
🧬 Total Acidity: 8.1g/L.
🍞 Lees ageing: 6 years.
🎚️ ABV: 12%.
📅 Disgorged: March 2022.
👃 Nose: Aromatic with notes of apple, quince, lemon and croissant plus a savoury hint.
😋 Palate: A classy, rounded expression with bright fruity notes of lemon, green apple and smooth lemon curd with a subtle savoury/salty edge.
👨🍳 Chef Henry's food pairing: Pithivier of partridge, chicken mousse, spinach with spiced apple gel, prune purée and pigeon sauce.
🦪 This is a versatile wine that would go well with many types of food, including white truffle risotto or oysters.
The blend went through full malolactic conversion.
🍇 Blend: 60% Chardonnay (18% barrel-fermented), 17% Pinot Noir, 14% Pinot Gris and 9% Pinot Meunier.
🍬 Residual Sugar: 5.47g/L.
🧬 Total Acidity: 8.6g/L.
🍞 Lees ageing: 6 years.
🎚️ ABV: 12%.
📅 Disgorged: January 2024.
👃 Nose: An aromatic nose with floral hints plus a touch of tropical fruit, citrus and pastry.
😋 Palate: Light, fruity and characterful with notes of lemon brioche, pineapple and peach.
👨🍳 Chef Henry's food pairing: Scallop, crab sauce, gremolata, sea herbs.
🥧 This is another versatile wine that would pair particularly well with a fish pie or mushroom vol-au-vents.
This is definitely Mark's 'marmite wine', but one that fascinates as much as it may divide opinion! It's from the 2015 vintage.
🍇 Blend: 100% Rondo.
🍬 Residual Sugar: 22g/L.
🧬 Total Acidity: 4.5g/L.
🍞 Lees ageing: 4 years.
🎚️ ABV: 12%.
📅 Disgorged: November 2020.
👃 Nose: Aromas of blackcurrant with a hint of spice.
😋 Palate: Notes of blackberry, blackcurrant, pomegranate and a touch of nutmeg with quite low acidity and an earthy edge, plus a hint of cumin on the finish.
👨🍳 Chef Henry's food pairing: Venison, elderberry, celeriac, mushroom.
🌭 It may not be BBQ weather, but as a food pairing, barbecued sausages could work with this wine. Otherwise cold chorizo, turkey or spicy vegetarian curries with a touch of sweetness would be good alternatives.
🍇 Blend: 61% Rondo, 39% Pinot Gris, co-fermented.
🍬 Residual Sugar: 5.7g/L.
🎚️ Total Acidity: 7.6g/L.
🍞 Lees ageing: 3.5 years.
🎚️ ABV: 12%.
📅 Disgorged: September 2022.
👃 Nose: Notes of raspberry, peach, brioche and digestive biscuit.
😋 Palate: Succulent and juicy with stone fruit, raspberry and a hint of pomegranate plus a touch of pink grapefruit on the finish.
👨🍳 Chef Henry's food pairing: Honey and cobnut mousse, raspberries, sorrel.
🍓 The acidity and fruit profile of this wine go really well with a creamy mousse, but you could also try with other red berry-based desserts, or with salmon.
We were also fortunate enough to have the opportunity to try All Angels' original Classic Cuvée 2014, which spent around three years on lees, but has now had seven years on cork. With 9g/L total acidity and 11g/L residual sugar, this was still incredibly fresh, the extra sweetness not really felt, beautifully balancing the acidity, lemon, stone fruit and savoury pastry notes.
All Angels wines are all priced at £40 direct from the winery, except for the limited-edition 10 Year Anniversary Cuvée which is £65. They sell to local hotels, like the Vineyard Hotel in Newbury, as well as various restaurants and gastropubs in the area. They are also about to be stocked in Bedford Street Wines in the heart of London's Covent Garden. More information on stockists and partners can be found here.
A classy and perfect pairing of All Angels Sparkling Rosé 2018 with Chef Henry's dessert!
Readers of my English wine writing will know that I have long argued that you cannot compare the price of boutique, small production English sparkling wines with mass-marketed fizz produced at large economies of scale. So what's Mark's take on this?
"Consider the effort and the amount of work ", he says, "the dedication and the feet on the ground. If you compare that with Champagne, it's not expensive. It's a premium product. It's a luxury product, for sure, but if you take into account the time, effort and love that's gone into it, it's not an expensive product at all."
Also, as they grow all their grapes and don't buy in any, their wines are fully traceable to the vineyard. "We would never put a single grape into our wine that hadn't been assessed", adds Mark with pride. "We know what's happened to every grape in our bottle from the day the vine was planted to the day the bottle was opened. We don't have a big brand, but we do have big quality!"
You can only admire Mark Darley's vision and the fruits of his success, sticking to his principle of trying to make the best quality wines that he can, rather than being a volume player.
While Kent, Hampshire, East and West Sussex may be better known for English wine, other counties stretching from the south-west to East Anglia and beyond are producing excellent and ever-improving quality too.
… but perhaps it's the Royal County of Berkshire where the angels are now busy treading grapes and turning them into heavenly wine! 🥂
