What better excuse to visit an English vineyard than English Wine Week, which this year took place from 21st to 29th June. With the sun playing hide-and-seek before blazing mercilessly across the country's vineyards, multi-award winning Hattingley Valley opened its Hampshire doors for a tour, tasting and insight into its uniquely English story.
English Wine Week is an annual celebration of this burgeoning industry. Can we even call it 'burgeoning' any more, as it has rightly stormed on to the world stage and made itself a home there, gaining more and more accolades each year? No longer is English wine an "idea of hell", as Peter Ustinov once famously said. It is firmly entrenched in the world's list of quality wine producing nations.
This once laughed-at industry is the UK's fastest growing agricultural sector and wine tourism is gathering speed too. Latest figures show that there are (at least) 1,030 vineyards in the UK, a 9.2% rise in two years. Winery numbers have risen from 209 to 221 and the total area under vine now stands at 4,209 hectares, representing a growth rate of 123% in 10 years.
Over the past two decades, UK wine production has increased by 776%. If the year-on-year trend continues, the UK could become one of the top 20 wine-producing countries in the world within the next 12 years and even reach the top 10 within 18 years.
Hattingley Valley was founded in 2008 by Simon Robinson on chalk-rich, south-facing slopes in Hampshire near Alresford. As well as their own 7.2 hectares of vineyards, they grow and source Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier, Bacchus, Pinot Gris and Pinot Précoce from Hampshire and across England. A purpose-built, state-of-the-art winery allows them to produce their own labels, as well as on contract for other wineries, including All Angels, Louis Pommery England and others.
The winery's logo, prominent on all their bottles, is the rare Silverwashed Fritillary butterfly, discovered on the estate during early vineyard surveys.
Hattingley specialises in traditional method bubbly and around 15% of their wine sees some fermentation in French oak, typically in Burgundian 228L barrels, but also in 500L puncheons. Additionally, they make some still wine, including one of the country's most renowned dessert wines, Entice.
Sourcing grapes from trusted growers across Hampshire, Sussex, Kent, Essex, Suffolk and Berkshire, the winery benefits from a mix of different soils and microclimates, as well as the prized chalk seam of their home county.
'Hampshire Diamonds' aka flint at Hattingley Valley
Hattingley's own vineyards, planted in 2008, lie at up to 190 meters above sea level. This is relatively high for England and so they benefit from cooling breezes which protect against frost. Soil is around 40 - 50 centimetres of loam and clay on a bedrock of pure chalk. Additionally, there are large chunks of flint, typical for the region and known colloquially as 'Hampshire Diamonds'.
Simon Robinson, a semi-retired lawyer turned farmer, shares his insights into Hattingley's story, as well as his thoughts on the English wine industry as a whole. On Hattingley's wine style, he says that approachability is their buzzword. "We want our wines to be approachable to the average consumer. Approachability and innovation - that's what Hattingley is, that's what the industry is and that's what we're going to carry on doing."
Sustainability and environmental initiatives are an important part of Robinson's vision too. "We were the first to have a solar-powered winery", he says, although he adds that it's not completely solar-powered. "We have all sorts of waste disposal facilities that are quite state-of-the-art and we don't use herbicides, except very occasionally when we have no choice. However, we're also working on sustainability in another way that people don't refer to very often, but for me is extraordinarily important. We have to be sustainable financially in the long run. There's no point in running a fantastic, wonderful winery and then disappear. We have 30 or 40 people here who now rely on us for their income and there are all the buildings etc. So, we've got to be financially sustainable and that's something I think the rest of the industry really needs to work on, in my view."
Simon Robinson
Robinson notes the challenging price/value ratio for the English still wine category, so at Hattingley, they only make still wines in the best years and focus on their bubbly each vintage. He points to the glittering array of awards they've won over the years for their sparkling wines as testament to their quality. "I think our sparkling wines can hold their head up high against any competition", he comments with evident pride.
Robinson sees the large domestic market as key to meeting demand for English sparkling wine, despite temperature variations making volumes unpredictable year on year. However, he views the export market as particularly important for Hattingley and the English wine industry in general. Norway is their top export market, while the US and Japan, in particular, are very promising too. "I've always seen export as a very important part of the business", he says. "Probably between a third and 40% of our production goes to export. As an industry, we need to get into exporting to make sure that we are sustainable in the longer term. We're getting there. Luckily, the quality of what we're producing is high enough that we can do it and we're not relying on prices."
While for many people, English wine is an expensive product, Robinson puts up a strong defence of the category. "It's a very high quality product, so it's good value, particularly when you compare it to Champagnes."
While a decent grape yield in England is far lower than in the south of France or Australia, for example, the main factor accounting for price is high taxation. "I think we're going to reach a point", says Robinson, "where over half the price is actually going to be taxed one way or another."
Rob MacCulloch MW
Despite the emergence of generally lower-priced Charmat-method sparkling wines within the country, Hattingley is committed to the traditional method. Head winemaker, Rob MacCulloch MW, explains why. "It doesn't matter where you are, be that Suffolk, Essex or here. We always have really high acidity levels, way beyond what you deal with in the 'new world'. Charmat is a very effective way of making sparkling wine, but the key thing is that this happens over quite a short period. You can increase your lees contact during that time to get more breadth, but personally I don't think it gives you enough time to get some of the other elements right to really balance out the acids. So I'm not sure if it's necessarily going to make better wine in this country. I think the traditional method still has so many qualitative advantages simply from an acid management point of view."
In addition to titratable acidity, low pH is typical, which slows down the enzymatic reactions during yeast autolysis. As a consequence, extra time is required to give that breadth of flavour, MacCulloch adds, again favouring the traditional versus Charmat method of producing sparkling wine.
For MacCulloch, each vintage brings a change in winemaking methods. "The way to think about the Hattingley winemaking style", he says, "is our overall [approach]. We don't say, 'we'll do 100% natural or 100% malolactic or 100% oak' etc. What we do is try to master the blend and we'll do anything in our powers to create the best blend based on the vintage conditions - what the juice, grapes and the year are telling us."
The final stage of traditional method winemaking is dosage, which MacCulloch describes as having such a key impact on balance that it's a major focus at Hattingley. "What we've found over the last few years", he says, "is that our dosage levels are creeping down."
While extended lees ageing is another key aspect of the Hattingley style, MacCulloch cites time on cork as particularly important for the winery and for English sparkling wine generally. "It's a different way of making wine compared to where I used to work, for example California, New Zealand or Western Australia. There you have lots of natural concentration. When you taste Cabernet Sauvignon in a Californian vineyard, it's bursting with colour, flavour, tannin and so on. English grapes, like many other fruit and vegetables we grow here, are much more delicate in flavour and less overt. So here, we're trying to build the wines up. We don't have that sort of natural concentration and need support. What that means is dosage and then a long period on cork to increase the breadth and the mouthfeel of the wine."
MacCulloch also warns against too much malolactic conversion, to ensure there's enough acidity left at the end of fermentation. Consequently, they don't produce a wine that has undergone full malolactic conversion, thus balancing out the diacetyl creaminess with some sharpness, vital to the overall blend. Additionally, he views bâtonnage and transferring lees between tanks as similarly important for adding complexity and depth to the Hattingley wines.
During the visit, the following wines were available to taste. All bottle prices quoted are from Hattingley's online shop:-
Grapes were hand-picked and whole-bunch pressed. 21% of the total blend was fermented in old white Burgundy barrels and only a small percentage of malolactic conversion took place. 50% of reserve wine was added to the blend prior to secondary fermentation and the wine spent four years on its lees.
🍇 Blend: Chardonnay 63%, Pinot Noir 26%, Pinot Meunier 11%.
🍬 Residual Sugar: 6.3g/L.
🎚️ ABV: 12.5%.
👃 Nose: Delicate hints of mixed berries, honeysuckle and almond croissant.
😋 Palate: Notes of apple turnover, lemon biscuit and almond.
💷 Bottle price: £37.
Grapes were hand-picked and gently whole-bunch pressed. Approximately 15% of the total blend was fermented in 4-5 year-old Burgundy barrels and 32% of the total blend went through malolactic conversion. The wine spent 24 months on its lees and 2% of still Pinot Noir was added.
🍇 Blend: Pinot Noir 72%, Pinot Meunier 28%.
🍬 Residual Sugar: 7g/L.
🎚️ ABV: 12%.
👃 Nose: Notes of bright summer red berries with a hint of cherry.
😋 Palate: Tangy notes of strawberry, raspberry and light plum with gentle brioche and a light creaminess.
💷 Bottle price: £42.
Grapes were hand-picked and gently whole-bunch pressed. Approximately 13% of the total blend was fermented in old Burgundy barrels and partial malolactic conversion took place. The wine spent more than five years ageing on its lees.
🍇 Blend: Chardonnay 100%.
🍬 Residual Sugar: 7.3g/L.
🎚️ ABV12%.
👃 Nose: Notes of apple and citrus with hints of stone fruit and cut grass.
😋 Palate: Notes of brioche, toast and citrus with touches of charred apple, pineapple and a long, slightly savoury finish.
💷 Bottle price: £49.
A limited edition release, this wine was 100% barrel-fermented and then aged for seven months in old oak barrels. The top eight of these barrels were selected (out of around 200) and the wine then spent almost six years ageing on its lees.
🍇 Blend: Chardonnay 45%, Pinot Noir 27%, Pinot Meunier 28%.
🍬 Residual Sugar: 4.4g/L.
🎚️ ABV:12%.
👃 Nose: Notes of citrus and honey with touches of baked apple, hazelnut and toast.
😋 Palate: Crisp, creamy and complex with notes of stonefruit, crème pâtissière and hints of spice and nuts plus beautifully integrated oak on a long finish.
💷 Bottle price: £88.
Even rarer and sadly not available to try on this occasion is Hattingley Kings Rosé, one of the country's best sparkling rosés and well worth trying if you have the chance and budget (RRP £98 for the 2015)!
Grapes were hand-picked and whole-bunch pressed. 76% of the total blend was fermented in old barrels, but only 19% was aged in those barrels for around 8 months. 63% of the total blend went through malolactic conversion.
🍇 Blend: 100% Chardonnay.
🍬 Residual Sugar: 0.83g/L.
🎚️ ABV:12.5%.
👃 Nose: Notes of citrus, hedgerow and blossom with hints of pear and white peach.
😋 Palate: Notes of bright, crunchy green apple and pear with touches of stone fruit and lime.
💷 Bottle price: £26.
A limited edition dessert wine made in an ice wine style, grapes were hand-picked and frozen to -18°C for four weeks. They were then slowly pressed over 16 hours to extract the concentrated juice which went through a long, cool fermentation. Prior to bottling, 68% of Entice reserve wine from 2022 and 2023 was blended in.
🍇 Blend: 100% Bacchus.
🍬 Residual Sugar:120g/L.
🎚️ ABV: 9.5%.
👃 Nose: Notes of white blossom, honeysuckle, candied citrus and elderflower.
😋 Palate: Notes of dried pear, elderflower, lemon curd and honey with a hint of tropical fruit and crisp acidity.
💷 Bottle price: £26.
The Hattingley mantra, says Robinson: "We source good grapes. We make good wine. We sell it!"
Although pre-booked tours and tastings are available, Robinson and the Hattingley team are keen not to become distracted by having an on-site restaurant or shop. "We want to maintain what we're good at", says Robinson. "Our focus is on making sparkling wine. We do sell wine from here, but don't really have a shop. We're going our own route on this one!"
The English wine scene is changing and the future will likely see more buy-outs and consolidations as economic circumstances dictate. Hattingley Valley is forging its own path through the murky and uncertain world of commercial reality with its own philosophy and winemaking style, while recognising the long-term importance of sustainability in all its facets - environmental, financial and social. This is relevant for the modern consumer too and bodes well for future success … and that's why Hattingley is Unapologetically British.
