Leiston Abbey

Uncorked – July 23

Food & Drink

Andy Newman uncovers the best wines to be drinking this month

A fizzy silver lining to climate change’s cloud

Climate change may be one of the biggest challenges facing the planet, but it is a cloud which has at least one silver lining: the warming up of Britain means that our winemakers are finding the climate much easier to produce quality wines in.

Nowhere is that truer than in the production of sparkling wines. Average temperatures in Norfolk are now at the level they were in Champagne as little as two decades ago.

When most of England’s vineyards were first planted, they were populated with hybrid grapes with Germanic names which were chosen mainly because they were resistant to cold weather and disease, rather than for their flavour profiles. 

But increasingly these are being replaced with more familiar ‘noble’ varieties, and in particular the ‘holy trinity’ of Champagne grapes, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier – considerably more than half of the land planted to vines in the UK comprises these three varieties.

Of course, planting the Champagne grapes doesn’t automatically result in top-class fizz. Making sparkling wine by the traditional method (the way Champagne is made) is complex, time-consuming and expensive.

This method involves making a base still wine, and then adding a little yeast and sugar into the bottle, closing it with a crown cap, and leaving it to ferment a second time in the bottle. The fermentation produces carbon dioxide, which as it has nowhere else to go, is dissolved into the wine, giving it its characteristic fine bubbles.

Once the sediment has been disgorged, the bottle topped up and closed with the familiar mushroom cork and cage, the wine is aged further before being released for sale.

One of the premier exponents of the art in our part of the world is John Hemmant, winemaker and proprietor at the ten hectare Chet Valley Vineyard at Bergh Apton, just south of Norwich. Chet Valley stands out amongst local vineyards because it is sparkling wines, and in particular Champagne method fizz, which it is best known for.

The vineyard is gaining a reputation for its range-topping ‘House of Hemmant’ sparkling wine, which could easily lay a claim to be ‘Norfolk’s Champagne’, if the producers in that region were not so litigious.

There are two wines in the range: a Blanc de Blancs, made from 100% Chardonnay; and a Blancs de Noirs, made from a blend of Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier.

The former is dry and clean, with flavours of apple, pear and citrus. The Blanc de Noirs (quite simply, a white wine made from black grapes) has a pleasing pale salmon pink hue, and gives red apple, strawberry and brioche notes.

Nobody should be toasting climate change, it’s a serious and real problem. But we can at least raise a glass to one Norfolk producer who is making the most of what nature is providing in a delicious way.

Chet Valley’s House of Hemmant is available in many local shops and delicatessens, as well as online at www.chetvineyard.co.uk

A.MUSE white, Muses Estate, Sterea Ellada, Greece, 2022 (£23.25, Harper Wells)

Made in the Valley of the Muses at the foot of Mount Helicon in central Greece, this is a great expression of the indigenous Malagouzia grape, with aromatic notes of exotic fruit, combined with white floral notes and a bright acidity.

Winbirri Signature Red 2018 (Jarrold, £16.50)

Award-winning Norfolk winemaker Lee Dyer is a real Rioja fan, and this Norfolk red wine incorporates many of the techniques used in that region.  Made from the Dornfelder grape, and aged for 18 months in American oak barrels, this is a bold red, expressing rich plum and dark fruits alongside coffee and blackberries.

Réserve des Hospitaliers, Cairanne, Côtes du Rhône (Waitrose, £11.99)

Delicious though it is, decent Châteauneuf-du-Pape is becoming prohibitively expensive nowadays; other southern Rhône villages are taking up the slack.  One of the best value of these is Cairanne, about 20 miles to the northeast.  Waitrose’s version is wonderfully intense, with dark berry fruits and hints of spice, with silky tannins.  Great value.