The partnership between the UK food science company and a leading wine research organisation will, “provide a unique set of services to the UK wine industry, focusing on a full spectrum of scientific solutions to simple and complex wine problems”.  

The move comes as British wine producers enjoy a boom in sales. Industry figures reveal grapevine plantings have more than doubled in the past eight years, with a 70% increase in the last five years alone. According to Wines of Great Britain, 8.7 million vines were planted in English and Welsh soil between 2017 and 2021, over 98% of which are in England...

Chapel Down Sparkling Brut, England NV (£21.99, Waitrose) 
Amid all the pomp and circumstance of next weekend’s festivities, it’s easy to see why the English wine business spies a good opportunity. It’s all part of English wine’s remarkable progress over the past couple of decades, a period in which it has gone from a largely amateurish pursuit to become, to use the UK government’s ludicrously boosterish parlance honestly for once, a ‘world-beating’ industry. Certainly, the Coronation, like last year’s Platinum Jubilee, will have its share of commemorative bottlings by English sparkling producers and it seems likely that many punters will, as they did last June, take the patriotic option as their sparkling choice at parties and gatherings. Among the producers making a special cuvée for King Charles is one of the biggest, Chapel Down, which has released a 2,000-bottle run of Coronation Edition from the 2016 vintage at £65 a pop. I’ve not tried it, but the company’s regular, widely available Brut NV is among the most consistently enjoyable English sparkling wines around.

Leckford Sparkling Brut, England NV (£24.99, Waitrose) 
One measure of English fizz’s progress is the confidence its leading producers now have in selling at prices akin to top champagne. Chapel Down’s Kit’s Coty Coeur de Cuvée 2016 goes for £120 a bottle, while Gusbourne’s 51° North 2014 costs £195. English sparkling wine has been adopted by the supermarkets, all of which now have an own-label or two of the style on their shelves. Waitrose has taken the idea even further, having planted a small vineyard at the company’s farm, Leckford Estate, in Hampshire, in 2009. The sparkling brut, which is made from Leckford’s pinot noir, pinot meunier and chardonnay grapes by the well-established Ridgeview Estate in East Sussex, is very good indeed, with a mix of typically nervy English Cox’s apple acidity and buttered toasty notes.

Breaky Bottom Seyval Blanc Cuvée Grace Nichols, England 2017 (£35.99, Breaky Bottom) Ridgeview is still among the top English producers along with, among others, Nyetimber, Gusbourne, Exton Park and Camel Valley. Ridgeview’s champagne-style white and rosé sparklers are always going to be their main stock in trade, but last year they added a Ridgeview Sparkling Red Reserve (£55, ridgeview.co.uk) to their range which, if you are going to splash out on English fizz this holiday weekend, is rather a lot of fun, with its tart-tangy, crunchy and sappy summer pudding berries. Another pioneering South Downs producer who is as creative as ever is the evergreen Peter Hall, who planted his vineyard near Lewes in 1974. As well as classic champagne grapes, Hall still works with the under-heralded seyval blanc, the base of his very fine, incisive, Cuvée Grace Nichols.

Follow David Williams on Twitter @Daveydaibach

The project begins today, so shoppers will notice the distinct absence of sleeves on three Italian wines – Zibibbo and Mascalese from Sicily, and Lacrima from Marche – along with Waitrose’s Trincadeira from Alentejo.

The trial will be extended to the entire 10-strong range of Loved & Found wines – which is designed to showcase lesser known grape varieties and wine regions – by the end of the year...

These additions will see Berkmann Wine Cellars triple its English sparkling wine offering, joining Hampshire-based Cottonworth, which joined the distributor in 2014.
 
Through the addition of these new agencies, Berkmann Wine Cellars will harness the current relevance of English wines, a category which has experienced strong growth in recent years...

The celebration wine is a 2016 Blanc de Blancs, produced from ripe Chardonnay fruit from a single vineyard at New House Farm in East Sussex.

Both Camel Valley and Fortnum & Mason are Royal Warrant holders.
The wine is available from Fortnum & Mason priced £42.50, and comes with a gift box.

The fair, which is taking place between 15-17th May, will collect an estimated 30,000 bottles and aims to provide the most comprehensive research into wine bottle use to date. The LWF23 Bottle Collection Initiative will categorise all waste bottles collected at the show according to bottle type, label and country...

Regenerative Viticulture Course at Dartington, Devon - 7th-9th May - last 5 places!
 
The second edition of Dartington’s Regenerative Viticulture course is due to run from Sunday 7th to Tuesday 9th May.

This two day/ two night residential course in the stunning surroundings of Dartington Hall in Devon will cover all aspects of Regenerative farming in vineyards, and is aimed at vineyard owners, viticulturists, and viticulture students who want a comprehensive grounding in this emerging form of viticulture. £450 per person, residential and full board.
 
For more information, and booking, please click HERE 
 
One Day Regenerative Viticulture Workshop at Itasca / Penn Croft Vineyard - Wednesday 31st May - 09.00 - 17.30. 
 
The day will comprise, talks, vineyard walks, presentations and machinery demonstrations designed to inform and inspire attendees interested in and/or practicing RV, led and hosted by experts of the Regenerative movement.

May’s event is still in its programming stage with further information of speakers and demonstrations to be released in late March. £85 per person
Student rate (Plumpton, WSET, MW) £75

For more information, and booking, please click HERE

However, the former Fells commercial director is now stepping back, with Thorpe’s decision to relinquish the title of CEO driven by a desire to return to his roots as an importer and distributor - and will now be joining the team at Thorman Hunt as MD. 

Sam remained in the business as Chairperson to ensure the smooth integration of the Estate into Freixenet Copestick. As part of Henkell Freixenet, Freixenet Copestick was attracted to the integrity, quality, and heritage of the Bolney brand, so it was important for Sam to remain in the business for the first year following the sale to ensure the vision and ethos of Bolney was embedded and retained for the long-term.

Zephalto has teamed up with the French National Centre for Space Studies who will provide six decades of experience in sending balloons into the stratosphere.

The wine tasting will take place in the Celeste, a metallic-like “spaceship” made from composite fibres to ensure its lightweight and exceptional strength. Its luxurious interior is said to be designed by Parisian interior designer Joseph Dirand.

The ship will sit beneath a vast helium balloon “the size of the Sacré Coeur in Paris”, which will push the ship into the stratosphere. The experience will last six hours and will hold two pilots and just six guests.

As titles go, the god of wine-making and drunkenness definitely falls into the ‘double-edged sword’ category, but that was the honour bestowed on Silenus, the Greek god currently in the news after a bust was discovered during an archaeological dig in the north west of England.

One of the most famous depictions of Silenus is the sculpture of him holding the infant Dionysus, later becoming the companion and tutor of the more famous Greek god: Silenus, perhaps unfairly, seen as the sidekick of Dionysus.
The steelyard weight of Silenus was discovered in a field in Cockermouth, dating back to the first century, and labelled quite correctly as a “survivor of roman craftsmanship and artistry”.

“This particular discovery by itself is a remarkable find. It is a wonderful survivor of roman craftsmanship and artistry,” said Finds Officer Julie Shoemark. “The size of the weight is definitely surprising. These weights usually tend to be a little bit smaller. I would say one in this condition and one depicting Silenus particularly is a little more unusual I have only found one good parallel for him.”

The more traditional Vine nutrition breaks down into two key groups. Sustainably fertilised vineyards would benefit from knowing about ICL’s new control released fertiliser (CRF) technology. This product has been brought to UK agriculture in response to the concerns on Nitrate volatilization driven by the Paris Accord. ICL has approached the problem by creating a polymer coated urea, which we refer to as CRF. CRF’s coating technology is temperature controlled, so when soil temperatures drop the polymer closes the capsule and none of the urea nitrate is lost. Thinking of the spring we have had, CRF would have been invaluable. Once ground temperatures begin to rise the polymer opens allowing the nitrate to be released into the soil root zone solution, ready for plant uptake. For Viticulture, CRF’s sustainable credentials mean it is the most precise way to deliver soil N to the plant, without losing nitrate to the elements. When plants are up moving, like now, CRF can deliver the bulk of retained N to them; helping them much better to get away from a difficult and changeable spring. 

The organic vineyards are predominantly fertilised by supporting beneficial plants, mulches and manures, though availability of plant available Potassium (K) can sometimes prove tricky to achieve. ICL have the Boulby Mine in north Yorkshire, recently shown on the BBC Country File program. The Boulby mine produces the raw ingredient of ‘Polyhalite’. This mineral is rich in slow releasing sulphur (S), Potassium (K), Calcium (Ca) and Magnesium (Mg). Polyhalite is slow releasing as it physically takes time for the soil solution to breakdown the mineral, thus, Polyhalite can be releasing its nutrient for up to 90 days in favourable conditions after application. The sulphur content of polyhalite, though high in %, is safe due to the slow-release nature of the mineral and the pH being neutral at 7.0pH. Polyhalite is used as a key component of ICL’s PolySulphate product line, which is fully organic and certified by the soil association. At last an ideal solution for organic and conventional viticulture looking to increase uptake in Potassium, Calcium, Magnesium and Sulphur. The Sulphur company of PolySulphate helps the vine to better mobilise available soil N or Mulch N for plant uptake; further aiding in the nutritional cycle for organic viticulture.

Vine-killing droughts, fires, hailstorms and ferocious temperature extremes hog the climate change headlines in the wine world. However, in many cases, it’s the seemingly microscopic shifts that don’t seem like much on their own but add up over time.

As harvest times shift ever earlier (up to 25 days in the past decade, according to data gathered in France and Germany), it is slowly, but surely, changing vintners’ approach to winemaking in the cellar...

In search of the perfect bubbles

Veteran winemaker Pieter Ferreira discusses the techniques behind three exceptional Cap Classique wines – including the switch to night-time harvesting…

South African winemaker Pieter Ferreira, promoted to chief operating officer at Graham Beck after 32 years in the cellar, says he is still searching for the perfect bubbles...

Dyffryn Nantlle based Pant Du Vineyard and Orchardproduces a range of red, white and rose wines from vines grown in a former slate mining valley in Snowdonia, along with cider and apple juice from local orchards.

As part of its plans to develop a new range of apple cider vinegar, Pant Du turned to researchers at the Food, Diet and Health Research Group at Aberystwyth University to test the freshness preserving properties of the proposed new slate glass...

Find the full documentary here! ►► https://www.67pallmall.tv

In our latest wine documentary we join the team of Lyme Bay Winery with MD James Lambert & co showing us the richness of the fruit coming from Essex and Devon. Lyme Bay is charting a vastly different path in English wine production, and the results are speaking for themselves. Learn with us why the terroir of England is something to be reckoned with on the international scene.

About us
67pallmall.tv is a 4k video-on-demand channel produced by 67 Pall Mall, the world’s first group of Private Members’ Clubs with wine at the centre of the offering. 67 Pall Mall’s unrivalled access to the world’s industry experts and top winemakers allows us to unlock the cellar doors to iconic wineries round the world. Having filmed in 23 countries thus far, the channel keeps a finger on the pulse of the wine trade, offering viewers up-to-date insights and news from the world of wine.

SUBSCRIBE on YouTube ►► / @67pallmall10

At Plumpton College, we are proud to be the UK's centre of excellence in wine education, training & research and deliver undergraduate and postgraduate degrees validated by the University of Greenwich.

Are you a science graduate, sommelier, or business minded? A career in the wine trade is dynamic taking you rurally, locally and internationally. Hear from our Wine graduates and where they are now.  Click the front cover for the publication or click HERE.

A rare opportunity for a buyer to enter the rapidly expanding English wine sector and to acquire a well established and respected organic wine estate with potential for further expansion. The current owners have worked hard to create a destination and brand that are vital to the success of a modern wine business.

Key features:

Well established organic vineyard
3 bedroom cottage, subject to AOC
Purpose built winery and visitor centre
16 acres in total
Excellent opportunity for new entrants and existing producers


Guide price £1,950,000

Agent: Savills