Vegan Wine

Until recently, English wines, especially sparkling, were known and consumed in Great Britain. It begins to change! Everyone talks about climate change ... The climate Champagne arriving in southern England with rumors of Champagne houses buying or looking to Vineland in Sussex.

English wine (or sparkling) is really improved in recent years. English sparkling wines are now competing with champagne. The most recent blind tasting was held March 10, 2008 (ie a few days ago!) Organised by Decanter.

The tasters were Stephen Skelton MW, wine expert Tom Stevenson, Champagne specialist, Oz Clarke, Benoit Gouez, Chef de Caves Moa«t & Chandon, Waitrose Dee Blackstock MW, Andrew Jefford, wine writer and award-winning columnist and Steven Spurrier Decanter , Editor of Decanter contribute.

More than 60 sparkling wines in England, Wales and the Channel Islands, 3 Champagnes and sparkling wines from Napa Valley in California were tasted. The first 3 sparkling wines were Theale Vineyard Founder's Reserve 2003. Meopham Valley of Roses and Plumpton Estate Dean.

The first Champagne Duval-Leroy, the seventh. He was beaten by offerings in the United Kingdom of Camel Valley, Ridgeview, Nytimber, Denbies Vineyard and Balfour.

The tasters agreed on some aspects:
-The elite of English sparkling wine can meet in the Champagne tasting blind without blushing

-Unless exceptional vintage, English sparkling wine have some problems with the same acidity (too far, even the best producers) acidity is always a problem with English sparkling wine and I do not see that improving, "said Skelton. "That was the real problem with the fine wines. Others agreed, citing defects in wine making and a lack of elegance in certain wines.

traditional Champagne grapes (Chardonnay, Pinot Meunier and Pinot Black) give better results than the Seyval Blanc grape as autochthonous or Huxelrebe, to be reserved for still wine. "Some varieties of non-Champagne have been better without the bubbles," said Stevenson.

Category-pink sparkling shown "certainly horrors", despite a rosed second coming.

"I was hoping we would have had more of that," said Jefford. "There were some very good wines," he added. "We should keep trying. If we did 10 years ago, it would be much worse. "

A new phenomenon

UK supermarket chain Waitrose has announced that they would plant vines to make their own sparkling wine. They hope to plant 4 or 5 acres of Champagne varieties, Chardonnay and Pinot Black on their 1,600 ha farm in Hampshire in southern England this year.

We know that the hills of chalk and clay soils are best to grow Chardonnay, Pinot Meunier and Pinot Black as Champagne or Chablis. It is on this soil type Waitrose will plant their vineyards.

Waitrose Sparkling wine is ready to sell in 2014.

The UK now has 300 vineyards and produces about 3.3 million bottles a year, but both planting and production will increase in coming years to an exemption from the ban on EU vine planting.

A journalist in Decanter, the land in southern England, particularly in Sussex, Dorset and Hampshire, is considered ideal for growing grapes for sparkling wine. French producers, including Duval Leroy and Boisset are known to be - or were - the active search for Vineland in the region. "

Also according to Decanter, "The other producers as diverse as Chateau Pape Clement owner Bernard Magrez, and Randall Grahm, owner of Bonny Doon in Santa Cruz, have expressed varying degrees of interest in southern England, which has the great advantage of costing a fraction of continental Vineland.