(2020) The UK's centre of excellence for wine and winemaking studies, Plumpton College's students make wines from their own estate vines in East Sussex. For this medium-deep coloured rosé the grape variety is Acolon, a Geerman cross of Blaufränkisch and Dornfelder. A little touch of earthiness and herbal quality sits nicely with creamy, pulpy soft strawberry fruit aromas. In the mouth lots of fruit sweetness and creaminess, good balancing acids and a highly sippable pink all-rounder.
(2020) This non-vintage English sparkling rosé is a blend of 35% Pinot Meunier, 34% Pinot Noir and 31% Chardonnay. 691 bottles were produced of this 18th December 2019 disgorgement, which was put into bottle on 23rd May 2017, so fully 30 months on the lees. It has a pale salmon/peach colour and lovely soft, pulp red fruit aromas, strawberry and raspberry. There is a nice biscuity autolysis too, giving creamy and mineral notes. In the mouth there is sweet fruitiness and the Brut level of dosage to soften tart bery fruits, and that it does very nicely indeed into a long, lemony and elegant finish.
(2019) A bit of a ringer for a Sauvignon Blanc, this is made from Bacchus, a German cross of Riesling and Müller-Thurgau that is popular in England because of its ability to ripen well in cooler climates. Fresh and grassy on the nose, with that elderflower and English hedgerow character, before a crisp and very dry palate, a grapefruit juice tang and juiciness, perhaps just a touch dilute in terms of texture and mid-palate weight.
(2015) At a recent tasting I really enjoyed Domaine Wachau's cheaper Grüner Veltliner Federspiel 2013, but this from the top 'Smaragd' level of alcohol and ripeness was much more intense, limey and I found it very Riesling-like in a way. It displayed more ripeness quite obviously, though it was arguably less vivacious and herbaceous than the Federspiel, but the palate confirmed that serious intensity with massive concentration of flavour, substance and a long, mineral-taut finish.
