Glass of Bubbly
Biddenden Vineyard
Biddenden Vineyard is Kent’s oldest commercial vineyard, having been established by the Barnes family in 1969 to produce wines and ciders. The vineyards are set in 23 acres on a gentle south facing slope in a shallow sheltered valley, 1.2 miles from the lovely Wealden village of Biddenden. Eleven varieties of grapes are grown to…
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Simpsons Wine Estate
Ruth & Charles Simpson of the Languedoc-based winery, Domaine de Sainte Rose have taken on a new challenge, to produce world-class sparkling wine in England! The Simpsons are preparing to plant the first ten hectares (25 acres) of vines (of a potential 30 hectares/90 acres) in Kent, this May. “We chose Barham in Kent due…
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Jenkyn Place Sparkling Wine
Jenkyn Place Brut 2009: The near-perfect growing season of 2009 has produced a Jenkyn Place Cuvée which in many ways represents a true single vineyard wine. The wine, a blend of 65% Chardonnay, 25% Pinot Noir and 10% Pinot Meunier, is fascinatingly complex, yet quite simple at the same time. The core of ripe, creamy orchard fruit is very…
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Jenkyn Place Vineyard
Jenkyn Place is the brainchild of property investor and entrepreneur, Simon Bladon. Originally from Yorkshire, Simon and his wife, Rebecca, moved to Jenkyn Place in Hampshire in 1997 and, after extensive renovations, turned their thoughts to the abandoned hop fields next to the property. Simon, who loves a good challenge, decided to plant his first vines – Chardonnay, Pinot Noir…
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Jazz Brunch at West Street Vineyard
What does the phrase ”Jazz Brunch” bring to mind? To me, the first thought would be of lazy Sundays across the Atlantic, most memorably Georgia Brown’s in Washington DC where my friend and colleague Jeff took me so many years ago I don’t care to recall. There was more food than we could have eaten in a week, a Bloody Mary…
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Sittella Winery
Founded in 1998, Sittella is one of Western Australia’s newest, privately owned wineries. Owners Simon and Maaike Berns have the support of an enthusiastic team of professionals to create and produce high quality traditional wine styles, from both their own and contract vineyards throughout the Swan Valley and Margaret River Region. The winery is named…
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Sharpham Vineyard
We have a stunning vineyard on the banks of the River Dart in Totnes, Devon, producing some wonderful wines. This thousand year old farm consists of five hundred acres owned by the Sharpham Trust. The house, designed in 1770 by Sir Robert Taylor, overlooks the fields and wooded slopes above the River Dart, two miles downstream…
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Pruning The Vines
I recently visited the Champagne region carrying out some research into new champagnes (new in the sense they have no presence in the UK market) and I am delighted to say that we discovered some amazing new champagnes. I’ll blog more about these soon, but one thing I love about visiting the region is that…
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Champagne Cult London
Champagne Cult (as of July 2015 this venue is now closed) is a lounge bar specialising in fine whisky, Champagne and cigars. Situated in Bishopsgate, minutes away from Liverpool Street Station. Champagne Cult serves excellent canapes along with a good selection of Champagne, including Perrier Jouet, Bollinger, Laurent Perrier, Billecart Salmon, Dom Perignon, Krug and Pol Roger. You can…
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