Sussex in a glass
It takes some bottle to challenge Champagne’s dominance. We head to Sussex to meet the producer giving English sparkling wine a name for itself
Champagne is a word that rolls off the tongue. It begins like a whisper, before being expelled by pursed lips into a long vowel that simply begs for French inflection; conjuring up images of delicate bubbles rising through gold-coloured liquid. In comparison, English sparkling wine sounds rather flat and slightly clinical, bringing to mind a shabby yellow bottle, forgotten at the bottom of the bargain bucket in an off-licence under a mountain of dented beer cans.
‘It’s a naff name,’ bemoans Mark Driver, the owner of the Rathfinny Wine Estate in Alfriston, East Sussex. ‘We forget that English sparkling wine is now beating the best of French Champagne in international wine competitions, because it’s being let down by awful branding. Such a perfunctory name sounds more like an apology rather than a proud appellation.’
To give English sparkling wine the prestige it deserves, Mark is working alongside a number of other local wine producers to lobby the European Union and create a Protected Designation of Origin status (PDO) for his sparkling wine, in a similar way to Stilton cheese and Melton Mowbray pork pies. ‘Asking for a glass of Sussex sounds infinitely better,’ he says. ‘Not only does it conjure up a sense of theatre, but it also offers an immediate sense of location. It’s fantastic to be able to draw on the proud history of Sussex, one of the oldest counties in the country. And there are few words that sound so quintessentially English.’
More than simply being a name, the Sussex PDO also promises a certain level of quality. It sets clear rules of production that winemakers will have to meet if they want to call their wine Sussex. ‘The standards set by Europe to make English sparkling wine aren’t very high,’ says Mark. ‘Most Sussex producers are creating a far superior product already without being recognised for it, so we’re highlighting the region’s quality more than anything.’
The PDO should be nationally recognised by the end of the year and ratified by Brussels before 2018. But while such efforts are admirable, a niggling question remains: is it all worth the effort when around 200 miles south lies the real deal?
According to Mark, Champagne’s days are numbered. ‘A rare benefit of global warming is that the weather in the South of England is getting steadily better,’ he says. ‘Today we are enjoying similar levels of sunshine and a climate comparable to that of the Champagne region in northern France 30 years ago. Combine this with favourable chalk subsoil and cutting-edge viticulture techniques, and Sussex has a real chance to take on the mantle of best sparkling wine region in the world.’
Such conviction led former hedge fund manager Mark and his wife Sarah to invest their savings in the future of English sparkling wine by buying a 600-acre farm on the South Downs National Park in 2010. He now has a team of more than 20 staff and by 2018, the estate will boast nearly 400 acres of vines, making Rathfinny the largest single location vineyard in the country. By 2021, total production will be more than one million bottles each harvest.
It may sound like a lot but when you consider that in the UK we consume more than five million bottles of wine a day and some 33 million bottles of Champagne every year, it’s a small drop in a large wine ocean. ‘We still import more wine from Hungary or Bulgaria than we make in England,’ Mark explains. ‘We are the second biggest market for Champagne in the world so I’m convinced there is a big potential for home-grown.’
At the time of writing, the first ever batch of Rathfinny wine was being bottled on the production line. More than 5000 bottles of still wine will go on sale in July, but more importantly 6000 bottles of sparkling will be laid down to rest until 2018. ‘All of our sparkling will be left
for three years to mature, just like the finest Champagne,’ Mark explains. ‘It’s difficult to think that we still have so long to wait, but all the hard work will be worth it when we pop that first cork.’
How to Create Sparkling Wine the traditional way
Just like Champagne, Rathfinny’s Sussex sparkling wine is made using the traditional method – a process that ensures every sip is delicious
01 Press the grapes
Press the harvested grapes to extract the juice and leave to ferment quickly. This will produce a neutral still wine that is high in acidity.
02 Blend and ferment
This wine, which is stored in a vat, can then be blended with other wines before sugar and yeast are added and the wine is bottled. The bottle is sealed with a crown cap (like beer) and left for a secondary fermentation to happen in the bottle for four to eight weeks to create bubbles.
03 Ageing process
Leave the wine for 18 to 24 months to age in the bottle, where it will interact with dead yeast cells and develop sought-after complex flavours, including nuances of baked bread, nuts and cheese.
04 Get rid of yeast
Dead yeast cells need to be removed. This is done by turning the bottles a fraction at a time until they are upside down. This moves the dead yeast cells from the bottom of the bottle towards the neck.
05 Freeze
The necks of the bottles are then frozen in cold water or brine, the crown caps are opened and the pressure inside the bottle pushes the yeast waste out.
06 Sweeten
Before finally sealing the wine with the cork and wire top, a measured amount of wine and sugar is added. The amount of this mixture will determine the final sweetness level and style of the wine. Brut sparkling wines are the most popular among drinkers in the UK.