Winephabet Street U is for United Kingdom

by | Apr 17, 2019

Welcome to Winephabet Street Season 1 Episode 21 U is for United Kingdom Sparkling Wine. Winephabet Street is a monthly series where Lori Budd of Draceana Wines and I work our way through the alphabet exploring wine and wine regions one letter at a time. The show is live on the third Monday at 8pm and is free, but you must register to attend. Put it on your calendar, pour yourself a glass of wine and hang out with us.

This is my first taste of any kind of wine from the United Kingdom. History dates back that the British have been making sparkling wine for over 350 years, but the grapes weren’t always grown in the UK. In 1740 the Honourable Charles Hamilton planted a vineyard and many vineyards have been planted ever since.

Today the famous Champagne house of Taittinger planted vines in the UK at Domaine Eyremond in Chilham, Kent. They anticipate their first vintage of English sparkling wine to be released in 2023. We’ll have to keep an eye on the region.

The wine for this episode I receive as a gift from a friend who was living in England at the time. She brought it over a sparkling wine from Denbies in her suitcase. Denbies is a pretty big winery over there in the UK. They have 627 acres, 200 are woodlands and includes 10 estate houses and 265 acres are planted with grapes. The vineyards are situated in the Surrey area, North Downs in the town of Dorking with famous chalky soil.

Unfortunately, I had cellared it for a bit too long. Note to self: drink now don’t worry about the future.

Listen or watch the webinar and let me know if you spy any UK Sparkling Wine.

 

The Webinar

The Podcast