Time for Another Tasting

We’ve been busy moving house and working at the Academy lately, and there has not been much time for relaxation and the pleasure a bottle of wine has to offer. I think it’s high time we did something to change that!
John and I will be opening a bottle of Biddenden Ortega 2006 shortly, and we [...]

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Let’s Celebrate With Some Bubbles!

Today it’s been six months since we registered our company, and to celebrate I’ve picked up a bottle of bubbles for us to try out tonight. John doesn’t know yet, he’s not one for making plans, but I know he’ll be pleasantly surprised.
Here’s our first tasting challenge for our readers: Tonight we’ll be tasting Ridgeview [...]

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Love at First Taste

In 2006 my health required some attention and I found myself regularly going down South to a private hospital. During my travels, I was frequently passing a vineyard. I’ve always enjoyed a nice glass of wine and on seeing this vineyard, curiosity had the better of me.
Having heard so much about the superiority of French [...]

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Be Green – Buy English!

Last night, John and I were discussing the fact that it is so difficult to buy English wines even if you want to. Our local Waitrose stocks five wines – all from Chapel Down’s vineyard in Tenterden. We have not been able to find any at Sainsbury’s, Tescos or ASDA, and we’ve been struggling to [...]

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A Taste of England

It’s been more than 50 years since the first commercial harvest of English wine, and sales are now at an all time high. There has been an intense media interest, especially following the event in which an English sparkling wine beat over 55 other countries to the title of Best Sparkling White Wine in the [...]

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English Wine vs British Wine

English wine is wine produced in England or Wales from grapes cultivated in England or Wales. British wine is wine made in Britain from reconstituted grape concentrate. Basically tankfuls of cheap grapejuice from cheap suppliers around the world. British wine is the ultimate plonk whereas English wine ranges from not so good to award-winning excellence.

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Let the Tasting Begin!

I am not a wine connoisseur, but I know what I like. We have decided to taste English wines and write about them here and I would like to challenge you to try the same wines and give us your comments about them. Don’t expect fancy words and posh metaphors, I prefer to keep it [...]

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A Novice Says Hello…

*Tentatively stepping inside our new Wine Cellar and liking what I see*
When I met John, I must admit I had no idea that you could produce wines in England. I’d heard the expression “British wine” and I thought it was a way of saying that a wine was particularly bad. One night he surprised me [...]

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English Wines Can Outclass Champagne

Did you know that there are more than 400 vineyards in England and that some English sparkling wines can compete with, and even outclass, champagne?
In last year’s International Wine Challenge, English wines won no less than 21 medals. The judges said that English wine, and sparkling wine in particular, had performed particularly strongly. Tim Atkin, [...]

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