2015 Wiston Estate Winery South Downs Blanc de Blancs

Wiston's 2015 Blanc de Blancs is one of the finest English sparkling wines that I have encountered... to date. It was picked from October 22 to November 3 after a warm, dry October, the yield 15hl/ha, 50% fermented in stainless steel and 50% in old Burgundy barrels and aged on the lees for nine months. Dosage is 8g/L. This has a fantastic bouquet of bewitching scents of lime, green apple, honeysuckle and slithers of tinned peach, all beautifully defined. The palate does not disappoint, delivering exquisite balance, wonderful focus and a touch of mineralité toward the harmonious finish. Now this is how you make a great Blanc de Blancs.

100% Chardonnay grown on the ancient chalk seam of the South Downs in West Sussex. The Blanc de Blancs grapes come from the chalkiest, steepest part of the vineyard. Strict sustainability practised in the vineyard and winery (solar panels, no chemical herbicides or fertilisers). 50% fermented in stainless steel and 50% in old burgundy barrels of various sizes. Selected yeasts. Primary wine is on lees for nine months. After secondary fermentation the wine is on lees for three years. Dosage 8 g/l.  Rich and broad and voluptuous. Like the creamiest Greek yogurt folded through with the malty, fudgey depth of buckwheat honey. A brush of butterscotch, the savoury nuttiness of toasted buckwheat, but the acidity flashes through this wine with diamond-cut dominance so that, despite the richness, it is fiercely racy. Incredible persistence. Wiston is making very ambitious, serious sparkling wines. (TC)