Hampshire wine through the eyes of its adopted winemakers
During June’s English Wine Week, Amanda Barnes MW visits three international winemakers who have made Hampshire their vinous home — joining the English wine revolution at different stages of their careers and entering at different points during the industry’s growth. As the British wine industry continues to grow in reputation and momentum, she interviews the winemakers on the potential and challenges they see in English wine.
Exton Park: Corinne Seely
French-born winemaker Corinne Seely has become one of the foremost voices in English wine in the past decade, following a winemaking career that spanned Bordeaux, Australia, the Languedoc and the Douro. She spearheads winemaking at Exton Park — a state-of-the-art producer in the rolling hills of Hampshire, specialising in sparkling wines made under the Reserve Blend ethos — a more complex blending of multiple vintages and vineyard blocks.
Her winemaking is quite unlike the majority of other English sparkling wine producers, who rely on one main base vintage in their wines. Unafraid to buck her own trend, however, her recent maverick releases include a 100% Pinot Meunier 2014 vintage rosé and barrel-fermented 2015 vintage Blanc de Blancs, Cuveé M. Isaac, an ode to the late founder of Exton Park, Malcolm Isaac MBE.
She reflects on how the opportunity of making wine in the relatively untapped terroir of England enabled her the freedom to write her own chapter in the story of sparkling wine.
“With a new project and a new wine region, you have the chance to write your own book, and Malcolm [Isaac] and Exton gave me that chance to write a new book. When we started the project in 2010, the weather here was still so unpredictable, and so I made the decision that vintages may not work. And I thought that it would be better to build large reserves over the years — which enables you to build consistency of quality and taste, as well as safety. We bought lots of vats to get started!
I like geology, and I studied soils and chemistry, and I knew from the beginning how similar the geology was between England and France — it was obvious. But I could see that even if there were similarities with Champagne and its soils, everything else was different. You have less sun here, and the rainfall and expositions are different. So I said to myself, I didn’t want to make a Champagne style in England. I knew intrinsically that there was a potential to develop in England, and in an English style.
I came to England for the freedom, that freedom to be innovative. And the freedom in winemaking here was a big part of the bargain from the beginning… the English industry was blossoming, and we are still at the start of something which makes it interesting.
There are rules, but not as many as in France. I’m very worried that people want to subdivide England already… without even thinking of the brand of English sparkling wine. English wine is not even a name yet.
Being a winemaker is about listening and tasting, and preserving everything that nature gives you. Nature is so generous and you just need to take the time to listen to it.”
Hambledon: Felix Gabillet
A Loire native, Felix Gabillet joined the team at Hambledon winery in 2015 following vintages in New Zealand, Australia, California, Luxemburg and Canada. He is now head winemaker of this notable estate in Hampshire — England’s oldest commercial vineyard, first established in the early 1950s — which is now co-owned by the historic wine merchant Berry Brothers & Rudd and renowned Port producer Symington Family Estates.
He shares why he was itching to come to England to make wine, even before the region became known for its sparkling wines.
“I always had an eye on England since the beginning of my studies, and I was saying there was a lot of opportunity here. After studying in Switzerland, I came here for three months for harvest and then stayed!
The investment in English sparkling wine has been enormous, and it makes sense as England is one of the main consumers of Champagne… I think it is due to this potential that we see so much interest from Champagne houses here — and, more recently, from Graham Beck from South Africa and Jackson Family Wines from California.
England is like Champagne 50 years ago [in terms of climate change], here we only get up to nine potential abv. It used to just be that English sparkling wine was consumed in England, but we are seeing big demand in the Nordics for our sparkling wine now — and also in Japan, South Korea and the US.
Brexit has been a major problem in the English wine industry though, as all the supplies come from Europe and are difficult to access. Despite these challenges, we do have a lot of freedom here. In general, we follow the Champagne process, but we can adapt however we want to. This year, we’ll be experimenting with fermenting in amphora, glass and a couple of other tanks. I also want to try some wild ferments.
I think there is a book to be written here, and we are only at the beginning, French vineyards have generations of history and here [in England] we are the first generation. We are still in the process of learning and experimenting, and I don’t think we will reach the level of Champagne that quickly… we still need to see and learn about our terroir and we will make mistakes. But there are no limitations!”
The Grange: Juan Montenegro
Chilean Juan Montenegro may come from a large wine-producing country, but his journey in wine started much further afield and he studied winemaking in England which eventually led him to assume the position of assistant winemaker at boutique sparkling wine producer The Grange, near Alresford.
He explains why he was attracted by an emerging wine country, which was taking a different path as a specialist in sparkling wine.
“I studied psychology in Chile, and then went to Australia to do a working holiday. It was there that I became friends with some Italians, who encouraged me to go work in a winery in Frankland River, inland from Margaret River. Coincidentally, the winemaker there happened to be Chilean! I did a harvest there, and then went to another winery and after that onto New Zealand to do a harvest in Marlborough. But I was always very interested in sparkling wine, and England really interested me as a new region.
It was very interesting to me to move to a place with new opportunities, and as an emerging wine country focused on sparkling wine. No-one in Chile knows about England as a sparkling wine producer, it was in Australia and New Zealand that I heard about it.
What’s really exciting about working here is that there is no recipe, everything is so new. It is all about trial and error, and lots of experimentation, which makes it so exciting to be part of
