Top English fizz ‘like great grower Champagne’

England’s top sparkling wines are more similar in character and style to grower Champagnes than Grandes Marques according to one UK producer.

Ben Walgate, CEO of Gusbourne

Speaking to the drinks business during a recent visit to Gusbourne in Kent, CEO Ben Walgate said: “The top producers in the UK are more like great grower Champagnes than Grandes Marques.

“There’s a multitude of terroirs in the UK and all of the sparklers have different personalities. A decade ago there was more uniformity in the industry but now there’s a huge amount of diversity.

“To successfully compete with the Champenois we’ve got to be better than them at the same price and offer incredible quality. Everyone talks about chalk in association with Champagne but there’s a huge range of soils there, it’s not all about chalk.”

Walgate also spoke passionately about Gusbourne’s vintage approach, believing it to be the right way forward for English sparkling wine. “We don’t see the reflection of the vintage in the wines as a problem. We’ve got nothing to be ashamed of in our vintages – we’re proud of showing them off,” he said.

“Our house style is on the reductive side. The wines are terroir-driven and quite understated. There’s a minerality and a salinity there that sets them apart,” he added.

Founded in 2004 by South African entrepreneur Andrew Weeber, Gusbourne spans 61 hectares in Kent and a further 32 in West Sussex. Bottling its first vintage in 2006, Gusbourne’s first commercial release came in 2010.

Today the estate makes a trio of sparklers: its flagship blanc de blancs aged on its lees for 36 months, a brut reserve blending the three Champagne grapes, and a pale pink rosé made from Pinot Noir and Meunier.

“We’ve grown slowly and steadily, upping our plantings each year. Our vines are maturing and our winemaking is getting better. We’ve found Burgundy clones to be more successful than Champagne clones, offering more vigor and balance. Achieving ripeness isn’t an issue for us – we have the same average temperatures in Kent as they did in Champagne 25 years ago.

“England is a maritime climate so we were right to move away from Germanic varieties,” Walgate said. The estate currently produces around 30,000 bottles a year across the range including the still wines.

“We never set out for the Blanc de Blancs to become our flagship, it just turned out that way. There’s high demand for it and it’s more successful as a style – a lot of UK consumers don’t know what ‘brut’ means,” admitted Walgate.

“The challenge now is to maintain our position as new players come into the game. The market is changing and there are a lot of new vineyards on the horizon,” he added.

Earlier this year Gusbourne hired Master Sommelier Laura Rhys to look after on-trade sales. It now counts Heston Blumenthal’s The Fat Duck in Bray, Gordon Ramsay Royal Hospital Road in Chelsea, Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons in Oxford and Simon Rogan’s foraging focused L’Enclume in Cumbria among its on-trade clients.

Looking to 2016, Walgate is keen to focus on growing Gusbourne’s presence abroad. “We’ve been exporting in a small way since 2010 and sell a bit in Italy, Belgium and France, but we’d love to crack the US and Japan. The industry can’t turn its back on exports but it will take time to build a reputation abroad,” he said.

In addition to fizz, Gusbourne produces a duo of still wines, Guinevere Chardonnay and an 11.5% abv Pinot Noir. The estate, which was bought by investment company Shellproof for £7 million, is being revamped to be able to welcome visitors, and will soon include a shop.