England’s first Albariño hits shelves

Kent winery Chapel Down has released England’s first Albariño, made using grapes from the country’s only commercial vineyard that grows the Spanish variety.

Chapel Down Albariño 2014

The Albariño grape variety is best known for its wide planting in Galicia, Spain, as well as across Portugal for Vinho Verde wines.

“With England sharing a similar maritime climate to the temperate Galician region, the variety thrived during the excellent 2014 vintage in England,” Chapel Down said.

Chapel Down Albariño 2014 (12% abv, RRP £15) is made from grapes grown at Sandhurst vineyard, where an acre of five-year-old vines are grown on Wealden clay soils with high sand content.

It can be bought by consumers directly from the winery online.

The new launch forms part of a wider project by Chapel Down to explore the potential of different grape varieties and winemaking techniques in England.

In October 2015, Chapel Down released England’s first skin contact white wine, Chapel Down Orange Bacchus 2014, and a number of other trials are also underway.

Chapel Down winemaker, Josh Donaghay-Spire, said: “With England still being a relatively young wine region, there is the opportunity to better understand the terroir and the potential of different varieties.

“As a winemaker, the opportunity to work with a new style and produce the first wine of its kind in England is hugely exciting; although it comes with a certain responsibility to do the fruit justice.”

The aromatic dry white wine has “intense aromas of fresh citrus, white peach and apple, combined with background tones of subtle oak and yeast lees,” the winery says.

“The wine’s naturally high acidity balances the richness of the palate and intense stone fruit notes culminating in a lengthy and balanced finish.”