English winery Gusbourne launches new reserve Pinot Noir and single vineyard Chardonnay online

English winery Gusbourne Estate has released its latest still wines, and is listing a limited number on its online shop.

Gusbourne has launched new vintages of its Pinot Noir and Chardonnay Guinevere wines, with new additions to the collection such as an 809 clone Chardonnay and a Barrel Selection Pinot Noir due for release this year.

The estate has also released the second vintage of its Cherry Garden Rosé, which is made from parcels of Pinot Noir hand-harvested from its vineyard in Kent.

Priced at £25 per bottle, the rosé is said to have a nose “dominated” by wild strawberry and stone fruit with “subtle hints of floral violets and wildflowers.” It is due to  be released later this spring.

Meanwhile, Gusbourne’s 2018 Pinot Noir, which is first allocated to Gusbourne Reserved customers, before being available for purchase from the cellar door, will be sold online for the first time for £35 per bottle, after Gusbourne was forced to close its cellar door due to the UK’s coronavirus lockdown measures. The 2018 is described as having “classic aromas of ripe strawberry, morello cherry and earthy spiciness.”

Alongside this, the estate has also launched a more expensive reserve Pinot Noir Barrel Selection 2018, priced at £45 per bottle, displaying notes of blackberries, blackcurrant, blueberries and violets, according to the producer.

As well as listing its Chardonnay Guinevere 2017 online, this year, Gusbourne has also produced a single vineyard Chardonnay from the 809 “musque” Chardonnay clone.

“This is the first crop of this clonal variety that we have used in our wine since it was planted in our Bottom Camp vineyard in Kent during 2015,” the estate said in a statement, adding that the wine displays a “truly interesting and unique profile of flavours more commonly associated with the Muscat grape,” with aromas such as white orange blossom flowers, melon, peach and white pepper. Both the 809 Chardonnay and Guinevere 2017 will be sold online for £25 per bottle.

Last year, the estate revealed plans to plant an additional 57 acres of vines in West Sussex. The new plantings will boost the West Sussex vineyard to 136 acres and Gusbourne’s total plantings across its West Sussex and Kent sites to 288 acres.