Spurrier’s sparkler snapped up by US importer

Wine writer Steven Spurrier’s English sparkling wine, Bride Valley, is to go on sale in the United States following a distribution deal with Jean-Claude Boisset.

As reported by Harpers, Spurrier will launch the 11% abv Bride Valley Blanc de Blancs 2013 at the Naples Winter Wine Festival in Florida on 28 January next year.

Spurrier’s wines will be sold directly through Boisset’s Raymond Vineyards in the Napa Valley until next October, when they will go on general release in the US.

Spurrier and his wife Bella own 10 hectares of vineyards in Litton Cheney, Dorset planted on chalk and limestone soils. His inaugural release, Bride Valley Cuvée Reserve 2011, recently went on sale by the glass at new wine bar and bistro Les 110 de Taillevent in Cavendish Square.

Cracking export markets like the US and Japan is high on the priority list of a number of England’s top sparkling wine estates, including Nyetimber in West Sussex and Gusbourne in Kent.

“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,” Gusbourne’s CEO Ben Walgate told db last week.

There are now 470 commercial vineyards in England, with HRMC receiving 65 requests from aspiring producers wanting to plant vines.