This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.
News
Simpsons ramp up English sparkling project
Languedoc-based winemakers Charles and Ruth Simpson are about to embark on the second phase of their English sparkling wine estate development in Kent.
Ruth and Charles Simpson will plant 10 hectares of vines at their Simpson Wine Estate in Kent in mid-May (Photo: Simpson Wine Estate)
The Simpson, who make wine at the boutique winery Domaine Sainte Rose near Servian in the Languedoc, are preparing their second of three planned vineyard sites for plantation in mid-May.
The estate has also applied for Defra funding in order to begin building a new state-of-the-art winery, which is scheduled to be launched in September this year in anticipation of the estate’s first harvest in October 2016.
As reported in the drinks business, the Simpson planted the first 10 hectares of Chardonnay, Pinot Meunier and Pinot Noir on their estate in Barham, near Canterbury, in 2014.
They will be bringing over their French plantation team to plant a further 10 hectares of the same varieties in May. The final 10 hectares are due to be planted in 2017.
The estate will focus predominantly on producing Blanc de Noirs sparkling wines, Charles Simpson said.
“We have been making wine at our beautiful estate, Domaine Sainte Rose, in the Languedoc since 2002 and are excited to be back in the UK creating a range of finest-quality sparkling wines,” he commented.
“We are both great proponents of the two red Champagne grape varieties. Whereas some English wineries are focused on Chardonnay to produce single varietal Blanc de Blancs, we will be looking to use a higher proportion of Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier to create elegant, more complex Blanc de Noirs, as that is where our passion lies.”
His wife and co-owner Ruth added: “We have a busy year ahead of us, not just with the developments in Kent, but also with reinvestment and improvements at Domaine Sainte Rose. Vintage 2015 was our 14th harvest in southern France and we continue to be delighted with the quality of the wines we can produce at our Servian estate, which benefits from 320 days of sunshine a year.”
Domaine Sainte Rose will be showing wines on the Serenity Wines Stand at London Wine Fair at table F129 in the Esoterica area.