A clutch of golds
For the English winery of the year (again)
There is a right-of-way called Saxon Shoreline that cuts a swathe through Gusbourne's Kentish vineyards, near Appledore; as the name implies, a millennium and a half ago these vines would have been growing on the beach. Now the sea is a few miles away, across Romney Marsh, but a bracing coastal breeze reaches the vineyards. It`s remarkably effective at drying the grapes off after those sudden English showers, and has facilitated more than one harvest here. And it`s no surprise that the clay and sand soils on which the vineyards sit are full of maritime deposits, which in turn may go some way to explaining the saline character that often comes across in the estate`s wines.
Although we have rated Gusbourne for a long time, 2013 was a watershed vintage for them and us; when their 2013 Brut Reserve arrived in the shop earlier this year, we quickly agreed it was the best English sparkling wine we'd tried. Now the 2013 Blanc de Blancs has been released, and it has already scooped more gold medals at international competitions than any other single vintage English sparkling wine. Not only that, but Gusbourne has also just been named English winery of the year for the third time, making them the only three-time winner of the award.
Like the English sparkling wine industry as a whole, it`s still early days for Gusbourne. Not for the estate, which dates back to 1410, but for wine production here - the first vines were planted in 2004, and 2006 was their debut vintage. So there are still plenty of experiments going on, and new vineyards yet to come online, including some recently acquired in Sussex. All Gusbourne fruit is home grown, which means they get to be as fastidious as they like about quality, and it`s very high here. /NT
Offered subject to remaining unsold; available imminently
