Hampshire Vineyard Challenges Winemaking Conventions
Exton Park are challenging winemaking conventions. This Hampshire sparkling wine producer, with a 60-acre single vineyard planted on a south-facing slope in the South Downs National Park, have launched Reserve Blends - a new signature range championed by Michelin Star chefs as the perfect sparkling wine to pair with food for a fine dining experience.
Rather than simply refreshing the palette before a meal, Exton Park’s new twist on classic winemaking offers a balance of tastes that can elevate any course, as all wines in the range are designed to pair perfectly with savoury and sweet dishes, accentuating an array of flavours. These are traditional method sparkling wines that do not rely on a base vintage for their wines. Instead most of their blends are composed of reserve wines from their extensive archive. This unique approach has been pioneered by Head Winemaker Corinne Seely to ensure consistency, quality and complexity across the range.
The secret to the wines’ exceptional food pairing qualities lies in the blend. Corinne Seely, artfully composes Exton Park’s Brut, Rosé and Blanc de Noirs using up to 32 wines in each bottle. These are carefully selected from a treasured library of reserve wines that she has built over a decade.
Corinne said, “Our soil to glass approach, with as little intervention as possible, is something that really strikes a chord with chefs. Every grape that goes into a glass of Exton Park has been nurtured, pressed, stored, blended and aged with a focus on quality. We let the purity of the ingredients do the talking.”
Award-winning chef Simon Rogan, whose hometown is Southampton, although he is best known for his acclaimed restaurants in Cumbria, London and Hong Kong, commented: “Exton Park and I share the same passion for quality, sustainability and local ingredients. Their Winemaker mirrors the same level of precision and technique that I would expect of the greatest chefs in my kitchens. This is why I chose Exton Park to collaborate on a special Rosé for my restaurants.”
Exton Park’s Reserve Blends can be found at dining hot spots across the county including Chewton Glen, Lime Wood, The Greyhound on the Test, Greens and Winchester’s latest opening, Inn the Park.