Hattingley Valley launches Dessert Wine
Hampshire Fare member, Hattingley Valley is delighted to announce the launch of a stunning new dessert wine, made by winemaker Jacob Leadley. The wine was launched at the English Wine Producers Trade and Press Tasting on 11th May in London on the Hattingley Valley stand.
Hattingley Valley specialises in making its own award winning sparkling wine and is currently the largest contact winemaking facility in the UK. The owner, Simon Robinson, an ex-city solicitor, realised a dream when he planted his first vines in 2008. He is forward thinking and through encouraging an experimental approach creates a very unique English wine producer in Hattingley Valley. He consistently encourages his young and energetic team to push the barriers of UK winemaking, of which, the most recent result has been Entice.
The high quality aromatic white grape Bacchus was planted at Hattingley in 2011 and during the 2014 Harvest produced an outstanding crop. Seeing this Jacob, who had gained experience in New Zealand of ice wine production, was inspired to create Entice. The Bacchus grapes were frozen to -10°C before being pressed for 36 hours, prompting Jacob to stage an overnight vigil at the winery. The resulting juice, with its naturally high sugar content, was fermented at cool temperatures to entice the powerful ‘fruit driven’ nose carried by fresh English acidity, at an alcohol level of 11%. Entice is a delicious summer drink which pairs beautifully with blue cheese.
Jacob Leadley reveals more about the new wine, “There is no text book for a wine like this, it is the first of its style to be produced using Bacchus in the UK. At Hattingley Valley we take huge pride in producing unique wines of excellent quality. I am very proud and excited by the release of Entice”.
The new dessert wine and all of Hattingley Valley's wine can be purchased directly from the vineyard, Monday-Friday, 9am-5pm, Wield Yard, Lower Wield, Alresford SO24 9AJ.