Sussex Winery receives prestigious title at the inaugural UK Wine Awards

(English Wine Producers – 26 July 2017)

The Bolney Wine Estate was delighted to receive the prestigious ‘Winery of the Year’ award at the inaugural UK Wine Awards. Spearheaded by English Wine Producers’ Julia Trustram Eve and members of the EWP and the UK Vineyards Association, the UK Wine Awards is the national competition for wine produced from grapes grown in England and Wales, inspired by the growing popularity of English and Welsh wines.

The respected title for the Sussex-based winery, which is run by Sam Linter, is testament to the hard work Sam and her team have put into The Bolney Wine Estate. The ethos at the winery is to produce the best wines possible and ensure quality is at the heart of everything – something which has clearly paid off. The high standards Sam has set – from maintaining the highest level of viticulture and vinification to the training the staff receive – has seen the winery go from strength to strength.

Sam Linter, Winemaker and MD of Bolney Wine Estate comments: “We are over the moon to have won ‘Winery of the Year’ at the UK Wine Awards – we still can’t quite believe it! It’s such a prestigious accolade and an endorsement of the hard work each and every one of us at Bolney puts into our wines. We’re delighted that UK wine is finally getting the attention it deserves – and we’re incredibly excited for what the future holds for the industry.”

Bolney also won ‘Top Still Wine’ and ‘Most Outstanding Single Varietal Wine’ for its Foxhole Vineyard Pinot Gris 2016 with judges remarking it is “a delightful example of Pinot Gris; pure, expressive and fragrant with notes of honeysuckle and spiced pear.” A dry white wine with fragrant aromas of rose, jasmine and conference pear, the palate is wonderfully rich and creamy with a slightly honeyed character – a perfect summer’s wine.

Editor back in charge, Coming events – From the Editor

Hi Team, I am back, and I am not quite sure that we, Pat and I, have organised this properly. We didn’t generally have the kindest of summer weather while we were away and we have been well aware that it is still very much winter since our return. We will need to time things a little better if we do this sort of thing again.

Editor back in charge

So after Acting Editor, then Acting Acting Editor, it is back to plain old Editor again. Whilst travelling around southern England I did note there were a few vineyards and wineries advertised. After our last trivia evening where a question revolved around the demise of British wineries due to climate change, I was interested to see where the industry is at now. For the same reason it collapsed, ie climate change, there has been a significant resurgence in the last few decades. There are currently about 500 vineyards covering 4,500 acres in Southern England and Wales. They currently produce only about1% of the world’s wine but it is a start. Note that “In the News” I have included an item about their first national wine awards.

As for visiting wineries and sampling European wines our touring did not incorporate any established wine regions. When we went visiting we took New Zealand wines when we could source them. Far better to encourage the British relatives to think about purchasing NZ wines.

Coming events

Only one link of the chain of destiny can be handled at a time -Winston Churchi
Only one link of the chain of destiny can be handled at a time -Winston Churchill

You will note that in the ”Coming Events” section there is quite a bit of TBAing. We have had a few late changes to deal with over the last couple of years and your committee think that we might commit to events a little too far ahead. We are trying not to get too far ahead but fear not, we have lots of great opportunities to tap into.

Cheers
Robin Semmens, Editor