The English wine industry is set to receive a major boost in the coming days as award-winning producer Chapel Down begins planting 72 acres of new vineyard. The land, on Bluebell Hill near Maidstone, will produce its first sparkling wine in time to toast the London Olympics in 2012.
Chapel Down plans to shower British medal triumphs with a home grown English sparkling wine to knock the socks off Champagne. Planting at the site begins this week, when Chapel Down’s viticulturist and vineyard manager, Craig Daly, will oversee the installation of 122,000 vines, which will be a share of pinot noir and chardonnay.
The expansion is part of Chapel Down’s effort to quench the insatiable thirst for English wine that sees consumers increasingly attuned to the quality and viability of the produce. Bluebell Hill encompasses a 116 acre plot on the North Downs from which Chapel Down forecasts reaping some 200,000 bottles of sparkling wine each year. The new land is ideal for growing high-quality sparkling wine similar in character to those produced only 250 miles away in Champagne.
The planting represents another step by the Kent producer in its attempt to emulate the classic bubbly and playing the French at their own game. Chapel Down will be planting exactly the same clones and root stocks used in the finest Champagne.
Daly will use GPS navigation to plant the vines, a technique he brought to Kent from his native New Zealand, where satellite tracking is commonplace in large scale vineyard planting. For Daly, the planting is a milestone in what has been a labour of love since he moved to Chapel Down from Central Otago twelve months ago.
“My first day in the new job was pretty unconventional”, he said. “I arrived at the winery, was given keys to a Landrover, an OS map of the North Downs and instructions to find land for a new vineyard.”
A year of soil analysis, drainage tests and negotiations later and Kent’s largest chalk vineyard is born. “English wine is at the start of a very exciting growth curve” Daly adds, conceding that some of the still wine Chapel Down produces is similar to that produced in New Zealand, another ‘cool climate’ wine producing region. “It plays to the growing taste for more fruit driven, lower alcohol, zesty, zingy wines,’” he said.
Chapel Down attributes the surge in its popularity partly to the emphasis now placed on provenance and locally sourced produce, but mainly to the exceptional quality and style of the wines. For those concerned about their carbon footprint and food miles, Chapel Down offers a greener option that also improves the agricultural landscape and economy of Kent.
Chapel Down is the country’s largest producer of English wine, with the new acreage bolstering their land portfolio to over 300 acres. Chapel Down wines are available through Waitrose, Marks & Spencer and Sainsbury’s stores, as well as niche retailers such as Selfridges and Fortnum & Mason. They are also stocked by some of the country’s finest restaurants, including Roast in Borough Market and much of Gordon Ramsay’s empire, in addition they are exported to top bars and restaurants in Japan and Hong Kong.
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Sophie Gregory, Van Communications – 020 7079 9222
ABOUT CHAPEL DOWN
Chapel Down is the country’s largest producer of English wines.
The Chapel Down Winery is based in Tenterden, Kent.
There are 25 acres of vineyard at the Chapel Down estate in Tenterden.
The company sources grapes from a further 180 acres over the South East region. Chapel Down produces approximately ½ million bottles of wine a year.
Chapel Down was recently awarded ‘Best Product in Kent’ at the Taste of Kent Awards 2008.
For more information, visit www.englishwinesgroup.co.uk
