England
2016 Gold: 1 Silver: 3 Bronze: 4 Commended: 9
2015 Gold: 2 Silver: 4 Bronze: 1 Commended: 3
Siegerrebe, Bacchus and Schönburger might sound like a firm of New York lawyers, but in fact they’re all medal-winning varieties from English wineries in this year’s competition. Proof, if any were needed, that the UK is not your average wine-producing country.
Fizz might (justifiably) get most of the accolades when it comes to UK wine, but there’s more good still stuff out there than ever before – and it’s genuinely different, too.
English whites are usually characterised by spring hedgerow aromatics, needlepoint acidity and a certain weightlessness, skittering across the palate like ballet dancers. They’re not, for sure, to everyone’s taste, nor are they the cheapest wines on the planet. But they do have a certain uniqueness, and that makes them useful weapons in the ongoing somm war against tedious wine lists.
Lock and load, boys. Lock and load…
FROM THE TASTING TEAMS
‘You can see the minerality and chalkiness of the soils that is prevalent across England. Before it was green apples, but now you can taste more ripeness of fruit.’ Andre Luis Martins, The Cavalry and Guards Club
‘There will come a time when we will see [aged English wines]. But English wine is about freshness, zinginess and elegance; good with salad or oysters.’ Andrea Briccarello, team leader
‘I never knew the English made wine before I came here; there is not a lot of international coverage.’ Meg Ryan, Fox Fine Wines & Spirits
‘With English red wines the quality isn’t there and the prices are too high.’ Tobias Brauweiler MS, Hakkasan Group
‘It will be interesting to see if sales have gone up since there has been this interest in local, native, forage. Price-wise English wine is still expensive compared to French or other equivalents.’ Jade Koch, team leader
“It depends so much on the vintage – there’s a problem of consistency. Burgundy isn’t consistent, but Burgundy has the history...” Joaquin Alba, Aramark at JP Morgan
“Usually it is low in alcohol, so would work as an aperitif, sitting on the terrace, on its own, or with salad.” Tomasz Kuszneruk, Plateau Restaurant