EWF 2003

English Wine Festival 2003

 EWF 2003
EWF 2003 The weather forecasters were wrong: it was a beautiful day - in every way. This was the second year at Bentley which one hopes is now the settled home of the English Wine Festival. Lawns, picnic tables, the miniature railway, the motor museum and the jazz band all added to the superb value for money offered by the £10 (£8 in advance) entrance fee.

You don't have to be a wine expert to go to the English Wine Festival. Many visitors, it seemed, could just about tell a white from a red - but that was more than you needed to know to have a jolly good time. The people manning the stands, many of whom cultivate the vines and tread the grapes themselves, are more than keen to tell you all about their wines.

EWF 2003 When you arrive (bags of parking) you get a free tasting glass and a programme and you can wander round all day sampling the wines (free!) to your heart's content. There must be 200 or so wines on offer so you need to be a dedicated taster to try them all. I did my best.

The vineyards exhibiting range from the tiny Iron Railway Vineyard, run as a retirement hobby business, to the massive Denbies - reputedly the largest privately owned vineyard in northern Europe.

There were several stalls this year offering things other than wine. Cheese, coffee, carving, cask ales, corks, coasters, corkscrews, cradles, chocolate and chutney all added spice to the day.

EWF 2003 EWF 2003 Was Peter Hall of Breaky Bottom more pleased to have won Best Wine in Show with his 1999 sparkler or to have heard that Thorpe and Trescothick had both scored centuries?

This was woodturner Don Scougal's first time at the festival (01342 850365).

English sparkling wine, most of it made by the proper Champagne method, really is very good. Apparently this is due in no small part to the fact that much of southern England is in the same chalk basin as Champagne. Same soil, similar climate, increasingly good winemakers - we can give Champagne a very good run for its money.

My favourite fizz this year was the pink 40% Pinot Noir 60% Chardonnay Ridge View Fitzrovia - even though the judges didn't agree!

EWF 2003 My favourite wine at the show was Mary Mudd's earthy King Coel. And now I know why it's never won a prize: it's never been entered into the judging! With such a small production and no trouble selling every bottle why sacrifice bottles for the judges' pleasure? The King Coel put me very much in mind of the bottle of Fetzer Barrel Select Zinfandel I had enjoyed the previous evening.

Most English wines are made from hybrid vines bred for disease resistance and adaptation to northern climes. The resulting wines can only be called Table Wine due to EU regulation. But the Germans have persuaded the EU bureaucrats that Rondo wines should be allowed as Quality Wine. For once the UK benefits - Rondo is perhaps now the vine of choice for English red wine growers. One or two exhibitors told me that were they starting again they'd plant Rondo rather than Triomphe or other earlier favourites. So watch out for fancily labelled Rondo wines in future.

EWF 2003 EWF 2003 This year there were cheese tastings at 11.30, 1.30 and 3.30 and wine tastings at 12.30 and 2.30. Even so, you need to arrive fairly early to be sure of getting a ticket (no charge) to both a cheese tasting and a wine tasting. Laura Doubleday is pictured eulogising the Hidden Spring rose.

A tip from Laura when tasting several wines at a sitting: take a sip, let your taste buds adjust, take another sip and then form your judgement. And - you can keep English white wines for longer than you might expect due to the preserving quality of their generally higher acidity levels.

Laura led us through the tasting of a range of wines from the aristocratic Ridge View Knightsbridge "Champagne" through whites, roses and a 9 year old fume to the Ruscombe red which, unusually for an English red, includes Gamay in the blend.

Arriving at 11, an hour each for two tastings, lunch, a ride on the miniature steam railway (50p), a look round the motor museum, sampling the wines, cheeses and chocolates at the stands, buying a few bottles, some more sampling and before you know it it's half past four and almost time to make tracks.

EWF 2003 EWF 2003 Listening to Trescothick reaching his double century on the radio on the way home rounded off an idyllic day (however it is spelt - see Bookers' sign above). On the way home we saw a poster advertising a Psychic Fair - why do they need to advertise?

We certainly had a good day out at the English Wine Festival and we look forward to the 30th Festival next year.





Pictures below:
Presenting Sandhurst Vineyard's wares; Part of Denbies' haul of prizes; Nice cheese;
Very narrow gauge steam engine; Train with guard dog; The Jazz Caverners.

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The 2004 English Wine and Regional Food Festival will be the first weekend in September 2004 at Bentley Wildfowl & Motor Museum, Halland near Lewes, East Sussex. If you like wine and will be in or around Sussex, give it a try. Tickets can be bought on arrival, or at a discount in advance from the Bentley Wildfowl & Motor Museum Tel 01825 840573.

English Wine Centre Site

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Who am I? Just a visitor to the festival, Mike at hraconsulting-ltd.co.uk (please replace "at" with "@")

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English Wine Festival. Festival of English Wine held in September. English Wine. Report on English Wine Festival where you can sample wines made from grapes grown in vineyards in England.

English Wine Festival