So welcome everybody thank you for Joining us for celebrate English wine Week with rich you it’s English wine Week as obsessor day and so we wanted to Do a special event to collaborate with Richmond to mark the occasion and also For rich V’s 25th anniversary we were we Were planning to do an in in class event And before lockdown so we thought next Next best thing we could do an online Webinar for you My name is Lydia Harrison I’ll be Keeping an eye on the chat so if you Have any questions for Brandon please Just type them in and I’ll keep an eye On the chat and then collate them all And feel them together at the end and if You want to watch this back it’s will be Recorded and then available on the CC School website under student information Webinar recordings so without further Ado let me introduce Brandon Barnum Who’s rich views Business Development Manager and he’s going to take take it Away and tell them everything they need To know about English English wine and Ridgeview thank you very much videos and So yeah I think you everyone for joining This evening and so it’s a pretty Hopefully sort of fun informal webinar And we could probably you know it’s Gonna run for about an hour and then We’re gonna talk about the kind of History of English wine how it started
And kind of the key developments that We’ve seen over the over is history and We’re talking about Vitti and vinny in The UK and so generalize a bit and then We will cover rich view kind of our Family story and the place and sort of How we fit into the industry and a Couple of developments that we’ve seen Over the last 25 years of making wine in The UK and so as Lydia says if you’ve Got any questions to shout and just pop Them in the chat and they’ll be in QA Towards the end of the session and I’m Trying on to the best of my capabilities And we’ve also got Marty who’s our Director of communications also past the Family the Robert’s family and she’s Also attending so she may be responding On my behalf so thank you body in Advance cool so an English one week and So it started on Saturday it runs over teen weekend so It’s a little bit longer than a week Things about nine days but the idea of English Wyoming is just to celebrate and All things English wine and to raise the Awareness at the category and yeah just Generally get drinking and talking a bit More about English wine so we thought we Partnered with the the WT and share kind Of our experience of 25 years of making One in the UK and kind of you know some Of the key overviews of various parts of The industry and so the first slide here
This is just a this is very kindly taken From the guys at 1gb who are sort of our Overall and kind of body in the UK or Wine body in the UK and this is a kind Of current kind of situation or an Overview of english wine industry and so As you can see there’s quite a few Vineyards now in the UK is six hundred And fifty eight million yachts 164 Wineries and production has doubled and Doubled again over the last sort of 10-15 years and we’ll talk a little bit More about the history in a second and But as of 2018 we produced 13 just over 13 million bottles in the UK which was a Massive increase on 2017 albeit was a Very very warm and good vintage Record-breaking vintage but really in in The grand scheme of things the English Wine industry is probably only about 30 Years old it’s a very young industry and There was sort of evidence or traces That we’d been making wine in the UK Back in the sort of Roman times and it’s Generally agreed that the Romans did Introduce the vine to the UK but really In the sort of modern industry it was Only really as recent as the 1950s when There was a bit of a commercial revival That was led by a producer called Hamilton which I’m sure some of you are More than familiar with based down in Hampshire and so it’s actually 1951 they Started out focusing on a lot of the
German varietals and so for at all such As save our plonk And they sort of early early ripening Aromatic varietals it wasn’t really Until the early early 90s late 80s and Where we started introducing more International varietals and into UK soil So the introduction of Chardonnay Pinot Noir and Pinot Maria which are the three Most planted great varieties in the UK Now and I think that’s led by Pinot Noir Followed by Chardonnay and Pinot Meunier And there’s also Bacchus is quite widely Brand new cable talk about those three Varietals and moving forward the Concentration of vineyards is Predominantly around the southeast in Particular Sussex and Kent and there’s Some noteworthy vineyards along the Along the west as well as Devon Devon Dorset Cornwall and increasingly there’s More and more plantings up in East Anglia so we’ve got some promising Vineyards coming on board in Suffolk Which is pretty exciting and so that’s a Bit of an overview and as you can see The the main focus is sparkling wine in The UK and so about 70% of our Production focusing on sparkling about 99 percent of that I believe is Traditional methods and we’ll talk about That moving forward and there’s 31 Percent still wine made and there’s Actually been quite a shift and an
Increase in recent years the production Of still wines in the UK and so that’s a Bit of an overview but really there in The last sort of 30 years you know even More recently than that the industry has Rocketed and you know the number of Commercial vineyards as you know grown Massively you can see they’re 2019 there Was three million vines planted the year Before that 1.6 you can see that the Growth in acreage 13 million bottles Altogether covering you know 70% Sparkling 30% still line and Lydia can I Have the next slide please You There we are cool and so our story or Our journey if you like started back in 1995 so it was originally was founded by The Robert’s family 1995 ever and it by Mike and his wife Christine Roberts and So photo on the left the lady right at The back standing up You’ve got Chris Christine Roberts and So her and her husband Mike Roberts Founded Ridgeview 1995 and before they Founded Ridgeview they owned a Successful IT business and they lived in The Southland and in Burgess Hill they Grew that – pretty significant size and So by the late 80s they had around about Six hundred members of staff so it was a Pretty large company in IBM distribution And they were thinking about kind of Semi-retirement and sort of the next
Chapter of their lives and they were Very fortunate they were approached by An investor and they decided to cash That business in and that gave them the Capsule necessary to start this with a Dream dream retirement project really Which was rich V and so they started Investigating and sort of doing their Due diligence about what you can do in The UK in terms of plantings and grape Varietals and their investigation Pointed them towards Chardonnay Pinot Noir in ammonia so they found a 30 acre Estate in ditch thing which is where They’re based now and so just over the Southbounders from Brighton which is About ten minute drive over the South Downs planted a ten acre vineyard and Set up a little winery I think they’d Start off with like a little one-ton Wilms press in the granary and with with The the estate and started making Traditional methods sparkling wine and Back there an English wine you haven’t Really been you know it didn’t really Have a great reputation it didn’t have a Great name so they were you know they Were pretty crazy to take on that sort Of risk as a retirement and I think Initially it starts to us they’re They’re kind of hobby really and then You know a few years in I think they end The wine into a competition and it gave Some pretty decent recognition and they
Just kind of grew and grew and grew and So 25 years down the line you know we’ve Picked up some amazing accolades and Achievements and our wines are exported All over the world So really the the Ridgeview and the many Industries come from strength to Strength so it’s all founded by Michael Chris back in 1985 and nowadays the Companies run by their daughter and son So to step down into the second Generation of the Robert’s family so in The picture on the right there you’ve Got tomorrow on the Left who’s our CEO And her brother Simon stood next to her As our head winemaker Mahdi who who’s in The background behind the scenes is Married to Simon so she looks after our Marketing communications and then Tomorrow she’s also married to the other Gentleman left-hand side on the left Photo at the back also called Simon and He looks after sort of our technical Side of things so actively you know There’s sort of five family members Within the business and pushing and Driving the business forward and the Kids in the photo so they both got to Both Tom and Simon and I’ve got two kids Two boys and they’re probably sort of 1314 now so slowly getting into the age Of of getting involved with the family Business and so we’ve done a couple of Kind of chef pop-up dinners over the
Last couple of years and precoded which Were great fun we worked collaborating With somebody and sort of close friends And chefs friends of ours and they’ve Been helping out sort of in it behind The scenes in the kitchen and whatnot so It’s slowly getting into that sort of Third generation of the family and their Families in the heart of everything we Do and we’re a team could we know of About 30 people but everything here is Sort of all family orientated and with a Focus on producing high-quality Traditional methods sparking wine and so That was kind of where our journey Started really and so Mike and Chris Linton and five second generation are Taken over another Hellmuth of what we Do grab the next slide please video Should be coming so I think there’s a Slight delay so going into the vineyard And we’re gonna talk a little bit more Generally about growing fruit in the UK And as well as what we get up to on a Yearly cycle and as I said earlier the Focus is on Pinot Noir Pinot Meunier and Chardonnay There are quite a quite a few sparkling Producers that also plant ki Nagri And Pinot Blanc and but in the grand Scheme of things the three sort of noble Varietals are the focus overall in the UK month is is sort of key to success We’re looking for overall in us from
Microclimate coupled with sort of low Rainfall good drainage southern Exposures is the ambition so that Vineyard there in the photo is south Facing you or the South Downs there and 20 maximize that sun’s intensity Unusually low sort of low-level Vineyards above sea so usually about Under 150 meters below sea level is kind Of key in the UK and most vineyards are Planted across a range of soils but the Key soils are chalk and clay and also Green sand and so those are the sort of Three key soils and you can and have Some success over the lava over our History and but the key thing is in the UK we have this extremely long growing Season so budburst ug takes place in in April and we’re usually picking as a big Generalization sort of first week of October and as a result of that long Growing window and the fruit Concentration shows and it’s pretty Significant so the fruit purity and sort Of concentration through that extra Window or that extra hang time really Shows itself so we’ll talk about sort of The key qualities and characteristics of English wine a bit later on women Tasting and that Really it sort of characterized by super High acidity and intense sort of fruit Concentration which is driven by this Really long growing season and so
Challenges in the UK and viticulture Scene we have quite a few but the most Sort of noteworthy challenges is frost And frost comes in at budburst and which Is around that sort of time their photo On the right-hand side we get this Really delicate area of plant tissue of Here Sheets begin to sort of here leaf leaf Area begins to unfurl and very sensitive Very delicate against frost year on year We’ve seen we’ve seen yields devastated As in industry as a whole and by by Frost so I think in 2017 in particular Was a very bad year to frost in England And 16 was also relatively bad but Really frost protection is crucial so on The Left the photo in the left is a Picture of our frost prevention method That we use of Ridge view and Extensively across all of our all of our Bin yards and so what we do is we import What they’re called bujji’s the the Giant candles essentially so five weeks Of paint pots and we cover the whole Site and those I mean nights where this Frost we head out when I say we beloved About him there on the right there max a Vineyard manager and his vineyard Assistant Tom head out they like the Light the bee gees With the aim of producing these sort of Hot air currents which give off you know Enough sort of hot air to sort of
Relieve a bit of you know relieve a bit Of that frost around the plant issue and So it just takes that edge away just to Stop that kind of frost burn from Happening so pretty labor-intensive Fortunately you know Chris who lives Chris well that’s the founder who lives On site lets them sort of camp hers for The evening so they’re constantly Checking the weather stations and when There’s frost predicted and they head Out and Fuji’s and to protect against frost and But yet I think on average you know Frost is by far the biggest issue and Threat to UK bitter culture and there’s Lots of other frost prevention methods In place such as sort of like giant fans And kind of suction cannons other sort Of fan and air moving devices that exist As well but the one that we found most Effective I’m at Ridge View as provided Us you know pretty good results so far As our RPGs that we get over from France And so that’s you know usually the start Of the growing season for us this year Was pretty bad like we had we had a Couple of bad nights I think overall we Protected vines pretty well and so Overall damages is not you know is good Like we haven’t had much damage and yeah That’s really the sort of key focus and Starts the growing season for us before Budburst we’re usually preening so
Everything gets pruned back in Preparation for the growing season but Frost is the sort of number one number One issue and then sort of thing that we Focus on this starts the grantees and Leaving Fast-forwarding I’m into further into The growing season the next crucial Stage to take place happens usually Towards the end of June sort of mid mid To end of June kind of become where We’re at now really where we’re going Through the flowering place of process So the limb for essence appear we start Getting the development of little Berries after about seven days in and Again that’s a very crucial stage for us In the UK and given the the sort of high Levels of rainfall that we that we Witness year and year and then usually We discuss nothing is and forget good Fruit set and a good number of bunches Per vine and during the flowering slash Fruit set process and the race on where The grapes change color usually takes Place towards the end of August in the UK and so the the grapes tend to become A little bit more elastic and the skins A bit more sensitive and they begin to Ripen and depending on the weather Outside depends on how long obviously There the fridge stays on the vine for But usually you know four or five weeks Hang time to develop and ripen
Monitoring a very crucial level of Acidity and sugar ripeness and once We’re happy with those results we Usually send in our peckers and everyone Gets all hands on deck and we pick all All the grapes by hand and similarly if You could move on to the next slide Please Cool Steak yes a first week of October as I Said as a broad generalization and the Freaks costs it by hand so thoroughly Assessed in the vineyard and then loaded Into picking grapes which you can see on The left there and those crates then get Sent to our winery ready for processing And usually we’re harvesting I mean 2018 actually was a very long harvest For you think about harvesting for about Nine weeks in total so very very long Harvest and usually the sort of the Trend is that we’re you know over the 25 Years that we’ve been collecting data And seeing harvests across multiple Vineyards that we work with we usually Sort of harvesting from east to west and As it because of sort of trend doesn’t Necessarily exactly sort of equate to That but that’s a generalization as a Trend we usually you know going from East to west and across the country Harvesting fruit and I probably should Highlight at this stage there and that Ridge you as a business model we work
Very closely with grower vineyards and So as a percentage we probably only own About ten percent of our land which is The the vineyard that you can see there In the photo and the rest of the fruit We partner very closely with grower Vineyards across the South Downs National Park and Beyond and so really From New Hampshire Surrey Sussex Kent And as I said I didn’t have been in East Anglia and matt’ll vineyard manager Worked very closely with our vineyards Ensuring that we you know they’re Carrying out the right practices and the Consultation is there when we need it And essentially at the end of the Growing season that food gets sent to The winery where we then process and We’ve got so really nice long-term Relationships in place with our own Vineyards and so one of our most Long-standing Growers is the vineyard in West Sussex Called tin which sort of over changed Away and they surprised been sort of the Main majority of all of our fruit For Ridgeview and also in the winery and We’ll talking about production and Production levels in a second but in the Winery we we do quite a lot of contract Winemaking so I would say about a third Of our overall production is dedicated To contract winemaking so we make wine For other vineyards and then you answer
That don’t necessarily have the Facilities or they’re for the one making Team behind them and to make a wine and So that’s where we get involved and you Know they come in and work with us on The blending we also produce a range of Own labels which we can talk about later On as well and so that’s a little bit About our business model really and so We work a lot with a growth in yards Which you read extensively about in the Champagne region but also we do quite a Lot of contract while making for a range Of vineyards and so going back to back To that first slide obviously there were Six hundred and fifty vineyards and but Only 160 of them nasty I owned a winery And produce wine so there’s quite a lot Of growing that happens in the UK as Well cool next slide Fantastic see [Music] You You Thank You Lydia cool and so in the Winery we said we bring with a freaking In those little baskets we load the Press by hand and most producers in the UK we’re using horizontal basket press So car cart and there’s also quite a few Wilms knocking about so the German Pneumatic bag press and we have both Actually originally we have two four Tonnes one pneumatic one car press very
Gentle pressing is crucial and so again As a generalization most producers in England follow you know pretty much the Processes set out by the CIBC in Champaign and so very similar kind of Pressing models and so just to go into That briefly so usually we’re usually Pressing in two different stages so the Freak goes in whole bunch which is key The first part of the pressing cycle Known as the cubic and is extracted First and the cube a tends to be and Sort of the most delicate the most the Sort of leaner style of the the two Types of pressing that we do and carries Probably most desirable qualities and Characteristics and then once that’s Extracted and as a percentage we’re Probably extracting roughly 50% of Cuvette and if you’re looking at sort of Volume to weight ratio we press a little Bit harder after the cuvette to extract What is called the time which can be Very important later on down the line But because we’re pressing a tiny bit Hard at the time tends to give up a Little bit of extra flavor and a little Bit more phenolic characters and Probably temps an extraction on the type And that’s used and very important for Adding a bit of body and structure later On when the ones are all blended Together and in the remaining sort of 35 Or 40 percent
Free left in the press is generally used To feed cattle or reintroduced back into Soil and also some sort of partnered With distilleries to produce a By-product such as a gin etc the reason Why we don’t use that 34 a 14 percent is Because passed that tie extraction would Be pressing too hard and we’d be Releasing too many unwanted Characteristics into the overall blend So we’re all about the sort of delicate Extraction of juice you know you know in Extracting our base juice really and so That’s really important the pressing Cycle once we press all the juice that Goes straight into a stainless steel Tank originally where it’s left to Settle for a couple of days just to let Any sort of separation occur and before It’s then inoculated so we use a dry Cultured yeast we rehydrate that that Goes in and then fermentation first Fermentation is well underway and that Fermentation usually takes about seven Days and at the end of that at the end Of the the first fermentation we usually End up with a base wine there’s sitting Around about ten and a half percent ABV Super high acidity and just ultra free Concentration from that you know as a Result of that long growing season in The UK and following first fermentation And we originally most years I probably There’s any maybe four or five years
That you know certain parcels you know Haven’t but most years we are putting The line through malolactic fermentation So converting that sort of harsh bright Malic acid which is you know very much Present in the UK grapes into that soft And lactic acid and that rounds out that Acidity profile very nicely and makes The line a little bit more soft and Creamy and buttery in style then what we Do is that’s with the expertise Of Simon the head winemaker comes into Play so you’ll take a parcel or sample From each of the tanks and he’ll begin The blending part of the process and so We’ll talk about the range in the richly Range and the different stars that we Produce and that really are blending for Also of course signature wines which are Non vintages the aim is producing a Consistent style year-on-year and then Our vintage sort of specific wines that We produce will usually be a true Representation of that single vintage But really for Simon its ensuring that Consistency here and your own on vintage Wines and so you’ll see in the photo There are a lot of those tanks the Larger tanks and they’re actually sort Of three stacked on top of each other so We’ve got probably about 70 individual Tanks so all of the parts of the Pressing the three varietals from all The different parcels of land that we
Harvest free from which I believe is About ten and is all fermented Separately so out blending he has you Know a lot of different baselines and Samples to choose from to try and create This consistency here and that coupled With reserve wine that we keep in the Tank and each vintage and we try and Hold it was a decent stock of reserve I’m back and to introduce an extra layer Of complexity iyanya and so that’s you Know kind of the start of the process so It’s very very similar to you know the Processes as I said set out by the CIBC So very gentle pressing first Fermentation malolactic fermentation Followed by blending and after blending Everything’s pretty much French goes Straight into bottle so there’s a little Bit of there’s a couple of processes in Between and so we call settle again cold Stabilized filter and then we add second Batch of sugar and use to the bottle Which is sealed with a crown cap and Then taken down underneath the winery You can see our sort of seller shot There on the left All the bottles are sort of hand stacked From the floor to the ceiling in deep Cabins and where they undergo that Second fermentation which is so crucial For the traditional method sparking wine The second fermentation takes place over Six to eight weeks in the in that time
Of the sea there’s a second fermentation That takes place in the bottle a little Bit of extra ABV is created which is Roughly 1.5 percent bringing our total Volume up to twelve the pressure created As a result of that co2 that can’t Escape from the bottle produces a you Know an atmosphere of pressure around About six bar and so a lot of pressure In that bottle and once it’s finished Fermenting and all the all the sugar has Been consumed by all the yeast the yeast Cells die off and they sit on the side Of the bottle and for a period of extra Aging known as the autolysis or these Aging Ridgeview were aging between 18 Months and up to 10 years depending on The stars that we’re producing and we’ll Talk about that in the next slide we’re Covering the range and but obviously the The more youthful stars at 18 months we Are trying to enhance the the sort of Fruit purity style and kind of quality And then the stars that we’re leaving on These for longer and it’s all about Enhancing that kind of autolytic brioche Biscuit equality but overall for core Range bloomsbury Cavendish enough its Arabia we’re typically ageing about 18 Months and the idea and the ambition Really is to really showcase this kind Of pure fruit focus style and the wines In England really you know come Celebrate and highlight and so that’s
Pretty much the kind of first stages I Suppose of the winemaking process so It’s all about and you know first Fermentation second fermentation then The wines after second fermentation we Are riddling them down and so we’re Starting the process of getting the Yeast out of the bottle and the wines Are Next to the bottles of frozen they are Popped the plug of ice that we have used We’ve been freezing for the last sort of Ten minutes and then glycol baths and we Got the cap the ice comes out with the Yeast that disgorging process and then We’re topping that up with what is Called Dysart which is very important And in traditional methods but we’re Making and which is usually made up of Reserve wine an addition of sugar that Goes in the cork then goes into the Bottle sealed with a muse lay a crown Cap and then it’s rested for a further Three months before distribution really And that three months just allows that Wine to settle a bit and modernize Properly because we’ve just added a Little bit of 10 mil of JSON and then Later packaged ready to go out for Distribution really and so that’s that’s The winemaking process and really from Sort of great to glass you were probably About two years for you know our Signature one bloomsbury as an example
But yeah as a big generalization very Similar processes to the to the process Set up at CIBC there has been some Interesting developments in the UK and Around around different styles of Sparkling which we’ll talk about Probably at the end maybe in the Q&A It’ll be interesting to to sort of hear People’s views on that and but what it Will we’ll cover that later stage grab The next slide please So this is the Ridgeview range we went Through a big sort of packaging or Rebranding about two years ago sort of Mid 2018 and so hopefully evil you will Have the opportunity to see the sort of Refreshed look before that the style of Our packaging looked much more Traditional so I know we had someone That here who had in the comments they Were drinking the Ridgeview 2014 which I I think was under our old identity very Classic looking but yeah in 2018 or 2017 We decided that we wanted a change and a Big refresh to kind of modernize and Make our a was a bit more contemporary Legging and really stand out so this is The kind of new identity of Bridgeview So the Rangers based Institute we’ve got On the Left we work what we call our Signature wine so Bloomsbury on the Left Which is the one we’re gonna be focusing On on the tasting I know Lydia’s got a Bottle and we’ve got the Cavendish and
We’ve also got the Fitzroy beer and so These styles are non vintages and the Aim is consistency year on year when They’re released the next batch is Released they are aged for 18 months on These with the view of showcasing again That sort of fresh fruit forward style And but really the greatest introduction To what we do at Ridge View and then on The right and we have our top tier wines And their vintage specific known as our Limited release so we’ve got on the left The pink label we’ve raised it in wrong I’m in the middle we’ve got the Blanc de Blanc and on the right we’ve got the Blonde Dena and these these guys Typically spend longer on a lease they Made in much smaller quantities from the Best parcels and more fruits and parcels In a given vintage and set aside for Extended means aging and to really Highlight you know some extra speciality In those in those styles and they’re Produced only in the sort of best years And so in the fruits at its best And Simon’s almost dissecting each Parcel as it’s coming off the press And in the vineyard and to ensure that It has there you the spark and so the Wider focus then we’ll move in and we Will cover and talk a little about the Others but and just really to highlight The Bloomsbury and hopefully you will Get a glass of something English in
Front of you and even better if you’ve Got a bottle of Bloomsbury or another From the range and the Bloomsbury was The first one we made a rich view and so We we made this wine the first time we Ever made this one was back in 1996 and The style is Chardonnay dominant so Two-thirds of the overall blend made up Of Chardonnay and then the other third Pinot Noir Pinot Meunier and it pretty Much reflects our original plantings That we planted back in 1995 and so if You come and those for those of you that Have visited us hopefully and those for Those of you that will visit us in the Future if you postcode it when you look Outside our tasting room you’ll see About seven acres of chardonnay and then If you take another short walk through The trees which you’ll see when you Click on the tour and though there’s Another three acres of Pinot Noir Pinot Monet and pretty much that that blends Represents our of sort of original Plantings I mean digitally back in 1995 And but the style is super clean so Chardonnay in the UK grows grows well And but it provides obviously that that Pacing acidity that really a real fresh And clean style and the pinot noir Contributing the body and structure and The marie a contributing roundness and Gentle aromatics and but really super Clean style because of that tea third
Chardonnay and we were so agent for 18 Months so the idea is to really showcase That fruit even further and then the Pinot noir having a little bit of Roundness back so super-clean Fruit-forward a real celebration wine And it’s our norman vintage style so We’re you can buy this if you guys are Interested in the future you can Obviously buy it from ritchie direct but You can also pick it up in waitress at Nationwide and see if you ever get the Opportunity by all means And give bloomsbury ago and it’s a Really good introduction to what we do At reach you and I’ll sort of house Style and as I said as it’s a non Vintage the idea is to produced this Consistent style year and yeah and then We’ll just loosely cover the other the Other five wines and so no you know We’re doing for time do a bit of a Q&A And say the wine next to Bloomsbury Cavendish and if you wanted a really Good comparison between Chardonnay and Pinot Noir and this will empower that Husband the eggroll blends is really Good to compare Bloomsbury Cavendish so Cavendish is the opposite start of green Spring so two thirds Pinot Noir Pinot Many and one third shot and it was Really good to make a comparison of Those two together side by side and so It’s a little bit rounder and has a
Little bit more earthy equalities and It’s a little bit more gastronomic the Wine next to Cavendish it’s Romeo very Similar style of wine to Bloomsbury so It’s a Chardonnay dominant rosy blended Rosy and very pale and elegant and a Super sort of clean refreshing fruit Forward style again and then moving on To the Limited’s we’ll start with the Wine in the middle the blonde blonde and This is the only one we make this a Single vineyard wine and so it come this 100% chardonnay from our original Plantings from 1995 so some of the Oldest Chardonnay lines in England now And so 25 year old Chardonnay blinds and The free sort of opulences really stands Out in that in that wine followed by Sort of three months ageing so really Sort of complex style but super pure and Clean and that is a vintage so Recurrently on I think the 2015 vintage Of the blog and then the other two wines Pinot noir M pnemonia Only so if we start on the left the Razor Dena And this is our Sonya method roses so Different style of Rosie to the Fitz Romeo So whereas Fitz Arabia and we make using A sort of blends we had a proportion of Red base one from Pinot Noir in the Winery to contribute this really Delicate sort of pale color
And with the roses noir with typically Just leaving the juice on its skins at Pressing for roughly six hours and some Really gentle maceration to get this Super male rose a surreal winemakers Wine this is actually assignment one of His favorite styles of wine and that he Makes richly and it’s lovely and creamy And has this sort of unique freshness And then on the right-hand side the Final wine is the Blanc de Noirs and so This is Pinot Noir Pinot mani only again And this time with a little bit of extra Humanity there’s a little bit of more Earthy equalities going on and a real Richness so seafood gastronomic as a Style but that really is our overall Range hopefully and we look forward to Welcoming division soon and we can take You through the range hopefully yeah Hopefully very soon and we’ve got quite A bit of time now and for some questions So I look forward to receiving them and Thank you very much for listening Thank You Brandon and yes thank you for Sending me and some of the Bloomsbury Have been enjoying it while you’ve You’ve been talking and yeah I love Their sort of Chardonnay backbone that Real sort of citrusy grapefruit lemon Aids with the beautiful autolytic notes As well and someone actually asked and Why you chose to to keep the name Bloomsbury when you moved from sort of
Vintage to the to the non-vintage so Perhaps wallah well while I’m tasting it You could get get answer that one’s no Problem at all yes there’s a good Question safe and back in back in the Day I mean probably if we go back about Maybe six seven years the wines were all Often were named after the places in London and so the reason why I used to Be called Victoria Blanc de Blanc is to Be called Grosvenor and then the blunt And I used to be called Knightsbridge so They’re all after sort of key areas in London and that’s that really came from A story that Mike was a big believer our Founder of and with Christopher merits So for those of you that aren’t familiar With the story of Christopher Merritt Because the demerits was the first Person to document on paper the process Of adding sugar needs to a bottle of Wine to create this this sparkle in a Controlled environment and he lodged That that discovery back in 1662 in the Royal Society in London which was sort Of 20-30 years before Dom Perignon began Affecting that art and so really Christopher Merritt was written about in In one of Tom Stevenson’s books and my Co-founder was quite a cheeky chappie And loved this story and so he decided To name the range after a key areas in London to celebrate this story of Christopher Mara and his and his and his
Sort of discovering back in 1662 but we Moved we moved over to these kind of Internationally recognized terms as a Really because they weren’t getting as Much recognition as we would like them To have done and when they were sitting On rest from wine lists so to sort of Further enhance their profile and that Was sort of six seven years ago when They’re sitting on wireless you know and It’s a fairly good price and we started To change them to make them a little bit More identifiable when they’re selling The wine list so that was the idea but We wanted to keep the Bloomsbury cabinet Of history of your identity for our Signature lines and as a kind of Champion of that story of Christopher Mulready so I though answers your Question yes yeah really nicely that Story behind always like championing Christopher Merritt and arguing hey men See quite a few questions so just so Start at the beginning and see how funny Yeah one of the other what is your Favorite which be wine and food poem Always very topical very good question I’m gonna keep it very simple and Bloomsbury and oysters is benchmark Pairing so um you know Bloomsbury if you Think about that really key citrus Quality from the Chardonnay and It’s the equivalent of you know Squeezing a lemon on the oyster so it’s
Just benchmark paring but also Cavendish And Chucky tree and olives and then Blonde tomorrow you know it can hold Itself against you know even game and Sort of mushroom based dishes but I Think for me like the best yeah the best Pairing is it’s gotta be Bloomsbury and Oysters all blonde blonde fish and chips Yeah I should have got some oysters in If I’d known someone else how is English in wine received in the EU and What are you doing to promote sales no Success pose there the conditions have Changed a bit dramatically but you’re Going to do yeah absolutely I think I’m In the EU increasingly they’re gaining More and more recognition so in Particular you know the UK winding has Very good success in the Nordics so Particularly Norway Sweden Finland and But we have entered France Germany Italy And so some of those key you know spots But from producing regions and they Usually well-received and they are Different styles and different Stylistically compared to champagne Compared to Prosecco compared to Carla So you know there’s definitely a place For them in those markets it’s just it Takes a little while to change consumer Habits and behaviors so but yeah we we Are going out there we go out there Quite a lot we have Importers in various countries across
The EU we weren’t very closely with them On activating in the market and Promoting the wines we also worked very Closely with the wider community the Wine English wine wine GB I suppose Committee so we work very closely with Other other producers and jointly Promote the category so as an example Just outside of the EU but in the US we We go out as English wine producers Together I mean even in Germany actually I’m Pro buying we take an English wine Reduces stand I’m promoting the Caspari as a whole and So we didn’t quite a lot to promote our Wines overseas thank you and someone had Actually asked do you know who your Distributor is in Italy so we don’t Actually we don’t have an Italian Distributor at the moment but I know English producers are actively in the Market so no Westerner in the market and I think gas board might be as well Perfect and people are keen to visit Someone says do you have tours for Visiting and obviously you’ve obviously Maybe not at the moment but normally you Would so what would be the best way for For people to come and visit you when Hopefully things return to normal yeah Of course I think so we run tourism Throughout the year and see when Covey’s Is not around and only working through Process at the moment and waiting to go
Out further information on when we’re Gonna be able to get those up and Running again in addition to the tours And tastings which you can book on Through our website I think the best way To sort of find out on keen map today With us is just a sign on to our Newsletter further information on when You can come and visit but in addition To that we have a cellar door which is Open every day and see you encoded snug Around and where you can just pop in and Taste the range and so there’s always Someone on hand to take you through and You’re welcome to purchase a bottle or Two after but the tour is very good it’s Sort of an hour and a half to tear our Visit and where we you know you cover The sort of vineyard winery wine Production aspects of things and then You yeah you taste the full range Laughter so it’s a really good visit and Good insight on into rich view and There’s been quite a few developments in Recent years and we built a new winery Last year and so you should definitely Come and visit another thing to look out For is Ridge Fest it’s a big festival Consumer-facing festival that we Launched back in 2018 and we’re 2017 and It’s essentially a big festival at the Vineyard so I think this year we were Planning which certainly had to cancel Last minute because of young goings and
We were planning around a thousand People at the vineyard Live music food lots of sparkling and That sort of thing so and hopefully Keep your eyes out for that 2021 in August next year rich Bess will be Hopefully going ahead Yeah that sounds that sounds great Fingers crossed another question which I Think Marty did actually answer in in The chat but just for the benefit of the Recording or if anyone else is wondering Was do you verify the the tie and the Cream is separately yes we do yes so as I said the the two different press for Three different varietals across all the Parcels and then if I’d separately so we Can really and pick out the different Qualities and characters of those those Parcels brilliant thank you and Patrick McGuigan cheese expert has joined in From Brighton and was asking is the very Easy to answer the question of how Important is to are in your ones and Question so I think at the moment I Think the the answer to that is quite Sure or sadly and that we are the vines At the moment are too young to really Work out the the terroir in the UK so There’s been a little bit of work I Think in particular with the varietal Bacchus but as an industry we’re yet to Sort of discover you know what terroir Means in the UK and I think that’s just
Related to the you know the age of young A lot of them are and because you know Plantings have really come on in the Last you know five ten years so so yeah It’s quite it’s quite difficult to Answer that question no one really knows The answer yeah I think a lot of people Have been focused on increasing annual Yield over you know working out the Difference say between us and our Neighbor down the road at the moment I Think it’s very important and it will Definitely come with that in mind and This of age of the finders yeah it’s Very difficult to understand Terral I’m UK so sorry Patrick it’s it’s a mean Question and yes as a you know such a Relatively young industry as well and I Think there’s so many different Contributing and how would you know Someone else how does English sparkling Compared to other sparkling stuff Is there a comparison that you like to Draw do you like to sort of think of it As having its own identity it’s ER I Think it definitely has its own identity So you know given our northern latitude In that longer growing window the fruit Is definitely you know it displays this You know super high level of acidity and Fruit concentration so you know I think It’s written in our PDO as English Qualities bottom line is that if you Compare the fruit you know say from
England versus our good friends over in Champaign you know it should in theory The fruit should taste you know more Sort of concentrated in its aromatics And fruit profile then you know the Champagne region because of the the Longer hang time and that’s the key you Window that it has on the vine so I Think the styles of English versus other Other regions you know this super clean Pure fresh acidity coupled with you know Intense fruit concentration and you know Taste them side by side and you know Maybe you know you’ll definitely be able To tell and we’ve heard feedback from a Number of competitions as well and you Know the stylistically you know they We’ve been fortunate to enter sort of Final rounds of you know the judging Stages and want some very nice awards And you know the feedbacks always very Different styles and it’s you know on The day you know it’s very difficult to Actually because you know they’re Points-wise they’re pretty much the same It’s just this ends up being the day and Yeah I definitely think pure free Concentration with this sort of clean Key acidity definitely defines the thank You someone asked asked and what Percentage of reserve wines do you use I Miss probably around about 20% and on on Vintages and we we have been very Fortunate over the years that demand has
Outstripped supply and as we’ve grown it Has continued to grow and so you know we Actually had to make the decision back In um you know 20 Whenever we started there non vintages That actually need to start holding Sometimes I have one back you know as a Strategic goal to get this consistent Say year and year and so I would say About 20% is you know a good a good a Good amount that we add into it and That’s the real benefit isn’t it Obviously it’s your 25th anniversary and There’s a lot of more recent English in Growers as like Tim juices in to have Those sort of you know reserves of wine Is definitely an advantage for blending Isn’t it for sure I think I know the Answer to this one but a couple of People asked it so and was just about Whether you had any interest in at Ridgeview in doing still wines I think It’s yeah there’s some great jeesus and You know producing some wonderful still Wines but yeah me too I think the focus Has has always been sparkling and I Think always will I think the you know We just want to focus on excelling in That one area and really delivering you Know high quality say sparkling Sparkling someone else has which do you Consider Bacchus as an ingredient or a Varietal in the blends or I think not Not a trace view I think the focus will
Always be that the key that sort of main Three I think Simon our winemaker Probably got to have a bit more Experimentation and play around with Money and he’s always you know always Causes a bit of a stir sometimes because Mediated sometimes can be seen as that’s A lesser varietal I’ve personally tasted A lot of money a base base wine and sort Of than Claire and blending and it Always stands out as being this Exceptional varietal with some real Charm and so I think I’m sort of going Off on a tangent but yeah I think we’ll Always focus on the three with that in Mind is there are you looking to like Expand a rich view or perhaps you know In the future have some some different Bottlings or broaden the range are you Quite happy with that of course it’s And there might be a bit of a new Productive element on the horizon yeah I Think the color ranges is definitely There to stay well I think that’s about All that we have time for we pretty much Got through through and most of the Questions so thank you so much Brandon For making it English sparkling wine in General would the story of each be what You do particularly and also I’m Swinging over there questions which I’m Sure you feel thank you so much who’s Helped answer some of the other Questions on the chat and yes I just put
Up the final slide there so if you would Like to get in touch with Bridgeview Obviously yeah sign up to a newsletter You’ll be able to hear when the tours Are going again because yeah I Definitely gonna be first on the list Hey if you want to look for any more and Tastings or you can find the recordings But thank you yeah thank you everyone For coming thank you for your questions Interesting and intelligent questions And yeah thank you again Brandon and Have a brilliant English sparkling wine Week and other events fantastic video And yeah if you see you all are bent you Very soon and stay safe yeah absolutely And thank you yes I give up for coming