Nyetimber Rosé NV

This multi-vintage sparkling cuvée comes from Nyetimber’s vineyards, spread across West Sussex and Hampshire, in the heart of southern England. In Sussex, the cool maritime climate and chalky soils contribute to the finesse and liveliness of this English rosé.

Made using the traditional method, this cuvée blends wines from several years, including 10 to 20% reserve wines. After bottling, a second fermentation creates the bubbles, then the wine rests for at least 36 months on the lees in the cellar before disgorgement. A dosage liqueur combining sugar and reserve wine completes its balance.

This wine reveals notes of redcurrant, raspberry, cherry, strawberry, blackcurrant, red mango, honey, brioche, shortbread, red liquorice, star anise and cardamom. The palate is broad and creamy, carried by a fine mousse and refreshing acidity. Its supple, silky texture accompanies the red fruit, while the long finish retains a lovely pastry-like tension.

England, a country better known for its green landscapes and rainy climate than for viticulture, nonetheless has a booming wine industry whose reputation keeps on growing. Long regarded as a curiosity, English viticulture has established itself in recent decades as a source of very high-quality sparkling wines, even rivalling some Champagnes in blind tastings. English vineyards are mainly concentrated in the south of the country, in the counties of Kent, Sussex, Hampshire, Surrey and Essex, each enjoying climatic conditions and soils particularly suited to certain grape varieties. Sussex is today England's most renowned wine region, famous for its sparkling wines made by the traditional method from Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier. The chalk soils running through the region, a direct geological extension of the Champagne terroir, combined with an increasingly favourable climate, create ideal conditions for these demanding grapes. Kent, nicknamed the “Garden of England”, is home to some of the country's most established estates, producing both highly refined sparkling wines and still whites based on Bacchus, an aromatic grape variety that has become emblematic of the English style. Hampshire and Surrey, though more modest in terms of output, are gaining in energy and recognition, with innovative estates experimenting with traditional methods as well as international grape varieties suited to a cool climate. Essex, more continental, enjoys generous sunshine and low rainfall, which favour a slow, steady ripening of the grapes, essential to the elegance of sparkling wines. English wines, still produced in limited quantities but with remarkable attention to detail and rigour, are mainly consumed on the home market or exported in small volumes to discerning markets, making them true treasures for curious wine lovers eager to discover a new face of European viticulture. England is today a country where traditional know-how and climate innovation meet in the vineyard, offering a surprising, authentic and resolutely forward-looking wine experience.