Great British Brands 2020
FOOD & DRINK
HATTINGLEY VALLEY Creating award-winning sparkling wines in Hampshire
‘With over 90 medals and three World Champion trophies, we’ve defined a clear direction in our winemaking style and our identity as a British brand’
Blanc de Blancs won ‘World Champion’. Hattingley’s 2014 Rosé was successfully awarded the World Champion Rosé trophy at The Italian Wine Journal Challenge Euposia XI edition 2018–2019. In 2016, in partnership with The Worshipful Company of Vintners, Hattingley created Britain’s first Apprentice Winemaker, supported by its distributors, Enotria & Coe and the Wine and Spirit Education Trust. Zoë Driver was awarded the two-year apprenticeship and is now Assistant Winemaker. The apprenticeship was so successful that The Worshipful Company of Vintners’ supported a second apprenticeship, awarded to Andy Wiles, who recently enjoyed completing his first wine harvest. Under Emma Rice’s leadership, the team has expanded rapidly from two to 20 today and Hattingley is now one of the largest wineries in Britain. In 2015 Gareth Maxwell joined the family as Commercial Director. He quickly established a successful worldwide distribution network, with the result that Hattingley is probably the widest distributed English sparkling wine in the USA. Most recently, Hattingley is proud to have collaborated with British Airways on the July 2019 launch of a Blanc de Noirs sparkling
PHOTO: © THE ELECTRIC EYE PHOTOGRAPHY
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attingley Valley’s founder, Simon Robinson always wanted to create something quintessentially British and was inspired to pursue his dream when he heard a radio programme in 2000 on the rapidly developing English wine scene. With family encouragement, he turned over 25 acres of chalky, south sloping fields in Hampshire to vineyards and the continuing presence of the beautiful, rare Silver-washed Fritillary butterfly, indicates the extent of the vineyard’s biodiversity and healthy environment. Simon employed the latest laser-guided planting technology but also recognised the need for an expert winemaker. Emma Rice joined the team in 2008 and launched Hattingley’s first wine in 2013. Emma was among the first to obtain a BSc in Viticulture and Oenology from Plumpton College and then honed her winemaking skills in Australia and California. Hattingley’s vines have continued to grow so successfully under her expert care that Emma won UK Winemaker of the Year in 2014 and 2016, the first woman to have won this prestigious prize twice. Hattingley Valley has also been recognised in competitions across the globe. In 2014, its 2011 Rosé was awarded ‘Best Vintage Rosé’ at the Champagne and Sparkling Wine World Championships and, in the same competition in 2017, its 2011
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