WINE REVIEWS Mat h e w
Deck the Halls
es Juk
One estate is acting as beacon for all. www.matthewjukes.com paper-plane vineyard.ed@kelsey.co.uk
This is my 36th column for Vineyard Magazine and while we slowly make our way towards what will likely be the most unusual Christmas for a very long time I felt the need to do something extraordinary and, perhaps, unexpected on these two pages. While some feel that celebrations might not be as exuberant or as heartfelt as usual this year, I would like to encourage everyone who reads this piece to raise a glass for making it through 2020 in one piece and also and to reflect on why we are here and what the future might hold. We all need hope and determination and so these two traits form the dual themes inspiring this celebratory article. There is one estate in the country which acts as a beacon for all – Breaky Bottom. Founded in 1974 by Peter Hall, this six-acre site is one of the most famous and also one of the most unassuming in the land. It has survived many challenges, and while Covid-19 will have, no doubt, raised a Hall eyebrow or two, I imagine that the worst frost damage for 46 years, resulting in around 80% losses earlier this year, will have surely made more of a dent in this family’s mood. Situated two miles inland from Peacehaven on the East Sussex coastline,
Breaky Bottom’s chalk loam shot with flint soils make some of the most profound sparkling wines in the country. Initially set up as a still wine specialist, sparkling wine has been the sole pursuit since the turn of the millennium. Having said this, I wrote up 1994 Breaky Bottom Seyval Blanc in the wine trade magazine Harpers, back in the mid-Nineties, so I very much remember the previous era of BB’s fragrant and beguiling white wines. This year, in the 2020 WineGB Awards, Breaky Bottom won five Gold and two Silver medals with its sublime, single-vineyard sparkling wines. This extraordinary gong haul underlines just how consistently excellent the Breaky Bottom wines have become, not least because these awards were spread across five different vintages. This continued pursuit of excellence coupled with Peter and his wife Christina dogged determination gives us all hope that we can prevail even in the most challenging of circumstances. Opposite you will find my chosen ‘Hall of Fame’ and while I have noted Breaky Bottom as the sole stockist for each wine, on account of a lack of space, you will not be surprised to hear that a host of top independent wine merchants and victuallers also list these fascinating wines. You can find an extensive list on the Breaky Bottom website.
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