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Why Norfolk is becoming the new Champagne... As changes to our climate make growing grapes close to home easier, 2019 could mark the point at which we start swapping our traditional bottle of festive bubbly for a delicious English sparkling wine
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orfolk’s famously warm and sunny climate and low rainfall make it one of the best places in England to grow grapes, and we’re now seeing the emergence of local wines with a distinct character that stand up to the very best Europe can produce – it’s not impossible that Norfolk could be the country’s next big wine region. One wine producer at the forefront of Norfolk wines, and one particularly
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known for its sparkling wines is Chet Valley & Waveney Vineyard. The vineyard is a family business run by winemaker John Hemmant and his wife Bridget, who does the marketing. John’s background is in chemistry, having worked as a food chemist for British Sugar, but he’s always been interested in viniculture. “My father is a farmer so I had the opportunity with having the land, but also the chemistry background and the love of wine: all three sort of came
together in the development of the business,” says John. “We established the vineyard in 2011 and we’ve got three and a half hectares in production. The grapes that we use are Phoenix, Seyval blanc, Regent and Schoenburger. We make a range of still wines, a rosé and two dry whites, so a range of three at the moment.” But it’s their ranges of sparkling wine, named Skylark and Horatio that are gaining the vineyard awards and renown. KLmagazine December 2019