R&S Pride JUNE 227.qxp 12/05/2021 13:37 Page 72
ENGLISH WINEMAKING
I REALLY DO LOVE THE FRENCH. Their sexy sounding accordions, phallic Parisian towers, cream-laden calorific food, and their bombastically protective approach to their language – Proust’s À la recherche du temps perdu weighs in at a mighty seven volumes and 4,215 pages, or 1.2m words. It all points to a nation reeking of garlic and self-confidence. They’re a glorious diametric to the selfeffacing English. But of all the things the French hold dear, their place in the world as a nation of viticulturists and winemakers is what they remain most well-known for, and most fiercely protective of. In the 18th century, after what seemed like a lifelong Gallic dominion over the industry, the first commercially-minded vines trickled across the Atlantic and under the soils of California’s Nappa Valley. 250-odd years later, in 1996 Australia and New Zealand’s place in the world of wine was also cemented, for instance, with the establishment of Winemakers’ Federation of Australia. Shuffle down the supermarkets’ aisles – heaving with their mass-market plonk, shipped over in tankers and bottled here in the UK – and you’ll soon see that everyone’s having a go at making their own wine. So far, though some nations may have achieved at least a couple of favourable examples, nobody has quite made a dent in the cachet or the cultural capital that French wines and winemakers possess – particularly fizz from the appellation of Champagne. But slowly, that’s changing, especially in respect of the monopoly that France has always had on sparkling wine. And England’s own viticulture is gradually experiencing a windfall as a result. It’s hard to find any positives in climate change; globally we’ve all come to accept that we have to temper the modern lifestyles we’ve adopted which are slowly smothering our planet, to what would ultimately be its death. However, Les Rosbifs have observed that global warming has increased our own
country’s temperature by about 1.5°c over the past couple of decades, and that means our climate (particularly in the south of England) is now commensurate with the temperatures and conditions that were once prevalent about, oooh, 400 miles south (Empingham to Èpernay via Calais), in the Champagne region. Not a bad stroke of luck for our region’s winemakers – albeit bittersweet, given the severity of climate change. We now have the ideal climate in which to grow the three grape varieties blended to create Champagne – Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier
“My parents, Tony and Veronica Skuriat, settled in the area in the late 1960s and took on an old property with a dilapidated greenhouse in which there was a single vine that we discovered was from a cutting of the 250-year old ‘great vine’ at Hampton court palace, planted by Capability Brown.” “A fascination with that vine led my parents to plant a vineyard, Eglantine, near Loughborough. They planted in 1979 and by 1984, they had won international awards for their wine. That was when the idea of English Wine was a novelty, though.” Today, it’s an industry that has seen cross-channel smirks quickly turn to uncomfortable shuffles in seats as the sovereignty of the continental monopoly on the world’s quality sparkling wines has shifted to the other side of the water. Helenka works in IT and husband William works in broadcasting, taking feeds from various broadcasting sources and outputting them to news TV channels to make sure we see the right one on our screens.
and Chardonnay – right here in the UK, and that’s why English wine is becoming absolutely brilliant. Naturally, winemakers like Helenka Brown of the Hanwell Wine Estate are capitalising on the fact, but before the family raises a glass this summer, there’s a bit of work to be done. “We’re actually second-generation winemakers,” says Helenka. She’s in the sunshine shortly before Easter, taking a break from mowing between the rows of vines and ensuring their canopies remain nice and neat.” “The land is characterised by rich soil of around six point seven pH, with a 12” layer of loam and clay underneath, ideal for viticulture.”
Both are quite techie jobs, but this month they’ll be swapping computer screens for secateurs and a mower in advance of June, by which time the current spindly and sparsely covered vines will instead be lush with deep green leaves and heaving with grapes. “They’re like triffids in June, growing really quickly. We have to keep the canopies between vines separate to ensure we can access them during harvest and we have to watch out for weeds which will compete for the soil resources.” “My parent’s vines ripen slightly earlier but because we’re growing the three grape varieties used to create champagne we harvest in late October.” “Each of the three varieties ripen at slightly different times, and have slightly different characteristics. Pinot Noir is supposed to be a bit of a diva, but honestly it thrives here.” >>
Above/Right: The family admiring the vines, and a tour group paying a visit to learn more about the success of English wine.
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