Wine of the week: a fine bottle of English fizz

published 8 July 2011

NV Herbert Hall, Brut, Marden, Kent (£24, London Wine Shippers, 020-7622 3000, email sales@londonwineshippers.co.uk; Rodney Fletcher Vintners, 01892-724314, email wine@rfvintners.co.uk).

In May 2007, Nick Hall established Herbert Hall Wines in Marden, Kent, with the goal of producing top-flight, traditional-method (ie, Champagne method, but you're not allowed to say that these days!) sparkling wines. He trained at Plumpton College in East Sussex under Peter Morgan who now works with him. The site of his ten-acre vineyard was previously a hop garden, and it was the first piece of land ever cultivated by Nick's great grandfather, an artisan farmer, back in the 19th century.

Made from thirds of organically grown chardonnay, pinot noir and pinot meunier, and coming from the 2009 vintage, this is the finest debut English sparkling wine I have ever tasted. Nick calls his style of fizz Vin Gris' and there is the faintest tinge of pinkiness in the colour. It is a wistful and romantic creation. The aroma is sensational and, although a little youthful right now, the wine will develop into a sensational drop over the next two years. Tasted alongside the 2002 Veuve Clicquot vintage, it was twice the wine at half the price. Released for sale just this week.

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Matthew Jukes is a winner of the International Wine & Spirit Competition's Communicator of the Year (www.matthewjukes.com).

Matthew Jukes has worked in the UK wine business for well over three decades and during this time has written 14 wine books.

Matthew regularly lectures, judges, speaks at wine conferences and runs masterclass tastings for both corporate and private clients all over the world. Matthew is also the creator of his ground-breaking initiative, the One Day Wine School, an indulgent day of tasting and learning first performed in 2006.

He has been the MoneyWeek wine correspondent since 2006 and has written a weekly column for the Daily Mail’s Weekend Magazine since 1999. His four highly-acclaimed, annual wine reports – the Burgundy En Primeur Report, the Bordeaux En Primeur Report, the Piemonte Report and the 100 Best Australian Wines – are published on his website, www.matthewjukes.com.

Matthew is one of the world’s leading experts on Australian wine and, with Brisbane-based wine writer Tyson Stelzer, runs an annual competition in Australia to find ‘The Great Australian Red’. He was made Honorary Australian of the Year in the UK at the 2012 Australia Day Foundation Gala dinner.

Matthew is a winner of the International Wine and Spirit Competition's Communicator of the Year Trophy. His thoughts, recommendations and tastings notes are followed very closely by the wine world at large.