St Martin is generally credited in France with helping to spread wine making throughout the Touraine region and with introducing the Chenin Blanc to the area. St Martin’s Day (11 November) is associated across Europe with the celebration of the maturation of the year’s wine, being traditionally the first day when the new wine can be tasted. It was therefore extremely fitting that this St Martin’s Day I had the great pleasure of participating in the WineGB Patrons Wine Tasting Event.

Wines of Great Britain (WineGB) is the national organisation for grape growers and winemakers. It promotes, represents and supports the interests of all sizes of vineyards and wine producers in England and Wales, whilst providing a wide range of services and benefits for its members.

This Wine Tasting event was held as a thank you to the body’s loyal sponsors, many of whom have been with WineGB for many years. Like so many events this year, the wine tasting took place virtually with attendees joining in via Zoom. Since the beginning of the pandemic, WineGB has moved all their tastings, seminars and events to online and have found this approach to be very successful, achieving a wider audience reach online than they have at physical meetings. Hosted by the Wine GB trio of Simon Robinson (Chairman), Peter Gladwin (Treasurer) and Simon Thorpe MW (CEO), the event was attended by a range of English winemakers, suppliers to the English wine industry and other stakeholders.

An award-winning Wine Tasting

Featured in the wine tasting were three WineGB trophy winning sparkling wines:

  • Camel Valley Brut 2017 (winemaker: Sam Lindo) – “a small batch traditional method sparkling wine created using Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier”.
  • Black Chalk Classic 2016 (winemaker: Zoe Driver) – “a fresh and fruity fizz… with English hedgerow scents, citrus character and a touch of honey on the palate. Made with Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Seyval Blanc”.
  • Sugrue The Trouble with Dreams 2014 (winemaker: Dermot Sugrue) – A boutique project from Dermot Sugrue, this wine is a blend of 60% Chardonnay and 40% Pinot Noir fruit from Storrington Prior Vineyard and Mount Harry Vineyard.
WineGB Wine Tasting

A bright and bountiful future for English wines

As well as giving attendees the opportunity to sample these award winning sparkling wines, the event was also a chance for a lively and interesting discussion about what the future has in store for of the English wine industry. It was agreed that there is a great deal of optimism about the future of English wines. Not only are sales of all English wines continuing to increase year on year but the 2020 vintage also promises good yields with exceptional quality which means that the English winescape should continue to grow and flourish for the foreseeable future.

About Bevica

Developed over the last 20 years and powered by Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, Bevica is a powerful best practice ERP software solution that has been designed specifically for the drinks industry. Bevica is a Silver Patron of WineGB. For more information about Bevica and how it can help your business, click here.

By Claudio Martell, Bevica Product Manager