Explore the wonderful world of Sussex wine, courtesy of ROSA sommelier Dominic Buckwell
Beyond Wine
As I write this, the 2024 harvest is in process. It looks set to be a difficult year for most vineyards, with volume way down compared with 2023. Some have even decided not to make any wine this year.
So it’s no surprise that resourceful viticulturists in Sussex and beyond have for some time been branching out to produce spirits, condiments, and even cosmetics. They are still expressing the bountiful nature of our Sussex soil. But it’s not all about British bubbly.
Is English wine worth it?
The question I am asked most frequently after ‘what is your favourite wine?’ is ‘why are English wines so expensive?’ After that comes ‘are they worth it?’
Given that so many imported wines are available for under a tenner, and English wines are never this cheap, this is a fair challenge. I reckon it’s time to explore the complex relationship between price and value.
Don’t judge a wine by its label
Do you ever find yourself staring along identikit aisles of shop shelves stacked with similar-looking wines, wondering which to choose? Unless you know the wine, having previously tried it, it’s difficult to judge how it will taste. I’m here to take you behind the label, helping you to pick up on cues and use X-ray vision to see through some of the obfuscation gummed across the glass.
Rebel Wines
This article focuses on a different style of fizz: some are very good, but I am sorry to say, some aren’t: you won’t often read a wine column that draws attention to inherently bad wines, but I wanted to write about the rebellious producers of Sussex who buck the trend with wines so different in style as to be inadmissible to the legal appellations for both Sussex and English Sparkling Wine.
Wine Country
I am standing with Christine and Peter Hall at their beloved Breaky Bottom estate in the hillside above Rodmell; the smell of tobacco from his roll-up co-mingles with the fresh scent of hedgerow flowers and clover. In my right hand, a tulip shaped glass of primrose coloured liquid: a volcanic stream of bubbles releasing elderflower, lemon meringue pie and shiitake ‘shroom aromas. I raise it to my lips to taste…