Tasting Notes
The story
I act as a judge for the IWSC (International Wine & Spirits Competition) and Masters of Wine there have told me that they particularly rate pink English Sparkling Wine so I decided it was about time we had one in the portfolio.
I tasted a lot of rosé sparkling wines from Great Britain to find the right one - and the best and most suitable was from Lyme Bay whose
Classic Cuvée I also stock.
This fabulous pink fizz is produced from Pinot Noir grapes from Devon. Lyme Bay takes its sparkling white wine made by the champagne method from Pinot Noir grape juice - its Blanc de Noirs fizz - and adds some of its own red Pinot Noir still wine to achieve the lovely and quite light pink colour.
This vintage sparkling wine is rich and mouth-filling and has a lovely fruity & floral perfume to it - juicy red fruits such as strawberries, cherries and redcurrants can be detected on the nose and on the palate. The flavours extend to those expected from lees ageing though they are quite subtle given the youth of this wine - biscuit, brioche and hints of almond.
This wine drinks beautifully now and will continue to develop its richness as it matures further in bottle.
Food Pairing
Drink on its own, with canapés, smoked salmon and other oil fish like mackerel, caviar, shellfish including lobster, fish, chicken, turkey, mushrooms, truffles, parmesan cheese, sheep's cheese, mildly spiced South East Asian food, fruit based desserts
Producer's Notes
"A classic traditional method Sparkling Rosé.
Appearance: A vibrant soft pink with steady fine bubbles.
Nose: Wild strawberries, pepper and redcurrant.
Palate: A bright, fruit-driven palate with a richness of honey and hints of brioche and almond.
A sparkling Rosé made from Pinot Noir by the assemblage method, which involves blending a small portion of Pinot Noir red wine with our Blanc de Noirs cuvée base wine.
The red wine was made from a small parcel of exceptionally ripe Burgundy clone Pinot Noir. It was hand harvested and sorted in the vineyard before being processed by gravity and given a five day cold maceration. During fermentation it received either delestage or pigeage twice daily and was pressed off before the end. Our red wine was then blended with the Blanc de Noir cuvée to give a classy fruit driven Sparkling Rosé."
Awards
Best English Wine Great British Food 2017 (judged by Grace Dent)
Silver Medal IWSC 2017
Silver Medal UK Vineyards Association Wine Awards 2017
