English f izz hits the big time – by going on sale before it’s ready
IT IS a rare distinction afforded to only the finest wines: selling a vintage years before it is ready to drink.
Now, for the first time, a British vineyard will join the great chateaux of Bordeaux and Burgundy and offer wine for future consumption, known as ‘en primeur’.
The Rathfinny Estate in East Sussex is leading the way after launching its first vintage last year and finding that demand far outstripped supply.
Owners Mark and Sarah Driver have now set aside 800 cases of their 2017 Rathfinny Classic Cuvée – a sparkling wine made from a blend of pinot noir, chardonnay and pinot meunier grapes – to be sold en primeur.
En primeur reds are left in the barrel. But, as a sparkling wine, the Rathfinny Classic Cuvée is lying in the bottle in a temperature-controlled cellar until it is ready in 2021.
Connoisseurs buying it now will pay just £19 a bottle, compared to the £38 that 2015 wines from the vineyard currently fetch. But buyers – who will have to buy a minimum of 24 bottles – will need to pay excise duty and VAT before they can take their wine home.
The Drivers’ estate is ideally suited for growing sparkling wine grapes. The light soil over a bed of chalk provides very similar conditions to those in the Champagne region. However, land in Champagne costs more than £1 million a hectare, while a comparable plot in east Sussex is only £25,000.
The two regions are matched in another way: Sussex now enjoys official protection as a geographical trademark in a similar fashion to Champagne, Stilton cheese and Melton Mowbray pork pies. Master of Wine Richard Bampfield said: ‘Selling en primeur is a proven commercial practice for fine wine. They’ve been doing it in Bordeaux and Burgundy for many years. ‘From the consumers’ point of view, t hese wines can be hard to get hold of, and also people appreciate being the first to buy a product – and that adds s o met h i n g to the attraction. ‘The advantage to the producer is that they get cash in a little bit earlier than they would otherwise. ‘This is a reflection of the progress English wine has made in the past ten to 15 years, that now people have this sort of ambition.’