WILDSHARK Bacchus Fume 2024 Bottle 12.5%abv SUS

Description

If you have never tried an English wine before – well now is your opportunity. The vineyards of England are generally located in the warmer southern counties where the milder influences of the gulf stream have an important effect, as our northern hemisphere vineyards need a longer cooler growing season than in Europe to produce top quality grapes. More than 500 vineyards are in production across the UK and bottled annual sales has reached 3 million bottles, with Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Bacchus the most planted varieties.

Producer
Wildshark Vineyards are a young estate nestled at the base of the North Downs in Kent. In 2022 they planted 60 acres of new vines on an area of ancient soils, composed predominantly of chalk. It is due to these Cretaceous soils that the vineyard takes its name, the land here 50 million years ago was the bed of a vast ocean where great numbers of sea creatures used to preside. The land was also used historically as a Roman settlement, but now is home to rolling fields of vines. The philosophy of the estate is to work with a minimal intervention approach, encouraging a diverse ecosystem and farm sustainably, working towards re wilding areas of the land and planting hedgerows and trees throughout the vineyards giving home to insects and fauna which naturally protect the vines. They are certified with sustainable wines of GB and strive to produce excellent quality wine.

Tasting Notes
A delicious example of the variety, fermented using the wines native yeasts and 20% of the wine is aged in French oak barrels for complexity. The wine has quite an aromatic profile, with notes of citrus fruits, elderflower, peach. The delicate oak age adds flavours of vanilla and spicy poached pear. There is a distinctive minerality on the finish, which is long and crisp.

Food
A perfect pairing for seafood like oysters, but also a range of English cheeses.