English White Pinot Pioneers Tasting Notes

Wines in the tasting were served in two flights – first Pinot Gris, and then Pinot Blanc. Our panellists knew that they were tasting flights of English Pinot Gris and Pinot Blanc, but the order of wines within the flights was assigned randomly. Wines were served to our panel in blind-tasting bags. For more details on the panel, please read our White Pinot Pioneers tasting round-up.

PINOT GRIS:

The Pinot Gris category was surprisingly consistent, with clean, crisp, well-balanced wines throughout. Despite vintages varying from 2016 to 2022, any of the wines could be picked up and enjoyed by a mainstream crowd, and for restaurateurs looking to add a crowd-pleasing dry English white to their list, this is a grape to seriously consider.

Wine 1: Stopham Vineyard

Vintage: 2022
Winery: West Sussex
Fruit: Estate grown, West Sussex
Retail: £16.95

For many of our panel, this was their favourite Pinot Gris, and several wondered if they were suffering from ‘first wine syndrome’ ie the first wine of a tasting always tastes especially delicious! Upon re-tasting, impressions were confirmed – Stopham’s was a beautifully well-balanced Pinot Gris, featuring ripe, concentrated, succulent peach/nectarine and pear fruit, and superbly fresh, saline acidity. A very accessible, well-made, crowd-pleasing style.

Wine 2: Yotes Court ‘Loose Rein’

Vintage: 2021
Winery: Kent (Defined Wines)
Fruit: Estate grown, Kent
Retail: £18.50

Yotes Court’s Pinot Gris fell firmly into the accessible, commercial category, closer to a lighter Italian style of the grape than a heavier, more oily wine from Alsace. That’s no criticism – this was a wonderfully clean, crisp, crowd-pleasing white that, with its ripe pear flavours and zesty lime finish, could be served with delicately-spiced foods, or just enjoyed by itself. Open on a summer’s day with a few friends and one bottle will lead to another… and another… and….

Wine 3: Freedom of the Press

Vintage: 2021
Winery: Oxfordshire
Fruit: Purchased, Essex
Retail: £20.00

Freedom of the Press’ Pinot Gris remained in the clean, crisp, commercial style of the first two wines, with ripe aromas of pears and stone fruits. Yet it stood out both for its greater weight and texture (perhaps due to its Essex fruit source), and also the greater intensity of its saline minerality, giving it an almost Chablis Premier Cru-style flavour profile. Match with rich chicken dishes, or more flavoursome seafood like pan-fried Rye Bay scallops.

Wine 4: Oastbrook Estate

Vintage: 2022
Winery: East Sussex
Fruit: Estate grown, East Sussex
Retail: £23.00

A newly-released 2022, bottled just a few weeks before the tasting, the warmth of the fabulous summer showed in the wonderful ripeness of its honeysuckle and peach fruit, and the rounded, succulent mouth feel of the wine – reminiscent of good quality Alsace Pinot Gris. However, the wine retained its characteristic English acidity – beautifully balancing the ripeness of the fruit. One of the most-appreciated Pinot Gris of the tasting.

Wine 5: Martin’s Lane ‘Pinot Grigio’

Vintage: 2018
Winery: Essex
Fruit: Estate grown, Essex
Retail: £22.50

This was fermented with an Italian yeast in order deliberately to create a ‘Pinot Grigio’ style wine. This was a little controversial with our tasters, who much preferred the ‘Pinot Gris’ from Martin’s Lane, which by coincidence came next in our randomly ordered line-up. However, the Marasby team appreciated this wine’s clean, crisp, moreish style, and felt that with the ripeness of the Essex fruit in the golden 2018 vintage, this was an accessible wine that could convert anyone who enjoys fresh, dry, crisp white wines to English white Pinot.

Wine 6: Martin’s Lane ‘Pinot Gris’

Vintage: 2016
Winery: Essex
Fruit: Estate grown, Essex
Retail: £22.50

It was so interesting to (by coincidence) taste Martin’s Lane’s Pinot Gris immediately after the Pinot Grigio. The ripeness of the Essex fruit shone through this wine, giving it wonderfully rich, unctuous texture, and succulent nectarine flavours. However, the characteristic English acidity was still in place, and despite its 7 years’ age, it was still beautifully fresh and vibrantly youthful.  One of the standout wines of the Pinot Gris category.

Wine 7: Artelium

Vintage: 2021
Winery: Kent (Defined Wines, Owen Elias consulting)
Fruit: Estate grown, East Sussex
Retail: £23.00

2021 was the last vintage that Artelium made at Defined Wines in Kent, prior to the completion of their winery in time for the 2022 vintage. Artelium’s Pinot Gris was commonly the pick of the Pinot Gris amongst our professional buyer panellists, with both of our somms acclaiming its Alsace-like texture and balance.

Wine 8: Heppington

Vintage: 2021
Winery: Kent (Defined Wines)
Fruit: Estate grown, Kent
Retail: £17.50

Well-balanced, well-made, crisp, clean, and accessible. Delicious stone fruit and pear aromas, with hints of melon in the fresh, juicy, rounded flavours. An easy-drinking crowd pleaser.

PINOT BLANC:

The Pinot Blanc category was highly varied, with the line-up including accessible, commercial styles (Oastbrook, Yotes Court, Stopham) as well as more experimental styles (BSixTwelve’s Orange Pinot Blanc, Tillingham), and also one of the standout wines of the entire tasting.

This diversity created more interest for our tasting panel, yet several felt it would also demand more of the casual drinker. Unlike the Pinot Gris, any of which could be enjoyed by those who favour clean, crisp whites, in English Pinot Blanc it is more important to know the winemaker, and to understand the style of wine they are seeking to produce.

Wine 1: Oastbrook Estate

Vintage: 2022
Winery: East Sussex
Fruit: Estate grown, East Sussex
Retail: £21.00

Pure crisp green apple aromas, with ripe flavours of nectarine and pears. This was bottled just a few weeks before our tasting yet showed no ‘bottle shock’ with wonderfully ripe fruit, succulent texture, and clean, crisp, moreish acidity. In a highly varied line-up of English Pinot Blanc, this was one of the more commercial, accessible wines, much loved by panellists who preferred this style of Pinot Blanc.

Wine 2: Yotes Court ‘Hands and Heels’

Vintage: 2021
Winery: Kent (Defined Wines)
Fruit: Estate grown, Kent
Retail: £18.00

A clean, crisp and very accessible style of Pinot Blanc from Yotes Court, which would appeal to anyone who enjoys fresh, easy-drinking, dry white wine. Some time spent in old oak barrels was evident from the roundness and silky texture of the ripe, spiced-pear fruit.

Wine 3: BSixTwelve ‘Pinot Blanc’

Vintage: 2020
Winery: Hampshire
Fruit: Estate grown, Hampshire
Retail: Sold Out

In another coincidence generated by our randomly ordered wine line-up, BSixTwelve’s two Pinot Blancs were served back to back, and massively split our panel. Those who preferred the more commercial, accessible style admired this ‘standard’ Pinot Blanc for its clean, rounded, succulent fruit, its crunchy red apple and jasmine aromas and its spine of nervy acidity. Beautifully fresh and vibrant.

Wine 4: BSixTwelve ‘Wild’ Orange Pinot Blanc

Vintage: 2020
Winery: Hampshire
Fruit: Estate grown, Hampshire
Retail: Sold Out

Versus BSixTwelve’s ‘standard’ Pinot Blanc, this was significantly more distinctive. Many of our panellists wondered if this was fermented with wild yeasts (it was), and loved the texture of its skin-contact winemaking. Hints of musky, spiced-apricot fruit, and a zesty tangerine finish.

Wine 5: Stopham Vineyard

Vintage: 2022
Winery: West Sussex
Fruit: Estate grown, West Sussex
Retail: £15.95

Stopham Pinot Blanc featured beautifully exotic fruit character, with hints of fresh lime and passionfruit aromas, and rounded, succulent fruit flavours of melon and grapefruit. The wine is a clean, dry style, with wonderfully well-balanced, moreish acidity. A brilliant entry to the English Pinot Blanc category if you typically favour an easy-drinking, accessible, dry, white wine.

Wine 6: Tillingham

Vintage: NV (Blend of 2020/21)
Winery: East Sussex
Fruit: Purchased, Crouch Valley, Essex
Retail: £37.00

As one of the only ‘heart on their sleeve’ natural wines in our tasting, Tillingham’s Pinot Blanc was particularly distinctive, and perhaps for this reason it divided our panel. A blend of fruit from 2020 and 2021, this non-vintage Pinot Blanc was admired by those favouring a more natural style for its texture, nuttiness, and the balance between the ripeness of its 2020 fruit and the saline minerality of its 2021. Very dry, crisp and thirst-quenching, complex and interesting.

Wine 7: Missing Gate

Vintage: 2020
Winery: Essex
Fruit: Estate grown, Essex
Retail: £35.00

Missing Gate Pinot Blanc was the last wine of the ‘blind’ portion of our tasting and… what a way to finish! Many our panellists picked this as their wine of the tasting, and with its incredible weight, opulent oak-influenced texture, and supremely ripe, succulent fruit, it could easily be mistaken for a wine from Alsace or elsewhere. A tour de force showcasing the quality of fruit coming from Essex’s Crouch Valley.