South African couple launches English bubbly to rival champagne

Nestled high up in Surrey Hills you will find High Clandon Estate Vineyard. This hidden gem off the A3, just 45 minutes from Greater London, is an area of outstanding natural beauty. It is not a surprise therefore that a South African couple has snapped up this prime patch of England and put it to good use producing sparking wine.

Bruce and Sibylla Tindale are the proud ‘parents’ of the Quintessence of England High Clandon Queen’s Jubilee Cuvée, a BRUT-style English Sparkling Wine. Sibylla comes from a marketing background and Bruce has a Bachelor of Science (Hons) in Viticulture & Oenology from Plumpton College, Brighton. Both share a passion for top quality English Sparkling Wine and are united in their belief that the very best of English Sparkling Wine can surpass that of France.

The Surrey hills are formed of the same limestone stretching all the way to the Dover cliffs and across the channel to the chalky geology of the Épernay Champagne region of France. This makes it the “perfect environment to grow Champagne type grapes for the quintessential English Sparkling Wine,” says Sibylla.

‘Quintessence’ has been crafted from the classic trio of champagne grapes — Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier and Chardonnay (varietals or cépages) – and uniquely has four years’ bottle maturation. The Tindales’ passion for their product comes across when they describe the ‘magic’ of the wine-making process, “There is a wonderful French word, ‘terroir’, which describes not only the lay of the land, but the climate, the way the wind comes in, the way the sun shines onto the grapes and so on, which all contribute to the flavour and quality of the grapes,” says Sibylla.

High Clandon Quintessence was launched this month and attended by the who’s who of English winemaking. Wine expert and writer for JancisRobinson.com, Richard Hemming, described the Quintessence as having an “Open, developed nose with plenty of stone fruit and a really lovely fizz. Bracing, but balanced acid, long, textural finish.” He gave this Brut-style sparkling wine an outstanding score of 17 out of 20.

This is a relatively new venture for the Tindales, and Bruce admits that he has learnt some hard lessons along the way. Proudly armed with his first harvest of grapes in 2007, he arrived at the winery sorting table. To his horror, he watched the German assistant wine maker flippantly toss whole bunches of grapes aside because they were ‘not perfect’. “You should never put forward any single grape berry for wine that you would not display on your cheese board, was the lesson I learnt that day. That has been my standard ever since” says Bruce.

In South Africa the cold Atlantic winds cool the grape vines off the coast of Cape Town, and this together with the hot, sunny climate, has produced some award-winning, world class white wine grapes. “Although we are South Africans, we have lived here nearly 35 years and we are celebrating Englishness with our premium quality sparkling wine,” explains Sibylla. They describe their wine as being able to compete with the Cap Classique wines of South Africa, while being uniquely English.

The challenge of winemaking in England is that it is hugely dependent on the weather so the quantity of grapes fluctuates every year. “In 2012 we had a wet, cold summer followed by a cool autumn. The quality was just not there. We are really positioning ourselves for good wine so there was no harvest that year,” says Bruce.

He points out, “Champagne is a blended wine so every time you buy a particular bottle you know you are getting the exact same taste. Our wine is a vintage, which means that only the grapes of a particular harvest are included. So every one of our wines is unique to that year and has a unique taste. The cuvee is the best juice from the first press.”

Wine is not the only endeavour of this enterprising South African couple. They also keep bees from which they make a delicious honey, and they are awaiting the appearance of a crop of truffles growing on their land.

To purchase the High Clandon Quintessence:
Order from www.highclandon.co.uk or call 01483 225660