Only when the fruit is fully ripe do we gently hand harvest and process with care to maintain the freshness and varietal expression.
Fruit for English sparkling wine is whole bunch pressed. The fruit destined for English still white wine is crushed and macerated and the fruit for English red wine is destemed and fermented on the skins. All juice is fermented in closed stainless steel tanks to maintain its freshness and aroma.
Unfiltered sparkling base wines are bottled in the spring following harvest. We add only a pinch of sugar and some yeast, then we leave the wine to ferment a second time in bottle, followed by several years in the cellar to impart the sparkling finesse that we seek.
All of our Kent wines are purposely dynamic and will improve with time. Pursuing this philosophy, we allow our wines to rest comfortably in our cellars to develop before release. We aim to produce 20,000 bottles each year.
Our artisan winemakers believe in non-intervention with the ambition of achieving varietal expression. Therefore, we do the very minimum amount of work to refine our wines over the winter months, taking great care to preserve the delicate freshness of the fruit by restricting exposure to open air. At exactly the right moment, we bottle. Before we release any wine, we send sample bottles to our industry regulator for analysis. We aim for accreditation with the highest European standard, known as ‘Quality Wine’.
English sparkling wines are left for extended lees ageing and released after four years. Kentish still Red and White wines are released after two years resting in our cellars.
Barnsole Vineyard Limited
Fleming Road,
Staple,
Canterbury,
Kent CT3 1LG
T. 07772 300 511
E.