CANONS REGULAR OF PRÉMONTRÉ - OUR LADY OF ENGLAND PRIORY - WEST SUSSEX - UK

 

 

 GRAPE PICKING

SATURDAY 15 OCTOBER 2011

 

 

Over 3 tonnes of grapes were picked.

 

Thank you to all those who helped.

 

Pictures for 2011 coming soon!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After five years work by many volunteers, some expert and some just willing, we are now very close to producing wine.

In 2009, the vineyard yielded 4,000 kilos of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay grapes. These were processed by Dermot Sugrue at the Wiston Estate Winery; after being pressed, they were fermented for some nine months in steel vats prior to being bottled last October.

In April 2011 a small group of us, including James Simpson of Pol Roger champagne, tasted the newly disgorged wine. Dermot’s ‘dosage’ (see slideshow on the left) met with our and the experts’ approval. We have asked Dermot to disgorge a further 120 bottles immediately and to leave the rest (about 1,200 bottles) on the lees for a further 12 months.

The 2009 vintage is a blend of 60% Chardonnay and 40% Pinot Noir. Part barrel-fermented it has been made in the traditional champagne method. We will call it ‘Storrington Priory’ and its official description is ‘English Quality Sparkling Wine’.

The first draft of our label can be seen below:

 

 

 

 
MAKING STORRINGTON PRIORY SPARKLING WINE
 
The process began with the harvest. Our grapes were picked separately as the pinot noir tends to ripen earlier than the chardonnay. In both cases the grapes were taken down to the Wiston Estate Winery and immediately pressed. The juice was then fermented in stainless steel vats which allowed the winemaker to control the temperature and pace of the fermentation. However, a small quantity of juice was fermented in an oak barrel to give a distinct oak flavour.
In the spring after the harvest, the fermented juice was bottled and sealed with a crown cap (like those on a beer bottle). The bottles were stored on their sides, so that the spent yeast sediment (the lees) would settle on the side bottom-down, and left in that position for a year. The wine at this stage is said to be resting sur lie or on the lees.
 
After a minimum of a year, the lees need removing, otherwise the wine would be cloudy and a little gritty.  This is where 'riddling' comes in. Each day the bottles are turned slightly and upended a fraction. Traditionally, this was done completely by hand. Today the riddling is mostly done by a machine called a gyropalette.
 
As the bottles are riddled, the lees slide down inside the walls of the bottle. By the time the bottles are completely upside-down, the lees will have collected in the bottle neck making removal easy. In a process called degorgement or disgorging, each bottle is placed in a solution which freezes the entire length of the neck and its contents. When the bottle is turned upright and the crown cap removed, the frozen plug of lees shoots out. This leaves space in the bottle for the wine to be topped up with a liqueur d'expedition or dosage, a combination of wine reserved for this purpose and sugar. It is this dosage that determines the dryness or sweetness of the wine (extra brut, brut, sec, demi-sec or doux). Our wine will be classed as brut, ie. less than 1.5% sugar. After the dosage is added, the bottles are sealed with the traditional cork, wire and foil and are left to settle for a month or so, after which they are ready to be drunk.
 
Of our 2009 vintage, we have, after consulting with an expert or two (including the UK director of Pol Roger), asked our winemaker to disgorge about 120 bottles over the next few months and to leave the remaining 1,200 on the lees for at least a year after which they too will be disgorged. Meanwhile, we are working on a label, creating a suitable wine-store in the Priory and looking into the legal requirements for marketing Storrington Priory, the official designation of which is an English Quality Sparkling Wine.

 

 
 
 OCTOBER 2010 - our best harvest so far!
 
On Saturday 16 October 2010 we picked 3,051 kilos which means, with the pinot noir picked the previous week, our total was just under 5,000 kilos - about 1,000 kilos more than last year, our best harvest so far! We hope to be able to taste some of the 2009 vintage next spring, though the real thing, the sparkling wine, won't be ready until 2015 after the disgorging and secondary fermentation has taken place.
 
SOME PHOTOS FROM OUR 2010 CHARDONNAY HARVEST ON 16 OCTOBER:
 

 

 

 
 
 
 BELOW ARE SOME PHOTOS FROM OUR 2010 PINOT NOIR HARVEST ON 9 OCTOBER 2010:
 
 
 

 

We have an entry - and a very favourable report - in 'Wine: A Guide to the Wines of England and Wales', by Philip Williamson, David Moore and Neville Blech. Publisher: BTL Publishing Limited (20 Nov 2008).

 

We have also been included in a map entitled, 'The Vineyards of England and Wales' published by English Wine Producers.

 

CLICK ON THE PICTURE LINK BELOW FOR THE STORRINGTON PRIORY VINEYARD ALBUM