Grape variety:  Kernling (100%) (pictured in background, half-ripe)

Quality status:  English Wine - Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) (Ref: STPDO 10928)

Grape source:  Oatley Vineyard, Cannington, Somerset. Kernling upper block, vines planted 1986, cane-pruned on  90cm-high wires, vertical-shoot-positioned. and Kernling lower block, also planted 1986,  cane-pruned on 150 cm wires, hanging canes.

Awards: 

Silver Medal UKVA Wine of the Year Competition Jul 2016. Citation:  Clean, positive, shiny fruit, fresh fruit character, pleasant, good acid lift on finish”

Bronze medal Decanter World Wine Awards 2016. Citation: “Fragrant and floral wine, bright and clean with a hint of marzipan on the nose, lots or easy lemon fruit and subtle tropical flavours.

Bronze Medal, Independent English Wine Awards 2018.

Growing Season:  

An exceptionally good growing year for grapes in England, dubbed “The English Vintage of Dreams”.

Warm spring after a mild but very wet  and stormy winter with famous floods in Somerset, though not at Oatley. No spring frost. A lot of flower but early bunch stem necrosis reduced the fruit set on the first clusters of the Madeleine Angevine - a commonly reported problem that year. This affected the yield but not the final quality.

June and July were hot and  mostly dry, setting the fruit well, Aug cooler with some showery spells, enough rain to swell the fruit, September very warm and dry to ripen the fruit, October benign. A ferocious pheasant attack in the last week took about 10% of the crop despite perimeter netting and regular chasing out with Milo-the-Collie.

Harvest: 

26th Oct 2014. Cloudy buy dry and reasonably warm (15C). Grapes, with good phenolic ripeness and in very good condition.

Vinifcation:   

Winemaker: Steve Brooksbank, near Shepton Mallet, Som BA4 6SX.

Crushing/pressing 27th Oct 2014. Free-run juice: sugar 74 Oechsle, acid 12 g/l. Vinified in stainless steel tanks.

Bottled 2 Apr 2015 in lighter weight (410g) “autumn leaf” 400g 75cl Burgundy bottles sealed with high quality traditional cork. 2404 bottles made. Labelled with FSC certified Tintoretto paper.

Original Release Date:   25 May 2016, on sale until 31 May 2018.   650 bottles reserved for further cellar aging.

Cellar Aged Reserve Release Date: 1 September 2019

Kernling grapes in the hopper, 27 Oct 2014