The port of Dover is up for sale, and the locals are revolting and trying to buy the port to stop it getting into the hands of Johnny Foreigner. Ever since Ceaser set sail and saw a bunch of blue faced barbarians, the white cliffs of Dover have guarded England from the invaders from Europe. And now the port is being sold off, probably to a nation that once tried to invade us, making it all too easy for Jerry to sneak in the next time it all kicks off.
And what were the cliffs guarding? Black and white cows, Vera Lynn, the Austin Seven, roast beef and the green and pleasant fields. So why are there people prepared to abandon the crops that have been planted in our soils for hundreds of years to grow vines? Vines, the fruit that makes the fermented beverage of choice in countries such as France, Italy, Spain and Germany… all countries that have tried to bully their way into the UK and take us over? Well if the three wines I tried today are anything to go by, the question “why have we been planting vines in England?” will remain unanswered as they were horrific.
Now I’ve got into trouble in the past from British fruit wine producers for criticizing their wines. The fact that I subsequently did a blind taste test against similarly priced grape wines, and the grape wines came out overwhelmingly on top (100% preferring a bad, cheap Kiwi Sauvignon Blanc over an elderflower fruit wine, and 80% preferring a cheap and terrible French rose over a bramble wine) proved that my opinion of ‘these wines are horrible’ was justified. So, to make sure that I am not alone when the inevitable hatred and bile comes flying my way, I got a number of other people to try these wines and they too thought much the same - that they were atrocious.
First up, the Shawsgate winery in East Anglia...
2004 Shawsgate Neptune
OK, so this is commended at the International Wine Challenge, and according to the company’s website is supposed to have a “rich, elegant aroma of wild fig, apricot and hints of citrus”. Well I got slightly oxidized champagne, with a harsh, cheap vodka aroma. Some hints of dried fig did come through, but they weren’t particularly nice hints, and there was some overripe strawberry too. The palate was an appalling nutty mess, fat with a bruised fruit flavour. An overly dry and acidic finish. 2/10 £7.99
Other comments
“OH DEAR GOD!” – CG, St Andrews
“horrific” – VF, Cupar
2004 Shawsgate Pandora Medium Dry
Boldly proclaimed on their label “She was made in heaven. Every God contributed something to perfect her”. Well I couldn’t agree more, because Hades also had significant influence in the end product that was contained within the bottle. It had a minerally nose, with lemon hints coming through, but a pretty dull aroma. Now that in itself is not too bad, but the palate had burnt lemon and orange flavours, a bit of cheap lemon marmalade. Now I’m going to give this the benefit of the doubt and not score it, as the vintage on their website is 2009 and therefore this is five years old. You have to question the logic though of selling both the 2004 and the 2009 vintages of the same wine through their UK agent. Is it a case of ‘get rid of the old stock first so not to lose money’? £8.99
Other comments
“I’m going to gag” – CG, St Andrews
“can you give me something that tastes of wine please?” – AD, St Andrews
2006 Strawberry Hill Pinot Noir
Made from fruit from vines that are only four years old, it has a thin aroma and palate. Cheap burgundy, with a confit pork belly aroma! The palate is quite savoury, with small hints of strawberry sweets and then a nasty bubblegummy flavour, and a plastic finish. To be fair, I am glad that Gloucestershire producer Tim Chance has put down some ‘mainstream’ grape varieties as at least he has the comparison with other European nations to see how he is doing, but, at the moment, he isn’t doing well. It reminded me of a Lebanese wine that I tried five years ago, that now, with older vines, is a perfectly acceptable wine. 3.5/10 £10.00
Other comments
“that just tastes of wine” – AD, St Andrews
I know that three wines don’t mean that every English wine is horrible, but these three, available nationwide through a well known and large agency, don’t fly the flag well at all. I just hope that English Wine improves….
Comments
I am sure that there are some good English wines out there somewhere.
And of course sparkling is outstanding.. Chapel Down, Nyetimber and Ridgeview in particular.
Doug
For goodness sake if you want to comment on our wines try any award winner from the past 2 years as listed on the English Wine Producers website.
You may also care to look at the results from the Decanter magazine competitions or the International Wine & Spirits Competition - if you have the slightest interest in learning more about top English wines.
roger
It might not be your fault that the wines are being given out as samples, but this is what I tried, and I note that, on the Shawsgate website, the 2004 Neptune is still being sold.
I'm more than happy to try any wine and give it my honest opinion. Contrary to a widely held belief, I'm not a wine snob to the extent of closing my mind to 'newer' countries. I stock Bulgarian and Indian wine in my shop because I have discovered wines that can stand up to the established nations such as France and Australia, and that is what English wine has to do too if it is to be taken seriously. If you want to send me samples of your wines from Devon, I am more than eager to try them and will give my honest opinion on them.
Peter
thetastingnote@gmail.com
This is a terrible tasting and if this was your idea of trying to find out what English wines are like, then I am sorry, but you failed - big-time.
You say "but these are the vintages that are being sent out to retailers as samples of your wines by UK agencies" which leaves me perplexed. What on earth are "UK agencies"? Sounds like there is an official DEFRA Wine Sending Agency somewhere that I haven't heard about!
If you want to see what English Wines are all about, then try the ones stocked by the major retailers or made by the major award-winning vineyards.
Stephen Skelton MW
www.englishwine.com
Firstly, let me thank you for taking the time to post a comment. I had a look at your website, and, whilst I am not doubting for one second your ability to make wine, knowledge on English wine, and experience in it, the fact that you have to ask “what on earth are UK agencies?” shows that you are vastly unaware of the UK wine retail market.
Let me tell you a little about myself. I am a retailer of ten years and run one of Scotland’s most successful wine shops. We have a seven figure turnover in a town with ten thousand people, have one of the most diverse and interesting wine ranges in Scotland, and maybe even the UK. However, to achieve this, we have to rely upon UK agents, who are companies that sell wine to retailers and restaurants. I have to use agents as committing large quantities of cash to one or two products makes no financial sense. I look through the acency list, see what wines appeal to my market place, request samples which are then sent to me, I try them and then if they compete on quality and price with other wines on my shelves from countries such as France, Italy, Australia, Chile and New Zealand, I then buy these wines and actively sell them to my customers. We have had considerable success in the past year selling wines from Bulgaria and India and are now taking on wines from Japan, so this proves I am not bias against lesser known wine producing countries. I am eager to stock English wines but my experience is that the English wine producers are not willing to actually sell to me.
I have contacted several producers and asked for them to send me samples of their wines. I was either ignored or told that I would have to buy wines from them first and then, if I liked them, would be credited. Oh, but because I was in Scotland, the only way they could justify the shipping costs would be to send me stock in bulk. I was, therefore, being told by English wine producers that I had to commit cash to a stockholding of numerous cases of wine, that I had not tried, before I even got to sample these products. This makes no business sense whatsoever, so I politely declined.
And this is why I rely upon UK agencies for samples, and have to make my judgment on the wines they send me. As soon as I see a wine from England, Romania, Thailand or China, I jump at the chance to try them as I want to stock them. But I have never seen an English wine tasting being held north of the border, and when I approach the producers to request samples, I am ignored or asked for an unrealistic purchase. If the UK agencies have old, tired stock, I have to make a call based upon those wines, and unfortunately, the English producer has to accept that as they haven’t done anything to help me try a younger, better sample. And as the previous commenter, Mr Roger White, pointed out, English wine is supposed to be drunk young, so why was the Shawsgate winery selling the 2004 vintage on their own website of one of the wines I criticised?
I run a wine shop and so am unable to spend the time to tour the vineyards of England find the hidden gems. Please, direct me, guide me, give me information on the better wines that I can sample and, if I like them, buy them and sell them in Scotland. Or please use your contacts in the wineries to travel up to Scotland, where we can’t grow grapes, and hold a tasting in Edinburgh of English and Welsh wines. I’m more than happy to help you with information on who to invite along from the restaurants and many specialist retailers in Scotland. I want to stock English wine, and I want to introduce good wines from England to my customers that can compete with the best from all the ‘established’ wine producing nations. But the only way to do this is if the English wine producers try just a little bit to sell to me instead of sitting amongst their vineyards, selling to people at the cellar door.
Peter Wood