A year
ago I reviewed the 2010 vintage of Sedlescombe First Release and it changed how
I viewed English wine. Before then, I'd always thought 'oh well, they are
English wines so I'll be a bit lenient', but Roy Cook's wine changed that.
He was producing a wine that was serious enough to be compared with with
other nations, and subsequently I've discovered other super wines from England
that can also compete on an international level. That First Release was
a blend of Bacchus, Rivaner and Solaris and was a cracking biodynamic wine
priced £13. I recently got sent a bottle of the second release of the
First Release, the 2011 vintage and noticed a three things. Firstly, it had
gone up to fifteen pounds, secondly it was now a blend of Reichensteiner (62%),
Bacchus (21%), Johanniter (10%) and seven percent of other things. The
final thing I noticed was that my note for the 2010 vintage was used on
Sedlescombe's website for the 2010 vintage! I eagerly opened the bottle
to write another note.
2011 Sedlescombe
First Release Oh dear. It has intial light bright fruit with some slight
buttered popcorn element, and I am not keen on popcorn. There is some
citrus, summer hedgerow and a bit of Refreshers coming off the nose - quite
sherbety and zingy. The palate has more hedgerow flowers, quite soft and
yet there is a slight hint of lemon pith coming through on the mid palate.
The finish has some herbal elements, but is a bit short. This isn't
as good a wine as the first First Release, and is a bit more pricey.
79pts
I also tried the 2011
Sedlescombe Bodiam Harvest, a single vineyard wine from their vineyard at
Bodiam Castle. It was a bit more savoury, some woodier notes coming
off the nose and less fruit. A bit of pear juice comes of the nose which
is nice - quite rustic. The palate has a bundle of fruit up front, more
pear and a touch of peach. I find the mid palate a bit weighty and then
the finish has a strange, banana skin flavour that I'm not certain I like, but
am certainly intrigued by. A bit confusing but I wouldn't say no to a
glass. 76pts The third wine I tried was the 2011
Sedlescombe Pinot Noir & Dornfelder Rose which smelled a bit like
Croft Pink Port without the sweetness - a lot of cherry, raspberry and
strawberry with a tiniest bit of cream coming through. It is a drinkable
rosé, nothing spectacular, but, chilled down, not bad. 74pts
Roy Cook's wines are still nice wines, and I do think they are serious
enough that I can judge them as an international level. My main complaint
is that they are too expensive. I can suggest other wines from countries
such as Georgia and Japan that I'd prefer to buy at around this price, and I'm
not even thinking about the more recognised nations and regions. Putting
them on a restaurant list, with restaurant margins, and I could maybe see the
appeal, but at the lower margin retail level they would be tough sells.
Sorry Roy.
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