Rathfinny Blanc De Blancs 2018

We adore Blanc de Blanc style bubbly and this is a really precise, outstanding example. This nose is all about the fruit (think grapefruit, kiwi, apple & nectarine) with a little herbal touch. The palate has the most delicious creamy lemon curd like texture and the toasty, autolytic character is more obvious, but the finish is long, citrusy and saline.

We’ve long admired Rathfinny’s wines. As a relative newcomer to the English wine movement, it was tempting at first to dismiss them as another big brand with plenty of cash, sticking identikit trad-method plonk in posh bottles. Tasting the wines is enough to convince you otherwise, but having the opportunity to visit the estate gives a lot of perspective as to what the good folk are up to.

The business is entirely family owned and spoken about as a passion project for the owners. Though it’s clear that passion runs beyond the bottle and extends to growing the global recognition of Sussex (now PDO, don’t you know…) as a world class sparkling wine production area.

On the subject of world class, Rathfinny are certainly helping to lead the way. Their juxtaposing though strangely seamless and intelligent blend of low-intervention philosophies with unrivalled modern winery technology is astounding. The family and human values held by the estate are refreshing (and inspirational for a young business like ours, aspiring to do good by the world) and the juice speaks for itself. Rathfinny exclusively produce estate grown wines from single vintages in the South Downs, just 3 miles from the English Channel.