Bride Valley Vineyard Cellar Door Tasting
Spring is the perfect excuse to visit a vineyard. I stopped off at Bride Valley Vineyard in Dorset to buy some wine from the cellar door and was treated to an impromptu tasting!
Graham, the vineyard manager, couldn’t have been more welcoming and was incredibly passionate about the wines and the estate, which has been in the Spurrier family since 1987 and was established as vineyard in 2009.
Steven Spurrier, one of the most revered characters in the wine industry, who sadly passed away last year, was the mastermind behind the 1976 Judgement of Paris, a blind tasting of top Californian and French wines. California came out on top, making Steven responsible for with putting US wines on the map and revolutionising the wine world.
The tasting room at Bride Valley is fascinating and full of memorabilia from Steven’s amazing career in wine and the gardens surrounding the tasting room are also full of sculptures from the Spurrier family collection.
The estate sits on 200 acres of chalk soil, similar to that of Champagne, making it a prime spot for producing classic sparkling grape varieties Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier. It is also home to England’s only Crémant - a creamier sparkling wine, made with a gentler fizz - see below for a full list of wines tasted.
The cellar door is open 11am-2pm Thursday to Saturday with a guided tour and tasting (£22.50) taking place each day. www.bridevalleyvineyard.com
The wines
Brut Reserve 2017
Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier
Fresh and light; the perfect aperitif wine!
£32.45
Dorset Pinot Noir Rosé 2019
Full of red fruit balanced by a refreshing acidity
£18.50
Dorset Chardonnay 2019
If you like a Chablis-style Chardonnay then this for you! A definite favourite of the wines tasted - I had to buy a bottle to enjoy at home!
£19.50
Dorset Crémant
Chardonnay, Pinot Meunier, Pinot Noir
This is England's only home-produced Crémant, with a gentler fizz and a lovely creaminess. I took this one home too!
£28.50
Dorset Pinot Noir 2018
I enjoyed this in the sunshine over Easter with some barbecued beef and it was deliciously light with lots of red fruit and a subtle smokiness to it.
£21.50
The gardens at Bride Valley
