Hello!
Hello!
I hope this case has found you well.
We've been busy in the winery over the winter with the huge 2025 vintage. The wines are shaping up to be delicious and full of ripe fruit character from that long summer. We're also coming to the end of pruning out in the vineyard, and with this early milder weather the vineyard is beginning to go through bud-burst already. This should give us another lovely long growing season this year, but it also means a few extra weeks of frost risk. Temperatures will generally be increasing but until the end of May there is always the chance of a late Spring frost and as the buds advance they become more prone to anything sub-zero! There might be a few sleepless nights ahead for us!
This picture below is from our frost candle use last year. Let's hope it doesn't get to that in 2026!
Now, onto the wines.
This case is an exploration of what makes Chardonnay great in the UK. Three bottles that have been in the works for a considerable amount of time and we’ve somehow managed not to reveal them before now!
Some of you may know that we work with a couple of vineyards beyond East Anglia: Martin's Lane in Essex and Whitewolfe in Kent. In my opinion, these are the two best locations in the country for still Chardonnay. I know both of the owners really well, who are considered two of the best viticulturists in the UK. We’re really lucky to work with this fruit and probably the only winery that can showcase wines from both. We had some exceptional fruit from them both in 2023 that we set aside to develop, and in time they evolved into two of the wines you have here (Labs 5 & 6).
In these wines we’ve worked hard to respect the character of each vineyard’s fruit and preserve each of their differences to see what they can achieve. I hope they show that the UK is able to stand alongside some of the best Chardonnays in the world. You might have seen a recent review of our Silex 2024 by Jamie Goode, our Chardonnay dominant blend. He’s my favourite wine commentator and was kind enough to say that we rank amongst the best still wine producers in the UK.
Nowhere else in the country will you be able to find two top-tier Chardonnays produced in exactly the same way, from the same vintage, by the same winemakers to compare the nuanced differences in English vineyard area side by side. Plus, we’ve included a special experimental take in Labs 7, unique to the Flint Wine Club, that involved both our concrete egg and amphora. This is an incredibly rare opportunity and one I'm very excited to share with you.
These might all seem like bold claims, but open up these bottles and see for yourself.
Cheers
Ben.
P.S. With only a barrel each of the 2023 Chardonnays, we only have enough for one bottle of each per Wine Club member. So pick the right moment (and the right people) to share them with.
Labs 5
The first barrel of 2023 Chardonnay, from the spectacular Martin's Lane vineyard down in the Crouch Valley, Essex. This region is starting to be considered by some as the first English “Grand Cru”. Steep, south-facing slopes make it ideal for ripening the best Chardonnay.
We took perfectly ripe whole bunches and handled them as gently as physically possible at the press. We used a method called cœur du cuvée, which involves very carefully taking only the most lightly squeezed juice by constantly checking and tasting it throughout a slow press cycle. The juice was then put straight into new Burgundian oak barrels where it completed a long, cool fermentation. Malolactic fermentation followed and then 30 months on lees in the same barrel until the wine was ready.
We use the coopers Tonnellerie Rousseau to help select our barrels. They visit us yearly and taste the wines with me and Oli. One of the things they regularly note is that they feel English wines take very well to new oak, which helped give us the confidence to keep the wine in barrel for such a long period. By waiting we were looking for integrity of oak, not power.
There is a lovely light spice and brioche tone from the wood plus soft butterscotch warmth from malolactic fermentation. Simple but respectful winemaking that aims to let the fruit shine. There is lemon curd and baked pear, golden apple skin and a touch of tropical fruit on the palate. Plenty of structure and a linear acidity underpinned by weight and texture.
If you tried our 2022 Chardonnay, this is in the same vein, but a little more understated and traditional: bright, fresh, and full of character. A wine that is excellent now but would equally reward 10 or 15 years of patience.
Labs 6
Our second reserve barrel from 2023, this time coming from Whitewolfe Vineyard in Kent. This planting is adjacent to the famous Kit’s Coty vineyard, the very top site owned by Chapel Down used for their top-end Chardonnays. Identical soil type, the same slope and the same climate…but this fruit comes to us.
The wine production was more-or-less identical to Labs 5. Delicate cœur du cuvée juice put straight to new oak barrels. Slow fermentation, sequential malolactic fermentation and ageing on lees for 30 months in new oak.
This is exactly the sort of fruit that Rousseau had in mind for their barrels when they visited. Full of intensity and ripeness, whilst retaining brightness and not overpowering The oak is here to support the fruit: layers of toasted almond and an almost frangipane-like character with subtle baking spice. Malolactic fermentation, again, gives softness and a creaminess on the palate.
Whitewolfe's Chardonnay has a waxier texture than the Martin’s Lane, with bright lemony fruit driving the acidity. Over its 30 months in barrel this one has become gradually more savoury and complex, and I think it will continue to develop in honeyed ways with further time in bottle.
The only difference between Labs 5 and 6 is 25 miles between the vineyards. And yet the two wines are very different expressions of the same grape.
This is a wine to enjoy slowly now, or in another 10 years. Please take the time to appreciate what great fruit can do in this country.
Labs 7
Now for something a bit different. From 2024 this time, so a year later than Labs 5 & 6 but a really interesting comparison.
Perfectly ripe fruit from Martin's Lane, hand-harvested and whole bunch pressed, again taking only the cœur de cuvée juice. This time however, the juice went straight into our concrete egg instead of a barrel as our first experiment with this fermentation vessel. You might have seen me talking about concrete a fair bit recently, and with good reason. Concrete is a very textural winemaking material, that allows slow and subtle oxidation of the wine for more interest. I’ve slowly been shifting our entire still wine range across to these more textural materials, and concrete, like oak, is a great traditional alternative to stainless steel.
And the egg shape? This is where the real character of this wine comes from. Resting for 10 months on gross lees whilst a natural convection current created a subtle bâtonnage (lees stirring) without intervention. This natural bâtonnage can only be found in these egg-shaped tanks. We had every intention of keeping this wine as lean and bright as possible, wanting initially to avoid malolactic fermentation (MLF), but partway through its time in the egg the Chardonnay went through spontaneous MLF, softening the acidity a little, adding texture, and giving us a lovely lemon meringue pie character. A further 7 months in our clay amphora matured the wine to bring out some extra character.
Full of pure, vibrant fruit expression, ripe citrus, honeydew melon, a hint of something biscotti. A mineral edge on the palette, and a long, mouth-watering finish.
Chardonnay is not all about oak, and this shows just how versatile this grape is.
