2023 'Gravel Castle' Chardonnay, Simpsons Wine Estate Your Store

2023 'Gravel Castle' Chardonnay, Simpsons Wine Estate

Kent, United Kingdom and England

Simpsons’ Wine Estate creates fine English sparkling wines, which reflect the exquisite characteristics of their iconic, chalk terroir in the North Downs of Kent.

This is the 4th vintage of this exceptionally popular English Chardonnay, which has bowled over critics and wine lovers alike.  Made from exclusively estate-grown grapes, the Gravel Castle Chardonnay is a zesty, fruit-driven and unoaked Chardonnay, created from Burgundian still wine clones.  It displays fresh, citrus aromas, refreshing tropical fruit flavours and a smooth, textured palate.

Simpsons Wine Estate is situated in the Elham Valley; an unspoilt seam in the North Downs of Kent where the contours of the land, the climate and the soil are excellent for viticulture. The intensely lime-rich chalk soil forms part of the same chalk ridge that stretches from southern England through Champagne and on to Burgundy. The grapes come from the Roman Road vineyard, named after the route the Romans first marched when invading England in AD 43.  They are grown on south-facing slopes, ensuring heat accumulation in the day and cold air drainage at night. The vineyard is less than eight miles from the coast, providing a crucial maritime influence insulating the fruit against intense temperature variations.

Whats in the bottle
Chardonnay 100%

£18.95
Taxes included.

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  • Producer Information
  • Winemaking
  • Tech Stuff

Charles and Ruth Simpson have been making award-winning wines in the South of France since 2002. In 2012, attracted by the quality of the terroir and the opportunity to become part of one of the most dynamic wine-producing regions in the world, they brought their expertise back to the UK, establishing Simpsons Wine Estate. Aspiring to produce the finest quality English wine, they planted 30 hectares of vineyards on the iconic chalk terroir of the North Downs and built a state-of-the-art gravity-fed winery. In 2016, the Simpsons saw their first harvest. With a strong focus on provenance, they produce a highly-acclaimed range of exclusively estate-grown still and sparkling wines, including the Chalklands Classic Cuvée 2016, which won a gold medal in the 2019 Champagne & Sparkling Wine World Championships.

On their French wine estate, the award-winning Domaine Sainte Rose in the Languedoc region, the Simpsons have always pursued the cleaner, truer flavours of the grape, and are now bringing this savoir-faire to their English vineyards. With rootstock meticulously matched to the soil and a new world-class winery just minutes from the vines, quality is the watchword.

The winemaking methods promote the purest expression of fruit and the Kentish terroir, with as little intervention as possible. The hand-picked grapes were whole bunch pressed in the oxygen-free inert press, which protected the purity of the juice and minimised skin contact. The juice was cold settled for 24 hours. Fermentation took place in stainless steel tanks at 14 to 16°C with selected aromatic yeasts. The wine underwent malolactic conversion, softening the acidity and increasing the texture. The wine was aged on fine lees prior to being bottled in the spring.

Country
England

Grape
Chardonnay

Producer
Simpsons Wine Estate

Size
750ml

Types
White Wine

Vintage
2023

Region
Kent

Sub-Region
Elham Valley

2023 'Gravel Castle' Chardonnay, Simpsons Wine Estate

£18.95

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