2023 'Rabbit Hole' Pinot Noir Simpsons Wine Estate
Kent, United Kingdom
This is the fifth vintage of the Rabbit Hole Pinot Noir. It is a light and expressive Kentish red wine that has gained a cult following in recent vintages and swiftly sells out.
Exuding a true sense of place, this single-vineyard, still Pinot Noir is created from fruit specifically selected for its maturity and concentration. This purple-hued wine displays dark cherry and smoky oak aromas, with hints of mocha. The elegant tannins are complemented by tangy, black fruit flavours and undertones of freshly ground coffee.
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
Pinot Noir 100%
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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 grapes were carefully hand-sorted and destemmed directly into fermenters via gravity. Fermentation took place with selected yeasts, with pumping over once a day for two weeks. A proportion of the blend was vinified using the traditional technique of ‘pigeage’ or punching down of the cap. Once fermentation was complete, the wine was drained off its skins into two-year-old French oak barrels, where it underwent malolactic conversion. After four months’ ageing in barrels, the wine was bottled in spring 2021.
Country
England
Grape
Pinot Noir
Producer
Simpsons Wine Estate
Size
750ml
Types
Red Wine
Vintage
2023
Region
Kent
Sub-Region
Elham Valley
2023 'Rabbit Hole' Pinot Noir Simpsons Wine Estate
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- United Kingdom