NAME: The Ancestral Pink
VINTAGE : 2020
ALC : 11%
GRAPES: 50%Pinot Noir and 50% Pinot Gris
VEGAN/VEGETARIAN FRIENDLY: Yes
EGG/MILK ALLERGENS: No
PRODUCTION: 445 bottles
Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris were carbonically macerated separately for 10 days. They were then pressed in a traditional basket press and alcoholic fermentation happened in separate vessels. Fermentation was kick started by the addition of a Pied de Cuve culture that we started in the vineyard 10 days previously. Some of its reserved juice was returned to the blended wine just prior to bottling. The wine was bottled without being fined or filtered and no additions were made (no added sulphur).
The carbonic fruit is evident in a strawberry shoelace style fruit and a touch of cherryade, it is joyful but not slight.
Ideally this wines should be served after being chilled upright, there is the potential for a bit of gushing if the bottle has been handled roughly before serving, but treated with care it should all stay in the bottle until you pour it.
THE VINEYARD
Walton Brook is a 2 hectare (5 acre) vineyard which is South facing and 100metres above sea level, one of the highest points on the Leicestershire Wolds. It comprises of 200 million year old Jurassic fine grained limestone mud made up from carbonates of coral and shell. This is overlain with 2 million year old glacial deposits featuring limestone, flint and ironstone.
Planted in 2009/2010 originally with Solaris, Seyval Blanc, Regent and Madeleine Angevine and then subsequently with Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris and Bacchus.
Set in the middle of a 500 acre conventional arable farm the vineyard is looked after organically but will never achieve official status due to its location.
2020 was a low yielding harvest due to the devastation of heavy frosts in mid May 2020, but the beautiful weather in September helped to produce really fantastic quality fruit. The grapes were all hand harvested in early October.
Price
£25 / Per Instance / Per Accommodation