Merry Christmas One & All

There’s a pretty good chance that this will be last of my wee postings before Santa arrives and disgorges a load of pressies under the tree. Naturally my five year old daughter is bedside herself with excitement, followed closely by me! Not so much because of the pressies (when you’re in your 40s you just don’t get decent toys) more because I cook the Christmas dinner, which always makes Christmas for me, and because this year we’ve got a couple of good English wine choices to go with it. That really makes it for me!

On the sparkling front (obligatory with Christmas dinner here) we have Bolney 2009 vintage Blanc de Blancs made with 100% Chardonnay grapes. A big crisp, fruity fizz with a hint of delicious yeastiness and a fabulous foamy mouthfeel. Then we have a voluptuous silky red, also from Bolney in the guise of their 2011 Lychgate Red, which I’ve talked about elsewhere but will also beautifully accompany turkey and all the trimmings on its own for those that prefer red.

Bolney’s sparkling Cuvée Noir is an even better match and crosses the rubicon of being a fizz for turkey whilst being a red! At The English Wine Shop we ran out of stock before I could get my hands on it this year (sadly) but you can still get it at DW Brown in Ashover village.

Finally, this one is an unknown to me, although Duncan loves it, so this wine will be joining our New Year list and that is the 2011 Shawsgate Bacchus. The reviews look positive for it too. It promises to be young and fresh with a kiss of spritz and to be a great accompaniment to seafood. So that’s my prawn nibbles sorted. I’ll let you know how we get on with that one!

Our other, earlier recommendations still stand of course: Renishaw Hall Sparkling Pink, Three Choirs Dry and Medium Dry – always reliable and always good – and Ridgeview Grosvenor. The latter being an excellent choice and standing alongside the very best Champagnes. It would go beautifully with a range of foods and canapés over the holiday and be an excellent celebratory fizz for New Year.

So that’s our Christmas (and New Year) line up. Whilst you cannot get these in time for Christmas online at The English Wine Shop you can find them in store at the following locations:

DW Brown, Ashover (centre of the village, pretty much next door to the Post Office)

Scotland Nurseries Farm Shop (Renishaw Hall Sparkling Pink only)

And last but by no means least Hackwood Farm near Mickleover, Derby, who have a comprehensive range of wines supplied by us. You can try some by the glass in their restaurant and tea rooms before you buy!

www.hackwoodfarm.com

All these places have excellent ranges of local produce including excellent butchery. These stores will be open today and tomorrow so go get Christmas properly sorted with the very best English wines.

All that remains is for me to wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

More Outlets for English Wine

The English Wine Shop (part of Amber Valley Wines) is very pleased to announce new outlets for a range of delectable English wines. One is in the centre of Ashover, at a fabulous shop that has long prided itself on being a stockist of excellent local produce, including meats and game, DW Brown.

At DW Brown you will be able to buy a range of wines from high-end sparkling wine from Ridgeview estate (a perfect Christmas gift or celebratory fizz) to Sparkling Bolney Cuvée Noir, a luscious festive red fizz. Either of these will go with turkey or goose.

Still Three Choirs medium dry white, a fruity blend with enough crispness that it is perfect with smoked salmon and cream cheese or on its own and Three Choirs rose, which off-dry and is full of red berry fruits providing a perfect end of meal accompaniment with English trifle or a fruit salad. Whatever you have planned on your Christmas season menu list, DW Brown will be able to match it with a cracking English wine!

Also, you can get Renishaw Hall Sparkling Pink at Scotland Nurseries Farm Shop. Scotland Nurseries have long stocked some English wines but have recently added the Renishaw Pink to their range and will, we hope, be adding more in a joint collaboration with The English Wine Shop.

East Midlands MEP Visits Amber Valley Wines

Barry, Emma and Duncan at Amber Valley Wines Lindway Valley Vineyards, Doehole.

Well what a day! Cold and windy with sharp and sometimes icy rain showers tipping out of a slate grey sky that occasionally managed to get somewhere towards bright. Despite all that East Midlands MEP Emma McClarkin turned up to take a quick tour of our main vineyard at Doehole in Ashover/Brackenfield, joined by Cllr Andrew Lewer, prospective MEP in next May’s election.

Duncan and I explained how we came together to start the business, acquire the land and plant the vines. Despite chattering teeth exacerbated by wind that couldn’t make its mind up about where it should blow from, our guests listened intently and asked questions about the vines. Emma had visited another Derbyshire vineyard months previously so came to us with a good grasp of English vineyards and a longer established but clear and well informed love of wine.

Attempting pictures whilst keeping hair and loose bits of clothing under control was interesting. Twenty minutes in the vineyard saw all of us thoroughly chilled to the bone and eager to retire to The Plough at Brackenfield to have lunch. Anthony and Laura ensured we were well looked after and very well fed with an excellent lunch before Emma, Andrew and I headed up to Renishaw Hall to meet with Kieron to take a tour of the 40+ year old vineyard there.

Kieron Atkinson, Renishaw Hall vineyard tenant and co-owner of the English Wine Project talked to Emma and Andrew about the recent expansion of the vineyards there and about the improving quality of English wines and the place of Derbyshire and the East Midlands in this expanding industry. Emma was keen to listen to how Europe impacts upon the fledgling English wine industry and where she could play a part in ensuring the continuing success of Derbyshire and East Midlands wines. Areas such as alcohol duty, European funding and peer support from well-established vineyards and centres of oenological expertise across Europe were discussed. Even exporting was touched upon.

What was clear from the discussions is that English and East Midlands wines should take their place in the world of quality wines.

Once again we ended up thoroughly chilled so we eventually followed Kieron to the house where we were given a short tour by Jane, Kieron’s wife and the other half of the English Wine Project and PR manager at the Hall. Guided by Jane we saw the key features of this amazing house. Following this we had a coffee and continued our discussions before a parting of the ways with promises to return to taste wines when the vines were greener and the weather warmer. Who could resist that! 

New Land Acquired

Amber Valley Wines (AVW) are excited to announce that they will be expanding their vineyard planting at Doehole, Ashover Parish Derbyshire, after acquiring the adjacent land. The new two-acre site will complement their existing two-acre site.

AVW vine plantings will by mid 2014 straddle two sides of the beautiful Lindway Valley at Doehole, making what we believe will be one of the most scenic vineyards in the Midlands. A single variety of planting will occupy the new sheltered southeast facing lower slope. There are plans to plant the upper part of the new site with apple trees.

Ground preparations will begin later this year.

Equity for Wine Buffs Soft Launch

Our ground breaking new share option has soft launched this week in advance of the main launch at the Derbyshire Food & Drink Festival.

The press release has been sent out and the pre-registered users have been given the chance to order their shares - and now it's your turn!

There are only 2000 B ordinary shares available and following pre-launch interest they will go fast.

To find out more : CLICK HERE

Each week Theo picks just six small businesses to showcase and promote via his website and this week AVW was one of the lucky few. AVW had to describe their business in one Tweet and use the hashtag #SBS.

We are delighted to have been chosen for this particular promotion. AVW was selected on Monday night and sent our twitter feeds crazy. The promotion will mean a permanent membership on Theo Paphitis' exclusive SBS club.

We are over the moon as this is basically a free promotion that allows us to access excellent advice from one of the best business men and entrepreneurs out there: Theo.

Amber Valley Wines will be branching out very shortly to launch its new online store 'The English Wine Shop' which will give people the opportunity to try a wide range of the very best English Wines and particularly our world beating sparkling English wines.

Snow Pruning Just Yet

Well it's been a while since we posted some news - apologies for that!

We are heading fast towards pruning time here at Amber Valley Wines, and as part of that work we'll be replacing all the canes and rabbit guards to give them young vines a bit more breathing space for the coming growing year.

Once again we will not let them fruit but put all their energy into their stems & roots.

We have of course (as always) been hampered in getting this done by the wonderous snowy weather here in Derbyshire but we hope to start work on this as soon as the snow clears.