(2026) This is 100% Pinot Noir, from a single vineyard at Tudwick Hall in Essex. Made in stainless steel with short skin contact, the colour is several shades deeper than the Shoreline pink, more like a light red, and though it has a modicum more residual sugar, it also has higher total acidity and alcohol, so feels like a more savoury and substantial wine. Vinous, with cherry and raspberry fruit on the nose, and a background note of earthy minerality. In the mouth it has approachability thanks to that 3.7g/l of sugar, but substance too, with a mouth-filling texture and just the merest hint of chewy tannin right in the finish.
(2026) 100% Sauvignon Blanc from vineyards in Essex, there's a surprising 14% alcohol in this which, assuming it has been chaptalised, just shows the ripeness being achieved in vineyards in and around Crouch Valley. It is vivacious and pungent, with all the lychee and passion fruit exoticism and a touch of English hedgerow elderflower. The mouth has punchy and bright citrus fruit and acidity, hint bof a mineral smokiness too, giving this plenty of appeal and even a bit of intrigue.
(2026) This is a special selection of the best fruit from the 2025 Bacchus harvest of the Martin’s Lane vineyard in Essex, made in stainless steel. The aromatics are substantially different from many Sauvignon-like, vivacious examples, here the drive is more citrussy, with subtle lychee and a hint of elderflower. In the mouth there is peach and some mango, but lemon and orange dominate, wuth loads of citrus through the finish for a more savoury style.
(2026) The fruit here is sourced from Kent, a blend of Bacchus and Pinot Noir, weighing in with a feathweight 11.5% abv. The colour is medium pale, and it is a nicely aromatic rosé, hints of geranium leaf and roses against the summery fruits. In the mouth it has a dry red berry fruitiness and really very good acidity that balances nicely without being obtrusive. Quite creamy in texture, Lyme Bay suggest this is the first ever bottling of this blend, and it works rather well.
(2024) Devon's Lyme Bay Winery makes some lovely still wines and I've rated their Bacchus, Shoreline blend and Pinot Noir quite highly before. This Chardonnay comes from vineyards in Essex. It was fermented in a mix of stainless steel and oak and was matured nine months in oak (33% new). Creamy and mealy aromas also show ripe yellow apple and a little hint of fig and dried apricot. In the mouth the sweetness of fruit is good, again ripe orchard apples and pears, a hint of more tropical nectarine. The acidity is elegant and the cream and oatmeal richness of the barrels fills in. It is a little expensive in out and out terms, but that's a factor in quality English wines. It is very good indeed.
(2022)
Though Lyme Bay is based in Devon, the Pinot Noir for this wine was sourced from vineyards in Essex that enjoyed warm, sunny conditions in 2020. Small parcels were vinified in open top fermenters, then transferred to oak barrels: 30% new French oak, along with some experimental American and Eastern European oak, for nine months. There's an attractive blend of cherry-bright fruit, creamy and lightly spicy oak and a subtle herbs and flowers grace note on the nose. In the mouth, finely-wrought sweet fruit of blackberry cherry is medium-bodied, supported by lightly charred coffeeish oak, and bright tannins. It's a Pinot in a fairly brisk style, but with a bit of depth and it is a fine addition to the upper-end of English still wines. Also available from Fareham Wine Cellar, The English Wine Collection, Grape Britannia, Amps Wine.
(2017) From a specially selected block of the grape variety Bacchus, this particularly ripe fruit was isolated for this special release. Quite pungent with talcum, elderflower and fresh grapefruit aromas, there's a hint of lychee too onto a bone-dry palate where that exotic fruit - mango, Ogen melon, more fresh lychee - is sliced through by the citrus acidity. Another very convincing wine from Lyme Bay, which will so appeal to the Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc fans.
(2016) Focused on dry wines rather than sparkling, Devon's Lyme Bay vineyard has burst onto the scene spectacularly with its first two vintages, picking up a clutch of major awards. This top white cuvée is an unusual blend of Seyval Blanc, Bacchus and Pinot Noir, aged on the lees but without oak. It's a hugely piquant wine, overflowing with zesty aromas, hints of the English hedgerow and preserved lemon. It reminds me instantly of Japanese food strangely, blending sweet and sour, pickled and fresh flavours in the mouth, real fireworks with a terrifically punchy line of acidity to dry and extend the finish in a most tantalising way. Superb stuff, and watch the
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