Brut Reserve 2018, Dorset, England, Bride Valley Wines

After a very short journey from being carefully handpicked in the vineyard to the winery, the grapes are gently wholebunch pressed to allow the delicate aromatics to be extracted into the juice. The cuvée (first free run of juice from the press) and taille (the remaining juice from pressing) are cold settled in stainless steel tanks to give us a clear and pure juice.

These tanks were then innoculated with our chosen yeast strain to start fermentation under the watchful eye of our winemakers.

After fermentation was complete the wine then underwent malolactic fermentation to further develop the buttery mouthfeel and creamy taste, before being blended, filtered, and bottled in 2019.

Once in bottle, the Brut Reserve has now spent up to 5 years on the lees to extract the maximum characteristic brioche and stone fruit notes before disgorging. Our chosen dosage for this wine has no additional sugars as we find the brioche and stewed apple notes to be perfectly balanced by the natural dryness.

Sugar:9.8

PH:3.12

Acidity:7.7

Bud burst was delayed in 2018 due to the cooler than expected weather following "The Beast from the East" in March. Consequently, vine growth was slow and bud burst was observed at the end of April, almost a month later than 2017.

However, warm and settled weather from May to July encouraged growth and the vines really began to take off. Flowering was first observed on 18th June, two weeks earlier than 2017, bringing excellent flowers and fruit set.

Disease pressure was low due to the very warm and dry weather and set us up for our best harvest to date.

Vegan, Vegetarian