“Drinking good wine with good food in good company is one of life’s most civilized pleasures”

Rotary Club of Billericay traditionally donates a bottle of wine to our speakers at our club meetings, as thanks for their talks. These special bottles of “Speakers Reward” wines are all sourced from New Hall Wine Estate in Purleigh and come with our own special label.

“What is the vineyard like?” was a recent question, “how big is it? Wouldn’t it be interesting to visit and have a look round? Do they have tours or tastings to which we could go?”

On August 13 members of Billericay and Basildon Rotary Clubs went to the New Hall Wine Estate for a tour and a tutored tasting!

Crouch Valley Vineyards Excel

10.30 on August 13 found 20 Rotarians and partners gathered in the tasting shed at the Wine Estate, to be greeted by Lucy Winward and offered a glass of the vineyard’s “Railway Barn” sparkling white wine. Not just one glass, but top ups were quick to follow. A time to circulate, chat and socialise before the business of the day, not to mention the wine!

Lucy gave us some background on the vineyard and the history of wine growing in the Crouch Valley area, before taking us out to the vines.  She showed us the rows of Pinot Noir grapes, many still green but some bunches already turning red, and talked about the many varieties of grapes which are grown on the site. Last year New Hall produced 170,000 litres of wine - so different from the first year’s harvest of just 18 bottles!

They’ve recently invested in an enormous mechanised grape picker, a huge machine which can clear a field of all ripe grapes and sort them by type in an hour - a job which used to take an army of manual pickers all day.

New Hall is located in the Crouch Valley, one of the warmest and driest parts of the UK, and this, together with its clay soil makes it an ideal wine growing region, with the number of vineyards in the valley now reaching about 37!

The Winery

Next stop was the winery, a installation of massive stainless steel vats, grape presses, and the sparkling wine area which practised the traditional “Méthode Champenoise” to produce New Hall’s award winning sparkling wines. There were more description of the processes involved, accompanied by another glass of sparkling wine. Very interesting to all.

Tutored Tasting

Back to the Tasting room for a tutored session by New Hall’s brand ambassador, Paul Laurie. Paul gave us some background on the English wine industry, and Crouch Valley wines in particular, and then took us through tasting two white wines - a dry “Baron’s Lane” White, and a medium Dry Single Estate Bacchus. He explained how to look for the colour, how to smell the “nose” and how to get the best from the tasting.

Then the final two wines - a Single Estate Pinot Precoce Rosé and a Barons Lane Red, both distinctive in their own way. Who says England can’t produce good red wines? - New Hall makes a lie of that!

Wrap-up

The business of the day being over, it was time for lunch, and Lucy distributed the picnic boxes from the “Grazeful Girls” to each of the guests. Lively conversation, finishing the drinks and it was time for transport home.