Wining on

We celebrated English Wine Week by visting a couple of local vineyards. Chilford Hall, in Cambridgeshire, is fairly well-known locally as a conference centre and civil wedding venue. Unfortunately, this was the focus of the tour rather than the wine itself, which didn't make for a particularly interesting visit! We did get to see the wine-making equipment; their wine is mostly processed and bottled on-site in a small but highly organised 'shed' on the estate!

Of course, the major draw of any vineyard visit is the tasting session and we eagerly awaited our chance to sample the award-winning wine. The white wine, primarily made with Reichensteiner and Schonburger grapes, is fairly successful; I liked the Chilford Dry 2006 and the Schonburger 2006 in particular. I wasn't overly impressed by any of the reds or their sparkling wine, though. There's something too harsh and a bit yeasty about both the white and rose sparkling ones.

At the end of the week we visited Sandyford vineyard in Great Sampford (close to Saffron Walden). It immediately has a different feel as it's part of a farm and it's the home of owners Sue and Mike, who are always around to greet visitors. There's no wine production on site; the grapes are sent off to larger vineyards to be fermented and bottled. We had a stroll down to look at the vines themselves - again, lots of Reichensteiner grapes but also Bacchus, Rondo, Regent and Triomphe d'Alsace.

We've been here before so I already knew which wine I liked and I was looking forward to the tasting. Again, the red wine isn't very impressive; our climate just isn't suitable. The English rose, on the other hand, is amazing and completely converted me to pink wine! I am also a big fan of their sparkling wine - expensive, but as good as a medium quality Champagne for certain. It's made from Bacchus and Reichensteiner grapes in the traditional method (the same as Champagne) and has the typical English gooseberry/elderflower flavour. It's amazingly refreshing and uplifting on a summer's day.

English wine is now a far more common sight in supermarkets and it's well worth spending a little more - particularly if you're lucky enough to live in Essex and spot the Sandyford wine on the shelves.

English Wine Week

I love where I live for many different reasons, not least because of the excellent food and drink produced in the area. Several vineyards can be found a short drive from my house and, from what I've tasted, the wine they produce is of a pretty good quality.

This is my main reason for supporting English Wine Week, which starts tomorrow (Saturday 24 May). I love to see bottles of local wine on sale in our supermarkets - it fills me with a bit of East Anglian pride (which sounds as if it should be a local ale)!

English wine is usually a little more expensive than wine of equivalent quality from other countries, because it costs more to produce. It's all done on a smaller scale and often the grapes are sent to other vineyards to be processed, which adds up. We can, however, bring the cost down if we support it and buy English wine when we find it for sale. It's worth our support, I promise!