Last week we attended a trade wine tasting at the beautiful Cavalry and Guards Club in central London.
This event was organised by Defined Wines, who are a contract wine making facility in Canterbury and have made our two still wines for us, from the 2022 harvest.
The event was awash with wine critics, bloggers, journalists and buyers.
All of the wines on display had been made by Defined, and we couldn't believe the amount of different styles being showcased. Everything from Pet Nat wines to delicious reds, sparkling, whites and rosés.
We were honoured to meet Matthew Jukes, who has worked in the UK wine business for over thirty-five years. With experience in all sectors of the industry he has been writing about wine for over two decades and during this time has published fourteen wine books. He now concentrates on five comprehensive annual Reports which are published on this website.
Matthew was very impressed with our wine and especially liked the rosé.
We were also thrilled to meet Anthony Rose, who writes a weekly column on wine for The Independent and teaches wine in schools for the Leiths School of Food & Wine. Anthony also loved the wines and we are hoping that he might come and visit the vineyard and include us in an article he is writing.
Margaret Rand took the time to stop and say hello and was also impressed! Margaret is a past editor of Wine Magazine, Wine & Spirit International and Whisky Magazine. She now writes for World of Fine Wine, Drinks Business, Decanter and Imbibe among others, and is general editor of Hugh Johnson's Pocket Wine Book.
Oz Clarke, perhaps more of a household name! Swung by our table too and said that he particularly liked our rosé, saying that he thought the blend of 51% Pinot Noir Precoce, 30% Pinot Noir, 14% Pinot Meunier, 5% Chardonnay, worked really well.
It was also great to meet some lovely wine bloggers, who we already followed, so felt like we already knew in a way! All of their blogs and social media accounts have such unique angles and are great resources for wine education, events and wine tourism.
Alice AKA @Posingwithalcohol on the left and Michelle AKA @misadrinkswine on the right.
Allie on the left AKA @englishvineyards and Archie AKA @wineawaytheday on the right, both bloggers and GPs! How do they find the time !
Lastly a photo of Vicky and I !
We have had so much positive feedback about the wine and as a family, we love it! When we approached Henry the owner of Defined, we asked him to make fruit forward, balanced, fresh wines and we are delighted with the product.
It was also so great get the thumbs up from so many wine experts and legends!