HAMPSHIRE took home a total of 19 medals from the WineGB Awards, making it the third most successful county behind Sussex and Kent who dominated the medal tables with 61 and 60 medals respectively.

The medal winners of the annual WineGB Awards were announced on Wednesday, June 29 with producers from nearly every county in England and Wales winning medals. This year saw over 100 producers entering, the highest number of entries to the awards yet.

Hattingley Valley, near Alresford, proved themselves as a quality winery picking up a gold and a silver in the sparkling- classic method category for its Reserve NV (gold) and Blanc de Blanc 2014 (silver) and another two silvers in the still category, including the Hattingley Valley still Pinot Noir 2020 and still Chardonnay 2020.

Founder and owner of Hattingley Valley, Simon Robinson said: “We’re always delighted to win awards, particularly from WineGB because it’s the industry association. We’re very proud and it goes to show the consistency and quality that Hattingley produces which is proven by the people that enjoy our wine.

“The really positive thing about Hampshire and the wine industry here is that it’s grown so rapidly in the last few years, driven by the well-suited conditions. And all the growers are aiming for a high quality product and I’d like to think Hattingley has led the way in that.

“We first planted in 2008 and it was regarded by the local farming fraternity as completely bonkers but actually, we have proven that we can make some really high-quality wines here.

“Hampshire is going to become one of the key areas in the country for the wine industry. We’ve attracted a French champagne house to plant just outside Alresford and that’s a mark of approval for the county as well as English wine making.”

The local winery has quickly established itself as a UK success since releasing their first bottle of wine in 2013, winning over 100 medals, 13 trophies and three ‘Best in Class’ for its English sparkling wines in both British and International awards.

The winery located in the village of Lower Weild, near Alresford, export their English sparkling wines internationally to 16 countries as well as being sold across the UK.

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All the gold medal winning sparkling wines were from classic varieties (Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier), with a combination of large and small wineries being successful.

Co-chair of the award judges Susie Barrie MW said: “We were absolutely thrilled with the quality of the whole range of wines that we tasted this year. There were some fabulous wines in both still and sparkling style categories, which shows just how exciting and dynamic the UK now is as a wine region. What’s terrific is that the wins come from both the largest producers and some of the smallest, and from long established to newcomers. We’ve also awarded medals to wines from every region in the country, showing the scope of styles and grape varieties. Huge congratulations to all the medal winners!”

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Simon Thorpe MW, CEO of WineGB added: “This has been another great year for results across all the categories of still and sparkling wines, once again demonstrating what an exciting industry this is. I cannot emphasise enough how lucky we are in the judges we have every year for our competition; not only are they highly skilled wine professionals but each have been chosen for their knowledge of our category, so we know that all the wines have been judged and assessed fairly. They are led of course by the indefatigable Susie Barrie MW and Oz Clarke OBE who bring experience, passion and a global context to the whole judging process.”

Hampshire wineries Exton Park Vineyard and The Grange were among the gold medal winners.

Other Hampshire successes included Black Chalk in Andover, Penn Croft in Farnham and another Alresford winery Raimes. The family run business Raimes picked up three silvers, proving the benefits of Hampshire’s chalky soil.

Augusta Raimes said: “We are delighted to win medals for both our wines from our 2018 vintage – Classic and Blanc de Noirs. Our beautiful farm on the chalk, south facing slopes on the South Downs in Cheriton enables us to grow perfectly ripe grapes full of flavour and aromas so that we can make sparkling wines of exceptional quality.

"The awards are a wonderful reward for the dedication to tending our vineyard by hand throughout the year. Generous lees ageing allows our wines time to age and develop.

"Wine GB awards showcase the excellence developing in the British wine industry. All vineyards, big and small, work incredibly hard over the year to protect their vines and these awards recognise the efforts of the whole team, in every part of the growing cycle and wine production.

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"The interest in English Sparkling Wine is increasing, and we really enjoy meeting our customers as they visit the vineyard on a tour or to our Summer Courtyard. They love experiencing a little slice of Hampshire countryside accompanied by excellent wine.”

The trophy winners will be announced at the WineGB Awards ceremony on July 15 in London.

For more on the national wine awards go to winegb.co.uk/.

 

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