The Grange CLASSIC NV
£186.00
Pale straw gold in colour, this elegant, refreshing wine will give every occasion a well-deserved shot in the arm: for celebrating anytime.
22 in stock
This iteration of the CLASSIC NV is made predominantly with grapes from 2017, the fourth harvest from the Burge's Field vineyard, and is the 6th wine from the much-garlanded team at Hattingley Valley, led by Emma Rice and Jacob Leadley.
Hand-picked and bunch pressed in late October, at the end of a roller-coaster summer that ended with an uncomfortably cold October, 90% of the juice was fermented in stainless steel tanks with the remainder in a variety of fourth fill oak barrels. 40% of the final base wines went through malolactic fermentation to further soften the acidity and we ended up with 10 base wines and 1200l of the Reserve wines as an 11th. The final blend was 50% Chardonnay, 34% Pinot Meunier and 16% Pinot Noir with 13% coming from the reserves - adding generosity and ballast from the '15 and '16 CLASSICs. Secondary fermentation in bottle was followed by 37 months ageing on lees before the wine was disgorged in April 2021 and dosed to just under 7g/l with 12.2% alcohol by volume.
This wine is an gorgeous follow-up to the multiple medal-winning 2016 CLASSIC and exhibits a delightful delicacy at this stage - the addition of small amounts of Reserve wine from the two previous years helping to round out and refine both nose and palate.
Pale straw in colour, with an intense nose of ripe orchard fruits and citrus peel, surrounded by notes of toasted and buttered patisserie.
Crunchy, bright and fresh on the palate, with apples and citrus fruit at the fore. Dissipating slowly, resulting in a long and pleasing finish.
We drink the CLASSIC as an aperitif and enjoy it with:
- fine, buttery slices of iberico ham
- rich, smoked fish
- oysters
- ROKA cheese crispies
"Very pale with a fine, steady mousse of small bubbles. Gorgeously alluring on the nose – fresh, citrus, light autolysis, russet apples, hint of iodine too. On the palate, smooth supple mousse with fresh, lemony white fruit, refreshingly racy but not too much and again this touch of russet which gives a depth of richness to it, saline and fresh on the finish. A great appetiser!"
Nicola Arcedeckne-Butler MW 24/07/2021
