Praise from Jancis
I realise I haven’t submitted any Peter’s Notes since last November, naughty me, too busy, please forgive….
The 2021 season had the slowest start I have ever seen, the soft spring weather finally arriving, but at least four weeks late. Inevitably this will reflect on the whole season, and I anticipate the vines will not flower until the second or third week in July. For grapes to ripen fully they require about 110 days from flowering to harvest, so looking further ahead this is likely to be around the end of October or early November - let’s hope for an Indian summer!
I was delighted to receive an email this month from eminent wine critic Jancis Robinson, thanking me for reminding her how good Seyval Blanc fizz can be! She had been invited to a blind tasting of English sparkling wines by Nick Baker of The Finest Bubble, and her article in the Weekend Financial Times 19th/20th June sings the praises of my Seyval 2010 Cuvée Koizumi Yakumo, describing it as “effervescent magic”…. https://www.jancisrobinson.com/articles/all-fizzes-not-champagne
My attachment to Seyval Blanc continues, and this variety remains some 60% of the all the vines at Breaky Bottom. The originals are nearly fifty years old; many are still wonderfully productive but others less so, and this spring we planted 500 replacements from France.