It has been a challenging and disappointing year for most in many respects, but one thing that certainly hasn’t let us down is the wine. It’s traditional for us to do a festive rundown of the ’12 Wines of Christmas’, but with so many superb wines tasted throughout the year, it was next to impossible to narrow the selection down to just 12 wines.
So this year the team has worked together to select the Great British Wine ‘Class of 2020’. It’s a chance for all of us to look back and reflect upon the best wines of the year, covering still and sparkling wines from across England and Wales.
We’ll be revealing a new category each day for the first ten days of December – so do keep checking back to see if your favourite makes it to our list. If not, feel free to comment below with your favourites.
Menu – GBW Class of 2020
Day 6 | Still White Bacchus
It’s been a great year from Bacchus, as winemakers continue to push the boundaries of extracting the best from this intense and aromatic grape.
Chapel Down Kit’s Coty Bacchus 2018
Selected by John:
“A generous mixture of ripe peach, tangy papaya tropics, and a seasoning of smoked nutty oak and mint. The most texturally outstanding Bacchus I’ve tasted, and one of my very top wines of the year.”
Winbirri Bacchus 2019
Selected by Stephen & Alex:
“Really exotic stuff from Winbirri, staggeringly so as 2019 wasn’t as good a year as 2018. There’s a really fragrant, floral nose and more tropical fruit on the palate than before. There’s also a lovely grapefruit cut-through which balances things out beautifully. As we’ve seen previously with Winbirri Bacchus, this has real potential for ageing.”
Poynings Grange Bacchus 2015
Selected by Hannah:
“Poynings Grange Bacchus 2015 Well who would have thought that this was even a Bacchus? A white stone fruit and honeyed nose to confuse any blind taster. On the palate there is a softness to the fruit but a lovely acidity to give it nice mouthfeel. They are a small producer, so, English Wine geeks, get stuck into this before it’s all gone.”
Forty Hall Organic Bacchus 2019
Selected by John:
“I’ve tried a lot of fantastic Bacchus this year, so I thought a second pick was justified from me. I was super impressed with this IEWA Gold Medal winner, with classic grassy notes, lively acidity and punchy tropics. However, it was the mineral and herb textures that made this very memorable.”
