Class of 2020 – Great British Wine Team Choices

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.

Day 8 | Still White Others/Blends

It’s not all about the Bacchus and Chardonnay. These alternative white wines and white blends really deserve attention too.

Litmus White Pinot Noir 2016

Selected by John:

“Consistently expressive and involving, this complex white wine is made from red Pinot grapes. Tasted blind, you might think it’s a Burgundian Chardonnay. It has similar textural oak, luscious stone fruit flavours, but then there’s just a suggestion of red berry.”

Hush Heath Balfour Chardonnay-Ortega 2019

Selected by Stephen:

“This type of wine simply wasn’t made in England twenty years ago. Chardonnay was only really used in the nascent sparkling wines of that era and to blend it with Ortega in a still wine is a novelty, even today. There’s rich stone fruit, pineapple, lime and a hint of orange on the opulent palate here.”

Woodchester Valley Culver Hill 2018 

Selected by Sam:

“With the vast array of producers in the South East of England, it can be easy to forget the fantastic wine available further north and west. Woodchester Valley in the Cotswolds makes this fantastic equal parts blend of Ortega, Bacchus and Seyval Blanc. Aromatic and zesty, fresh and racy, it shows off the best of these three grape varieties.”

Denbies Ranmore Hill 2018

Selected by Alex:

“A blend of Ortega, Bacchus, Pinot Blanc & Pinot Gris, this is hugely textural, with great balance and complexity on the palate and a long finish. The best vintage of this I’ve had of this – really impressed!”

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