Tank method
While the majority of sparkling wine produced in England and Wales is made using the traditional method, there are examples of tank method fizz.
Among the first to enter the category was Fitz, based in West Sussex, and Norfolk’s Flint Vineyard. Fitz specialises in Charmat method bubbles, producing two wines (a white and a rosé) from a blend of grapes, including the traditional Chardonnay and Pinot Noir alongside Seyval Blanc, Reichensteiner, Madeleine Angevine and Rondo.
Flint makes a rosé fizz using the Charmat method (Solaris, Reichenstiner, Cabernet Cortis and Rondo), while also producing traditional method fizz and still wine.
Tillingham once again delivers the goods, making a pétillant rosé made predominantly from Pinot Noir. Fermented in stainless steel tanks as a still wine, a small amount of skin contact Ortega is added prior to bottling with some residual sugar that ferments in the bottle to give the wine a gentle sparkle.
Also a fan of the soft bubbles is Sussex’s Albourne, which launched what it claimed was England’s first frizzante made from Bacchus last year. Also using Bacchus to make a tank method sparkler is Kent’s Chapel Down, with a fruity, fizzy number priced below the estate’s traditional method sparkling.
