Ancre Hill Crowned World Champions

Now I've been saying this for a long time to anyone who will listen to me (easy now), but in Wales we have some of the best sparkling wines I have tasted - and in my opinion, in Ancre Hill Estates produce the very best of the best.

Quite simply, to my taste their sparkling rosé is the best sparkling rosé I have ever tasted, and now I am pleased to see that their 2008 White Sparkling Wine has been voted as the best in the world !

Their wine has been voted the best White Sparkling Wine in the world at the Bollicine del Mondo international competition held annually in Verona, Italy.  The competition is in its fifth year and is organised by the leading Italian wine magazine, Euposia.  This is the second success for an English & Welsh wine following Nyetimber’s win in 2009.

This success came against some of the best Champagnes in the world, including Bollinger, Champagne de Saint Gall (a close second), Baron de Rothschild, Pannier, Feuillette and Paul Bara amongst others.

An international panel of 24 judges from Italy, France, Spain, Argentina, USA, Sweden and UK adjudicated under the rules of the Grand Jury Européen.

Richard Morris of Ancre Hill Estates commented: “We are delighted with this result which is a massive plus for Wales and the Welsh Wine Industry.  It proves quality sites exist in Wales capable of growing the best quality fruit which can be made in to world class wine. Our vineyard site, sitting in its own meso-climate in Monmouth, together with our bio-dynamic farming practices undoubtedly points the way forward for the Industry.”

This is great news for Richard and Joy and their team at Ancre Hill Estates, who are passionate about wine and Welsh Wine in particular, and it's great news for Wales and the drinks industry here.

So, as Christmas approaches, I can think of no better way to celebrate at your party, or over Christmas Dinner with a bottle of Welsh World Champion Winning Ancre Hill Estate Sparkling White Wine... go on you know you want to ..... you can buy Ancre Hill Estates wines at Fine Wines Direct or Tanners Wines.

Cheers and many congratulations !!

Happy Birthday Ffresh !

It was a great honour to have been invited to celebrate the 2nd birthday of Ffresh restaurant at the Wales Millennium Centre last night - and what a celebration it was !

Along with the cream of the crop of Cardiff food bloggers - including CardiffBites, Yourlastmouthful, the Tip Jar Wales, Fasting Foodie, and many others (apologies if I've left you out !) - we were treated to a three course menu from the Michelin Starred Chef, Shaun Hill of The Walnut Tree.

I'll say more about the food in my next post, but what made the evening for Drinks from Wales was the excellent food matching with the wines of Ancre Hill Estates in Monmouth.

We were treated to a pre-dinner aperitif of the excellent Ancre Hill Sparkling Rosé 2008 - which was pretty damn good ! Pale pink in colour, with a delicate nose and a very light biscuit note in the taste mixed with strawberries made it an ideal accompaniment to the canapes.

A red mullet starter brought the 2010 Ancre Hill Chardonnay to the table, which was still quite young and in my opinion almost a green wine. Very subtle oak notes, but exceptionally well matched with the fish.

As the main course of Roasted Partridge hit the table I must say I was slightly intrigued as I have yet to find a really good red wine from Wales, so the 2009 Ancre Hill Pinot Noir was something of a revelation.

Now I'm not saying it was the best red wine I've ever drunk, nor did I think it had enough body to totally carry off the match with the partridge, but it was pretty damn good. As it spent longer in the glass it got better too. It was bursting with berries in the nose, and whilst still a fairly light wine it was pretty smooth and drinkable.

The evening was all the better as I was sat next to Richard Morris, the man behind Ancre Hill Estates, and spent the time deep in discussion about all things wine and Wales - to see we were pretty much of similar mind in many things.

Richard and his wife Joy had some excellent ideas and I've promised to go up to the Vineyard next week to explore these further - and help pick this year's harvest !!

So, I'll report back next week on the 2011 crop and the views of Richard on the drinks industry in Wales.

Cheers !!