Rathfinny Estate Revisited with Mark Driver Part 2

This show was published Monday, December 4, 2017

Overview

Rathfinny Estate is located near Alfriston in Sussex and while its first sparkling isnt due for release until June 2018, they have been open for business for the past 3 years.

They have 2 public spaces - the Gun Room in Alfriston and the Flint Barn on the estate.

The Gun Room is a small retail outlet which promotes and builds awareness for Rathfinny (30,000 visitors over the past year). They have still wines to taste and buy which are all Pinot Blanc blends

The Flint Barn is for seasonal workers to come and stay during harvest and the growing season but it has also been popular with tourists, getting booked out most weekends. Educational groups come to stay during the week as well as corporate away days. They are now offering lunches and events which already have waiting lists.

In addition two new buildings for processing and storing wine have been built since our last visit. A new temperature controlled warehouse (2500 square metres) has been purpose built for wine storage to keep the sparkling wines on the lees and for ageing of vintage wines in the future. A second building will house a bottling line and be used for riddling, disgorging, labelling and packing.

For their sparkling wines they are producing a Classic Cuvee blend of Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier and Chardonnay. They will also make a Blanc de Blancs, a Blanc de Noirs and a Rose.
These will all be vintage wines but going forward they plan to hold back some reserve wine to blend into a non-vintage fizz.
The Pinot Gris that is planted is used mainly for still wine with the option of blending very small amounts into the Classic Cuvee if needed.

The 2014 Blanc de Blancs will be the first sparkling wine ready for release in June 2018.

Finally, they have used some third press juice to make gin distilled by Silent Pool. This is available to purchase from The Gun Room.

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The music used for the UK Wine Show is Griffes de Jingle 1 by Marcel de la Jartèle and Silence by Etoile Noire.