2020 Classic Cuvée
Edition 001
The Wine
This is the first ever release of Yarn. Inspired heavily by the top sparkling wine producers around the world that are working oxidatively, with minimal manipulation and plenty of oak.
This wine is 64% Chardonnay with 36% Pinot Noir and it is entirely from the 2020 vintage. The fruit was picked on 08.10.2020 and 11.10.2020. The grapes were hand picked before a short journey straight into the winery at Langham where Tommy took custody of the fruit. The pressing was slow and oxidative, without sulphites, meaning that oxygen was introduced at a very early stage, prior to a natural settling. It was then racked into a selection of neutral French oak barrels and left to it’s own devices. The indigenous yeast fermentation ran from October 2020 to May 2021, with the only interference being five rounds of batonage and the introduction of malo bacteria to ensure a full malolactic fermentation.
The wine was blended and then bottled on 01.08.2021 to reach 4.5 bars of pressure. After three years on lees, it was disgorged on 03.07.2024 with zero dosage and no sulphites.
The Vintage
2020 was one of the greatest vintages the UK has seen. Whilst the world was dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic, the vines enjoyed a warm, long and sun filled growing season.
Poor bud initiation from a wet 2019 flowering and a kiss of frost in the 2020 Spring reduced the yields going into flowering in 2020. From early June right through to the end of October, there was very little rainfall, plenty of high degree growing days and high average temperatures. The resulting fruit was super clean with perfect sugar levels and acid levels that we can usually only dream of in the UK.
In short, small yields with high ripeness levels and excellent concentration
This is why we decided to work closely with Colin Hawkins, a grower on belemnite Chalk in Dorset, South West England.
The Grower
Colin Hawkins is one of the kindest people we have had the privilege of meeting and his dedication to his vines is inspiring. Along with his merry band of volunteers Colin grows some of the best fruit we have seen in the Westcountry.
His story hasn’t always been around grapes though, in fact this is a very new venture. Colin has been farming a mix of arable and livestock in Dorset and Somerset for the past 75 years.
Colin’s D’urberville Vineyard sits just outside of Dorchester in Dorset. The south facing five acre vineyard is planted with Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Meunier and a small amount of Bacchus for Colin’s wife. The vineyard’s name is a nod to the heralded author Thomas Hardy and his novel, Tess of the D’Urbervilles. The vines were planted in the Spring of 2011 on the belamnite chalk that runs from Salisbury to West Dorset.
Colin is a man who loves to farm but loves to spin good old yarn even more!