Fresh and appetising delivering a wash of lemon, cobnut and cream on wave of fine bubbles.

The Simpsons wine estate is to be found in the beautiful Elham Valley about six miles south East of Canterbury in the Kent Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and the vineyards are located on slopes on both side of this chalk valley. The vineyards were established by Charles and Ruth Simpson in 2013 and the winery was built in 2015. The Simpsons had gained knowledge of the wine business in France where they developed an estate called Domaine St Rose in the Languedoc region. They brought their understanding of vines and winemaking to the beautiful valley and have created wines of great precision and purity.

With six vintages under their belt, they have gradually created a library of incredible quality base wines, thus allowing them to transform this flagship English sparkling wine into a non-vintage Classic Cuvée blend. The blend is 40% Pinot Noir, 30% Chardonnay and 30% Pinot Meunier.

The Pinot Meunier brings an added dimension to this appealing sparkling wine made in the Great British Classic Method with secondary fermentation in bottle and 20 months on yeast lees.

It has a fine vinous nose offering toast, light citrus fruits and a mineral edge, fresh youthful and bright. The palate shows a ready accessibility, eager gentle mousse with a weight of fine ripe citrus and floral notes. There is a pleasing toast/ brioche character and a flinty fresh finish.

Perfect as an aperitif it can also partner foods, such as salmon and cream cheeses.

GS The wine retains the ‘purity and elegance’ character of the Simpsons’ wines. There is a greater sense of accessibility to the ’18 over the more complex character of the ’17. The ripeness of the vintage comes through so delivering a wine with the same instant appeal of the ’16 but a little more depth.”

Clive describes it as having a “Fine vinous nose offering toast, light citrus fruits and a mineral edge, fresh youthful and bright. The palate shows a ready accessibility, eager gentle mousse with a weight of fine ripe citrus and floral notes. There is a pleasing toast/ brioche character and a flinty fresh finish. The wine retains the ‘purity and elegance’ character of the Simpsons’ wines. There is a greater sense of accessibility to the ’18 over the more complex character of the ’17. The ripeness of the vintage comes through so delivering a wine with the same instant appeal of the ’16 but a little more depth.”

Kent Wine