Gusbourne Blanc de Blancs 2015
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Wine
Enthusiast -
Robert
Parker
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A wine that typifies the linear purity of classic Blanc de Blancs. We select the finest lots of Chardonnay, exhibiting natural minerality, ensuring that the wine has both the finesse and elegance that one would expect in this style, but also the requisite qualities for extended ageing. A bright golden color with a delicate mousse, our Blanc de Blancs has classic Chardonnay aromas of green apple, citrus and mineral notes combined with buttered toast and Tarte Tatin richness from extended lees ageing.
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Wine Enthusiast
The nose bursts with ideas of lemon and lemon zest, whipped cream and spiky green apple. This vivid aromatic spectrum is replicated on the slender palate where the foam bubbles up to reinforce that sense of weightless freshness. But deeper down the wine is anchored in depth, with subtle yeast and chalkiness sending their balancing, cool smoothness to unite with that lemony verve. Lovely and fresh now but this will reward cellaring.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Disgorged in February 2020, Gusbourne's 2015 Brut Blanc de Blancs bursts with aromas of crisp green orchard fruit, freshly baked bread, nougat and white flowers. Medium to full-bodied, pillowy and incisive, with a fleshy core of fruit, tangy acids and a youthfully frothy mousse, it concludes with a saline finish. Rating: 92+
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Enthusiast -
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Robert
Parker
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Enthusiast -
Robert
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Wine &
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Enthusiast
Gusbourne takes its name from John de Goosebourne, owner of the estate back in 1410 when it bordered the sea in the South East of England. In 2004 our founder Dr Andrew Weeber planted the first vines with a clear vision and a single goal: to create English Sparkling Wines that would stand up alongside the very finest offerings from across the globe.
Focusing on just the classic grape varieties of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier, all the grapes used in our winemaking are sourced solely from Gusbourne vineyards, and we only make Vintage wines. Though England is very much cool climate territory, in relative terms our vineyards benefit from an exceptionally warm and dry maritime climate, which enables us to achieve full ripeness every year – whilst still being classically fresh, our wines tend to display an extra level of roundness and approachability. Our vines are tended with great care and attention to the environment, using only organic fertilisers, whilst time and complexity are the name of the game in the winery, where 250-300 wines are made each vintage (some under wood), with our key Cuvées ending up being assemblages of up to 120 wines each.
Gusbourne is the only three-time winner of the International Wine & Spirits Challenge English Wine Producer of the Year, and we are the proud recipients of over 200 awards at international competitions - in 2019 alone we were awarded 23 gold medals and 8 trophies. Our wines are not in widespread distribution, but can be found in leading restaurants, top hotels and luxury department stores. They are also served in the Royal Households.
Representing the topmost expression of a Champagne house, a vintage Champagne is one made from the produce of a single, superior harvest year. Vintage Champagnes account for a mere 5% of total Champagne production and are produced about three times in a decade. Champagne is typically made as a blend of multiple years in order to preserve the house style; these will have non-vintage, or simply, NV on the label. The term, "vintage," as it applies to all wine, simply means a single harvest year.
The limestone soils of England’s southern end have proven ideal for the production of British sparkling wine. While it might seem too damp and cold for grape growing in England, recent warm summers and the onset of global warming signify great future growth for the British wine industry.