Gusbourne Blanc de Blancs 2016
- Decanter
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Enthusiast
Wine -
Parker
Robert
Product Details
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Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
This Blanc de Blancs typifies the linear purity of this classic style. They select their finest lots of Chardonnay that exhibit natural minerality, ensuring that the wine has both finesse and elegance as well as the requisite qualities for extended ageing.
Professional Ratings
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Decanter
Taut and elegant with a fine mousse. Hawthorn and elderflower give way to crisp green apple and quince characters. The palate explodes with buttered brown toast and thickly spread lemon curd. Super crisp and long.
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Wine Enthusiast
Blanc de blancs is a style at which England excels, and Gusbourne’s vintage bottling is a wonderfully elegant example. Delicate aromas of citrus blossom and green apple are underpinned by richer notes of raw nuts and cream, with a whisper of ginger spice. The palate is clean and crunchy, with a vivid, piercing line of acidity straight down the middle of the tongue. It’s broadened by a chalky texture. The fizz is fine and persistent, and there’s a long, lemon and-ginger finish. Editors’ Choice.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2016 Brut Blanc de Blancs opens in the glass with aromas of crisp orchard fruit, white flowers and citrus zest framed by hints of pastry cream and fresh bread that's less overtly autolytic in profile than its 2015 counterpart. Medium to full-bodied, pure and precise, with racy acids and a delicate core of fruit, it's beautifully balanced and I suspect it will age very well indeed. I look forward to revisiting it in the future.
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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.