Wine of Wales: A Welsh Wine Tasting Recap
Some of my highlights from this month's Welsh Wine Tasting in London...
Howdy folks! Let me start by saying that I am a big proponent of the Welsh Wine scene and have been ever since I discovered Ancre Hill Estates and marvelled at the wonderful biodynamic wines being produced on my doorstep!
A few years have now passed since my first encounter with Welsh Wine producers, and in this time I have drank some truly delicious wine of Wales! And while I no longer live on the border, the wine from these lands proves time and again to connect me to place. I am always so encouraged to see how much the Welsh Wine industry is growing; from about 12 vineyards in 2016 to around 30 now nearly 10 years later!
On the 3rd of March 2025, Levercliff, a food and drink consultancy who represent the Welsh Wine Special Interest Group, hosted a ‘Welsh Wine Tasting’ for the trade and press. So I hopped on a train and made my way up to London to taste some wine!
It was such a delight to see some familiar faces as well as some new ones. It made sense to put together a little round up of the wines I got to taste from producers I am super excited about.
The Dell Vineyard, Monmouthshire (@thedellvineyard)
Another vineyard that is super close to my own mystified homeland is The Dell Vineyard, a small family owned vineyard in Monmouthshire.
When I attended this tasting I had just shared a bottle of their Clidda Gawr Col Fondo 2023 at my Wine Club and was very excited to taste some more of their range. Lucy talked me through the current wines they have available and we spoke a little about the state of last years harvest. 2023’s Y Gwyllgi Pinot Noir and dreamy Clidda Gawr Col Fondo are now things of legend, no longer available to purchase. However, they have two vintages of their Yr Afanc 2023 & 2022 (an tasty aromatic white blend) and the 2023 Y Lleidr (a Pinot Noir & Seyval Blanc Rosé).
These wines get their names from Welsh folklore and the Rosé ‘The Thief’ is a playful nod to the blackbirds and badgers who had their fill of the grapes in their first year- leaving only enough fruit to make 130 bottles!
I am eager to see what comes next from these folks and hope to visit the vineyard when I am next back home!
Visit their website here.
Whinyard Rocks, Radnorshire (@whinyardrocks)
I loved to see the delicious Bubbly Bubbly that I talked about on here earlier in the year! I got to have a chat with James about last years fateful harvest and gleefully taste their Col Rondo and Solaris Pet Nat again and see how these wines are doing (both are tasting wonderful)! The new one for me then at this tasting was the Still Red, a blend of 60% Regent and 40% Rondo.
This wine captures the essence of everything I want a wine to be, unfiltered and unfined, with nothing added, undergoing completely natural fermentation. Crushed and destemmed Rondo and Regent, a non vintage blend of the 2021 and 2022 harvests. Fermented with skins for 7 days before being gently pressed. The wine was aged in 70% light toast oak and 30% steel.
Here expect slightly crunchy but well integrated tannins, a rich deep red colour in the glass with lots of black fruit to match it on the palate: cherry and blackcurrents galore! With a subtle peppery and smokey finish.
Visit their shop.
White Castle Vineyard, Abergavenny, Monmouthshire (@welshwines)
It is always a pleasure to see Robb and Nicola pouring their wines from Abergavenny and hear about their newly constructed Winery, Y Gwindy. One highlight of the day for me was tasting White Castle’s Fortified Wine 2019’s 1518. If you know me, you’ll know that I’m on a bit of a mission to discover all of the ways that the UK wine industry is taking on the challenge of Sweet and Dessert Wines.
This fortified wine from White Castle is great, begging for some cheese! Regent grapes were hand harvested in October 2019, fermenting in stainless steel before being aged in Oak. Sweet and smooth with a silky richness!
Visit their website here.
Ancre Hill, Monmouthshire (@ancrehill)
Would it be an article about Welsh Wine if I didn’t mention Ancre Hill. One of my favourite producers of all time! It was such a joy to see owners Richard & Joy, and winemaker Jean in London, and taste some of their new releases!
The most exciting part of my day was tasting the new releases of their Blanc de Blancs 2018, which has been a long time coming. The wine, made in the traditional method or Méthode Champenoise. The base wine spent an initial 15 months in Austrian oak after undergoing wild primary fermentation. Before bottling and spending nearly 5 years in bottle on lees. Riddled and disgorged with zero dosage the wine was not fined or filtered and had no sulphur added. Made of 100% Biodynamic Chardonnay. Delightful, classic, I have many words to express how this wine made me feel. I simply suggest you drink it.
A similar story then with the Blanc de Noirs 2018. I have sold many a bottle of the NV Blanc de Noirs over the last few years and tasting the new one was a big moment! Beautifully crisp and delightfully refined with a superb toasty depth from that lees ageing. Here, 100% Biodynamic Pinot Noir, underwent primary spontaneous fermentation with no added yeast, and after an initial 15 months of ageing in stainless steel and concrete the wine was blended and bottled. After nearly 5 years of bottle ageing the wine was riddled and disgorged with zero dosage. The wine is zero sulphur. A truly fantastic example of refinement and character that low intervention biodynamic wines can capture.
Another highlight of the day was the new Orange Wine 2022, which is tasting brilliant, I would say this is in a much more accessible place than the previous vintage. Fruit comes through in such a joyful manner and I am honestly salivating just thinking about it. The herby savoury notes that I associate with the wine still comes through, but this is superbly balanced. I cannot wait to take a bottle of this on a summer picnic! Both Chardonnay and Albariño grapes underwent 30 day carbonic maceration with a small portion of the grapes being destemmed, crushed and fermented on the skins in concrete for a few days. After pressing the juice completed alcoholic and malolactic fermentation in a combination of oak and stainless steel, before spending a further 10 months on fine lees before bottling with no added sulphur, fining or filtration!
Quick mention to their pair of Pet Nats which I talk about at length here. I must also say quickly that their Pinot Noir 2020 is tasting better than ever, really having come into its own in the last 6 months since I last tasted it!
Consider me eagerly awaiting a taste of the new Pet Nats from 2024 when they are ready.
And you can visit their website here.
So there you go folks, some Welsh Wines for you!
I will note that I was sad to hear that Hebron Vineyard in Carmarthenshire had car troubles that prevented them making the trip to London, so I’m hoping to see them and their wines at the Pour Choices Wine Fair in Brighton this April 12th, alongside an absolutely stellar line up of so many fab UK producers.
Don’t forget to get your tickets here and I’ll see you there!
All love and spring dreams,
V x