News

Tirage: a frantic, theatrical and intense period in any sparkling wine producer's year. Adrian preparing the wine. To explain what tirage is, we need to start at the beginning: harvest. After we have picked and pressed the fruit, the juice for our sparkling wine is fermented in tank to create a still base wine. During tirage (which usually takes place around June), the wine is bottled, and a mixture of wine, sugar and yeast is added to each bottle to create the chemical reaction which traps carbon dioxide in the bottle to produce the fizz. Unlike tank fermented sparkling wines,...

It's easy to see why Chardonnay is the world's most popular white wine grape. It's hugely adaptable - in hotter climes creating primary flavoured, tropical, low acid wines, and in cooler climates like ours, consistently delivering fruit full of complex flavours to create everything from crisp and linear traditional method blanc de blancs to beautifully buttery, oaky stills. Chardonnay growing at Westwell To mark international Chardonnay day on 21st May, we thought we would tell you a little more about how we grow and process Chardonnay here at Westwell. Wherever you do it, making wine with Chardonnay always involves creating...

In Praise of Ortega, by Adrian Pike, Westwell Winemaker. We're huge fans of Ortega at Westwell - a highly aromatic variety which shares much with its parent varieties Müller-Thürgau and Siegerrebe. Ortega is a perfect partner for our cool climate; ripening well even in chilly conditions. Though yields can be high, the fruit maintains depth of flavour and possesses a good balance of sugar and acidity. Those are two of the reasons that it's becoming established as an excellent grape to grow and make wine from - but for me, where it excels is in the flavours it produces. It’s...

It’s been great to welcome guests this spring for our first foray into food. Working with exceptional Kentish producers Moons Green Charcuterie and Cheesemakers of Canterbury, we are now able to serve delicious cheese and charcuterie plates from producers who care as much about their produce as we do about our wine. We have also just been granted a full licence, so you can now stay and enjoy glasses and bottles of the wines that we produce at Westwell alongside your tutored tasting too! As well as Saturday tours, we are also now open for Friday afternoon tastings so you...