Gloucestershire 'Beaujolais Nouveau' hits the shelves

News – It has been a good year for Gloucestershire vineyard Three Choirs, which has just unveiled a crisp New Release wine for the Beaujolais Nouveau deadline.

Three Choirs Vineyards in Newent has raced against time to get its 2011 New Release white wine on sale on the same day as Beaujolais Nouveau.

Described by the vineyard as ‘the English Beaujolais Nouveau’, Three Choirs’ New Release is made from grapes from this year’s harvest and went on sale on Thursday 17 November 2011 – coinciding with the uncorking of the famous French red.

Costing £7.50 a bottle, this year is the first time since 2006 that the 75-acre Forest of Dean vineyard has been able to produce a batch of New Release – all thanks to some very precise conditions.

Managing director Thomas Shaw said: ‘It takes luck with the weather and all the skills of our winemaker to make a batch of New Release. But when it all comes together, as it has this year, the result is a deliciously light, crisp wine that takes the drinker straight back to the height of the past summer.

The micro climate at Three Choirs has been described as ideal and as well as needing a hard winter followed by a mild spring and hot June, Mr Shaw added: ‘Luckily our vines escaped a late frost that hit other English winemakers and we’ve grown perfectly-sized grapes with concentrated sugars – ideal for making New Release.’

Proving a boon for the British winemaking industry, while Gloucestershire’s ‘Beaujolais Nouveau’ might not yet carry the kudos of an early bottle of its famous French counterpart, it certainly promises a treat for local wine connoisseurs.

For more information contact Three Choirs Vineyards directly on (01531) 890555.

SoGlos.com
17 November 2011