Established in 1952 by Major-General Sir Guy Salisbury-Jones, Hambledon Vineyard is the Birthplace of English Wine. Seventy years later, under the guidance of Berry Bros. & Rudd and Symington Family Estates, the vineyard continues to produce fine English Sparkling Wines.

The chalk soil of the estate is a continuation of the Paris Basin formed some 65 million years ago and is similar to the chalk soils of the Côtes des Blancs in Champagne.

Early in April, we were delighted to accept an invitation from John Fells & Sons to visit Hambledon Vineyard for a tasting.

We drove to London, took the train to Petersfield and a taxi to the vineyard. We could see the South Downs ancient chalky soil as we neared Hambledon.

The welcome at the winery was warm. The recently completed reception centre, tasting room and restaurant looked splendid.

We started with a guided tour of the vineyards and the winery.

Habledon has about 100 acres of vineyards, planted mainly with `chardonnay and another 100 acres further afield. Vine training is double Guyot, vines are not irrigated and harvesting is manual in to 20 kg boxes.

The winery at Hambledon is gravity fed. Only NV sparkling wines are produced. Grapes are not de-stemmed. Fermentation with neutral cultured yeasts is in temperature controlled stainless steel tanks at 18 to 25 degrees centigrade. Wines are aged for a minimum of 35 months on lees. Remuage and disgorgement are automated. Dosage and date of disgorgement are shown on the back label of the bottles.

Habledon’s head winemaker Hervé Jestin has overseen the production of more than 200 million bottles of Champagne and sparkling wine during his career and was chef des caves at Champagne Duval Leroy for over 20 years. Hervé is widely considered to be one of the best winemakers in the Champagne region.

Since 2015 Felix Gabillet has been the full time winemaker on site. A graduate of Changins University in Switzerland, Felix manages the winery on a day-to-day basis under Hervé’s watchful eye. Hervé continues to attend in person to direct all the crucial stages such as pressing, fermentation, bottling and most importantly the final assemblage.

Three Hambledon wines were tasted:

1. Hambledon Vineyard Classic Cuvée, the estates signature wine, is produced from vines on the South East facing chalk slopes of Windmill Down, in the village of Hambledon. It is a blend of all 3 traditional grapes – 51% Chardonnay, 32% Pinot Noir and 17% Pinot Meunier from the 2019 harvest (84%) with the balance 16% from reserve wines in a solera system. The wine is aged for 4 years on lees. Dosage was 5g/l. and ABV 12%. It is pale yellow in colour with fine bubbles and is crisp with good fruit and mouthfeel. A lovely wine to drink as an aperitif now and over the next two years. (17)

2. Hambledon Première Cuvée is a blend of 44% Chardonnay, 35% Pinot Noir and 21% Pinot Meunier based on the 2015 harvest and aged for 6 years on lees. Dosage was 2.5 g/l. It is rich and concentrated with noticeable autolysis. (16)

3. Hambleton Blanc de Blanc NV is 100% Chardonnay from the excellent 2018 vintage with some reserve wines, bottled in 2019 and disgorged in 2023. Dosage was 3.4 g/l and ABV 12%.

The three other wines produced by the estate are:

1. Hambledon Classic Cuvée Rosé – a blend 82% Chardonnay, 17% Pinot Noir and 1% Pinot Meunier aged for 45 months on lees. Dosage was 8g/l.

2. Hambledon Première Cuvée Rosé – a blend based on the 2016 harvest. The style is a more vinous and gastronomic version of rosé based on the saignée method. A longer lees ageing – the wine was bottled in 2017 and disgorged in 2022 – gives the wine depth and complexity. The blend is 87.5% Pinot Meunier, 5.2% Pinot Noir and 5.2% Chardonnay. Dosage is 4.5g/L

3. Hambledon Zéro Dosage Rosé is 100% Pinot Meunier.

The tasting was followed by an excellent lunch of smoked trout and lamb cutlets prepared by Head Chef Nick Edgar and his team, washed down with Bruno Pratt’s fine Douro red – Post Scriptum.

The taxi collected us at 4 pm and drove us to Petersfield to catch the 16.30 train to London. It was a splendid day.

Comments

Thank you for sharing this and for the wonderful write up on your visit. I’m so pleased you had a sunny day and a lovely time at the estate.

I hope your customer tasting goes well next month and that everyone is taken by Hambledon!

All the best,

Gabriella Messent​​​​, Fells, 15/4/25

Post views 40 (17/4/25)

Hambledon Vineyards, East St, Hambledon, Waterlooville PO7 4RY, Phone: 023 9263 2358