Lyme Bay Shoreline

Description

Lyme Bay Shoreline is an English wine blend produced from grapes grown in a selection of vineyards in Essex, Kent, Herefordshire, Oxfordshire, Somerset, West Sussex and Devon. The wine is a blend of Reichensteiner, Bacchus, Chardonnay, Seyval Blanc, Ortega, Pinot Noir and Solaris.

The Lyme Bay Winery was founded by Nigel Howard and has made its name over the years for the production of a wide range of fruit wine, ciders, meads and liqueurs from their base in the Axe Valley in Devon. Whilst they still produce a wide range of these products, Lyme Bay Winery planted 26,000 vines in 2009 and 2010 within a stone’s throw of the winery and have since branched out with a good range of still and sparkling English wines. As well as farming their own vines, they also buy grapes from other grape growers in the South of England and argue that “truly special wines are born from grapes with diverse backgrounds.” Lyme Bay works with a group of outstanding growers with vineyards all over England who plant the right grapes for the climate they are in to obtain the best ripeness for wine production.

As mentioned above the grapes for the Lyme Bay Shoreline are sourced from quite a selection of English vineyards: Yew Tree Vineyard (Oxfordshire); Watchcombe (Devon); Haygrove Evolution (Herefordshire); Sandhurst (Kent); Crouch Valley (Essex); Great Whitman’s (Essex); Old Mill House (Essex)

Lyme Bay Shoreline  Shoreline is a blend of beautiful cool climate varieties, with each of the parcels fermented separately with different yeast strains & temperatures to make several complex layers of flavours & aromas. Upon completion, the different vats were assessed for potential and characteristics and then blended together in the optimum proportions. The resulting Shoreline blend was aged for several months on fine lees to improve and preserve freshness.

What is the Solaris Grape Variety?

Solaris is a white grape variety created in Germany in 1975. It is a cross made from from Merzling and Gm 6493 (itself a hybrid of Zarya Severa and Muscat Ottonel). It was developed primarily for cooler climates, as it ripens early and is resistant to fungal diseases, making it ideal for vineyards in northern Europe which have short growing seasons.