This is not your stereotypical Blanc de Blancs! This is the second release of a limited-edition Blanc de Blancs made from Chardonnay from the tiny original 1989 planting at Greyfriars. These old vines produce small yields of what is consistently our most interesting Chardonnay. 2016 was a fairly typical vintage in the UK with the fruit picked on 14th October and fermented and aged in old oak barriques.
2016 Old Vines Blanc de Blancs
Displaying a delicate, pale lemon hue, this complex sparkling wine has honeyed beeswax and subtle baked apple aromas. The palate is a harmonious blend of richer and fresh fruit, with creamy apple and pear flavours and a delicate hint of vanilla on the finish from the well integrated oak ageing.
While this would serve as a wonderful aperitif, it would go down equally well with creamy, crème fraîche chicken pasta with pancetta; or with a Normandy style Moules with Cider, or lighter roast dishes such as pork tenderloin with fennel.
Review by Matthew Jukes in Vineyard Magazine: (November 2024) "[Goldenford] is fermented and aged in neutral oak, which grants this wine permission to hold itself with exquisite deportment. There are so few 'still' Chardonnays in the UK for which I use the term 'sophisticated'. I have no doubt they will come, but Goldenford is already here, and it is an absolute gem. Silky, linear, resonant and singular, this thrilling wine blows my mind at only £18! I have said it before, and it bears repeating- the wines from Greyfriars are the finest value in our land, and this beautiful wine is genuinely world-class from a taste perspective and also from a pounds, shillings and pence reckoning. if only I still owned my wine bar- would buy a pallet at the drop of a hat!"
