OUR WINEMAKING PHILOSOPHY
Our low-intervention, Traditional Method, Vintage Sussex Sparkling wines are a true expression of our terroir. Produced from hand-harvested grapes that are whole-bunch pressed and patiently matured, on lees and in bottle to develop rich, autolytic notes, with a low dosage that emphasises the purity of our fruit. We aim to preserve the wonderful natural flavours of the grapes with as little intervention as possible.
Blanc de Noirs
Our most prestigious Sussex Sparkling wine made from predominantly Pinot Noir grapes grown and hand-harvested on the Rathfinny Wine Estate.
Blanc de Blancs
Made from a blend of predominantly Burgundy clones of Chardonnay grapes grown and hand-harvested on the Rathfinny Wine Estate.
ROSÉ BRUT
A Pinot Noir dominated Sussex Sparkling wine, with a red-fruit style that beautifully showcases the increased presence of Pinot Noir within the blend.
CLASSIC CUVÉE
Our 'house-style' Sussex Sparkling. Made from Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier and Chardonnay grapes grown and hand-harvested on the Rathfinny Estate.
The Craft
The time-honoured methods for making sparkling wine, developed over centuries in the Champagne region of France and elsewhere, are being adopted and refined at Rathfinny.
Our single-site Vineyard is tended to by our Vineyard Manager, Cameron Roucher, and his team. The main grape varieties planted at Rathfinny are Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Pinot Meunier.
THE PROCESS
Traditional winemaking processes are under the careful control of our Winery Manager, Tony Milanowski. Sussex Sparkling wine is crafted in the Traditional Method, where the secondary fermentation takes place in the bottle, after which it is left to age on the yeast lees for a minimum of 15 months to develop wonderful autolytic notes. On occasion, some fermentation and/or ageing takes place in oak barrels to develop even more complexity.
October
The start of the winemaking year. The grapes are harvested, pressed into juice and inoculated with yeast to begin fermentation.
November
Alcoholic fermentation finishes and the wines undergo malolactic fermentation to soften the acidity.
December
We start the process of getting our next release ready. Dosage trials help us to gauge how much sugar to add, followed by riddling which pushes the yeast into the neck of the bottle.
January/February
The next releases have the yeast removed, which is known as disgorging, then bottle topped and corked. We then wait a few more months for the wine to be ready.
March/April
The new vintage wines are now ready to tasted and classified. At the same time, our new wines are being labelled in preparation for release.
May/June
The new releases are now ready for sale, while the current vintage wines are blended and stabilised ready for bottling.
July/August
The stable wine is now combined with extra sugar and yeast and capped. Off to the cellar they go mature.
September
Time to get ready to do it all again!
