A couple of English white wines to enjoy this summer (well, anytime really!)

The more I explore English and Welsh wines, the more I am really struck by the high quality of so many of the wines available from our island’s vineyards. Here are a couple more to enjoy!

Flint Vineyard Bacchus 2019 (Norfolk)

Oz Clarke was quite right when he highly praised the Flint Vineyard Bacchus white wine and recommended it in his book ‘English Wine’. The quality of the wine is all the more surprising when you consider that the vineyard was only established in 2016. The grapes come from the Flint vineyard site in South Norfolk as well as from a site in Essex and are expertly blended by winemaker Ben Witchell to produce a crisp, refreshing wine that has a complexity of layers which delight the taste buds.

With aromas of lime, gooseberry and undertones of elderflower and spice on the nose, and citrus fruit flavours with a hint of minerality on the palate, this is an expressive, well-balanced wine. Dry with a lively acidity and a long finish, it is a wine that is fine to drink by itself, or as the perfect accompaniment to a seafood dish or something slightly spicy.

Camel Valley Atlantic Dry 2020 (Cornwall)

A delightful blend of Pinot Blanc and Bacchus grapes, this a very appealing aromatic wine from one of Cornwall’s longest established wineries, Camel Valley, another of Oz Clarke’s favourites. With the vineyard nestled in the Camel River Valley on the north Cornish coast, you can almost feel the sea air and hear the waves of the Atlantic Ocean lapping the shore as you taste this very aptly-named Atlantic Dry white wine.

This is a dry, medium-bodied wine with refreshing acidity. With aromas of honeysuckle, pear, lemon and grapefruit on the nose, and flavours of apple and peach on the palate, it is a very well-balanced wine, and has a lingering finish.

Needless to say, this is a perfect wine for a fish or seafood dish.

Both wines are available from Grape Britannia.