With more than 25 brands represented and well over 300 wines on show, more than half of those medal winners, the Hatch Mansfield autumn portfolio tasting presents an opportunity for the trade to sample and savour the sheer diversity and deliciousness of wine, with the focus unashamedly premium.
The entire Hatch Mansfield team at Champagne Taittinger to celebrate its 30th anniversary
Though hardly a household name – it chooses not sell to the public, nor even the on-trade, directly – Hatch Mansfield now has B-Corp status, achieved last March just months after it celebrated its 30th birthday, meaning it meets stringent criteria on social and environmental performance with a commitment to doing more than satisfying shareholders. Sustainability is a shared endeavour and in the tasting booklet to accompany the event, each producer was invited (maybe ordered) to list its own credentials on a page entitled ‘Our Green Approach’.
If being B-Corp is all about setting the very highest standards, then the portfolio undoubtedly meets that challenge, with the event’s importance underlined by the number of big names among both the tasters and those showing their wares, perhaps only rivalled by the calibre of those whose portraits adorn the regal blue distemper walls of the stately venue
All hail Evremond
With so many wines to sample, I chose to start at the vinous equivalent of a one horse town, a table whose surface boasted a single ice bucket containing a solitary wine, one that’s been the source of much expectation and excitement. Domaine Evremond Classic Cuvée NV Edition I (RRP £55), is the fruit of a project conceived a decade ago, when two good friends Patrick McGrath MW, Hatch Mansfield’s founder, and Pierre-Emmanuel Taittinger, scion of the Champagne dynasty, decided to join forces to make an English sparkling wine.
Fifty five per cent Pinot Noir, 35% Chardonnay, the remainder Meunier, it was already impressive at its launch late last year, albeit with a searing Granny Smith acidity, but it has evolved with aplomb, the lithe mid-palate broadening like the horizon to reveal satisfying creaminess from the malolactic fermentation, with a balancing orchard freshness that could only be English.
To be clear, this is no Taittinger ‘mini me’, but rather a calling card for what this country can deliver, a source of immense relief for Hatch Mansfield’s managing director, Ben Knollys.
“Ten years in the making, we’re just absolutely delighted with the product, it has been really well received, particularly for a first wine from young vines, so it tells you something about the site selection as well as that Taittinger know-how,” he says.
A second edition is due before Christmas, and a rosé iteration is also in the pipeline.
A new Comtes
By contrast to Evremond’s one bottle show, its French cousins offered a table groaning under the weight of a substantial, yet carefully curated portfolio, starting with one of my personal favourites: Taittinger Brut Reserve NV (RRP £45), a smooth, elegant Chardonnay-led Champagne that’s never boring and, frankly, hard to beat at the price. Spend an extra £20, however, and you’ll get Taittinger Prélude Grands Cru NV (RRP £65), an equal blend of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay that’s enticingly toasty, with elegant tiny bubbles, some rich nutty complexity balanced by bags of citrus freshness and a hint of tropical fruit, representing good value when you consider it’s all Grand Cru fruit.
And there was more: thanks to a tip off, I knew that there was something special lurking under that Tatty table: Taittinger Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs 2014 (RRP £180), due for imminent release. From a cooler vintage with a strong reputation, aged on lees for a decade, it offers a symphony of white flowers, lemon meringue pie, toasted hazelnuts, with a rich, lactic complexity and velvet texture, but also profound freshness, underpinned by a chalky minerality.
"Jadot has the best of everything and offers real bang for your buck, which is not something you hear often in Burgundy these days.” – Hatch Mansfield managing director Ben Knollys
Knollys assures me careful thought has gone into setting the price of this new release.
“Taittinger has always consciously avoided being greedy with the price of Comtes, we have grown it organically, making sure it’s in the right places, at the right price … it’s not an easy fine wine market at the moment, but there’s absolutely still demand for these kinds of Champagnes if the price is right.”
Burgundy beyond Beaune
It is famously a patchwork of tiny plots, commanding not so diminutive prices, but Burgundy also boasts a few bigger players, able to offer a diverse portfolio of wines at a broad range of RRPs, and Louis Jadot, a co-founder of Hatch Mansfield, is one such producer, whose interests extend across the region, from Chablis down to Beaujolais, “they have the best of everything and they offer real bang for your buck, which is not something you hear often in Burgundy these days,” says Knollys, with a measure of understatement.
As an example: Château des Jacques Beaujolais Blanc Clos de Loyse 2024 (RRP £25), 100% Chardonnay, with 10 months in barrel, offers plump peach, apricot and ripe rocha pear, the fleshy fruit kept in check by a firm zesty acidity, a gentle buttery character emanating from the otherwise invisible oak.I think we should all be drinking more Beaujolais Blanc, because it’s usually so much better than pan-regional white Burgundy at a similar price.
For those looking for something to lay down, Louis Jadot Mersault-Charmes Premier Cru 2021 (RRP £119) is still relatively tightly coiled (for a Mersault) but also incredibly tantalising, with rich, ripe stone fruit, plenty of opulent body, velvety viscosity and a subtle-but-still-firm white grapefruit acidity. Elegant already, the best is yet to come.
Also worthy of note, Louis Jadot Bourgogne Côte D’Or Rouge 2022 (RRP £30) a new wine that is, literally, a work of art, with an arresting front label designed by students at London’s Central Saint Martins College, the design highlighting the three elements that define the wine: the soils, landscape and famous ‘climats’ of the Côte d’Or. Boasting a lifted red fruit nose, the palate offers punnet loads of cherries and berries, with subtle spice, fine tannins and a joyful juiciness.
Cherubino shines bright
Husband and wife Larry and Edwina Cherubino have come a long way since they set up shop in their spare room 20 years ago, their achievements crowned when their eponymous brand was awarded the IWSC’s coveted ‘White Wine Producer’ trophy in 2023.Though most famous for cuvées from Margaret River, a region that’s firmly established itself on the fine wine map, Larry Cherubino works across Western Australia, as well as being consultant winemaker for Robert Oatley.
“We were very fortunate to meet Larry when we took on the wines of Robert Oatley in 2016 and it was clear from the start that this was someone very special, in terms of his winemaking skills and his vision … he really is pioneering, one of those wonderful characters of the wine world,” says Knollys.
From Pemberton, Ad Hoc Hen & Chicken Chardonnay 2024 (RRP £17), named after the distinctive, little and large grape clusters of the Gingin clone of the variety, offers a delicate, faintly floral nose, with peach skin, while the palate is lithe with nuanced stone and tropical fruits, gently dappled with Madagascan vanilla pod. This is a good value wine that doesn’t try too hard, and is all the better for it.
At the premium end, but still decent value at well under £50, Cherubino Margaret River Chardonnay 2022 (RRP £43) has an enticing nose of red apple, rocha pear and jasmine, with a hint of butterscotch. A textural feast, the palate is precariously balanced on a tightrope between vibrant and voluptuous, linear yet fully rounded, with a creamy macadamia core and a long honeyed finish.
CVNE’s reign in Spain
Established in Haro in 1879, CVNE (an acronym for the Northern Spanish Wine Company), has expanded its reach in recent decades, with a range that now extends from Galicia across to Cava country, while remaining Rioja royalty.
“It now really lives up to its name, making great wine in all of those places, with a style that’s really in tune with the market at the moment,” Knollys says.
CVNE has also been an innovator, as evidenced by a cuvée that has evolved since its re-launch just under a decade ago, Monopole Clásico Reserva Blanco 2021 (RRP £30), 100% Viura made to a heritage style that once meant adding a generous splash of Manzanilla. Now classified Rioja Reserva, the production process has changed and these days the wine is aged in Sherry barrels instead.The result is arresting, with a beautiful silky citrus, saline, nutty character that cries out for a plate of chorizo. It’s a gastronomic ‘sommelier wine’ to savour.
Talking of innovation, Virgin del Galir Regueirón Godello 2023 (RRP £34) stopped me in my tracks, forcing me to momentarily, unconsciously, forget to spit. With its complex nose of orange blossom, greengage and candied citrus, textural, multi-layered lusciousness, balanced by flinty freshness and its long saline finish, the wine is a gastronomic experience and quite the most extraordinary Godello I have ever tasted. I shall be buying this wine.
Errázuriz champions Chile
Though Chile is often described as a ‘New World’ wine country, Don Maximiano Errázuriz recognised the potential of the Aconcagua Valley way back in 1870, when he planted his vines, and today a sixth generation of his family carries the torch, as well as a stake in Hatch Mansfield, with Don Maximiano’s descendent, Eduardo Chadwick, a co-founder of the agency back in 1994.
Though primarily a red producer, Las Pizarras Chardonnay 2022 (RRP £53) is the brand’s flagship white, from a coastal vineyard where the morning fog keeps things cool and fresh, while the sun burns each afternoon, resulting in optimum ripeness. With the salinity of a windy coastal walk and plump-bordering-on-opulent stone fruit, the wine offers a masterclass in balance and purity, with a cooling slate undertow adding to the artfully restrained feast. Awarded 97 points by Tim Atkin MW, this is a wine for lovers of white Burgundy who find themselves looking elsewhere to spend their cash.
Then there’s Seña: a joint venture between Eduardo Chadwick and Robert Mondavi, launched 30 years ago, the brand was created to show that Chile could produce world class wines to rival those of Napa. The latest release, Seña 2021 (RRP £128), a blend of majority Cabernet Sauvignon, 27% Malbec, 17% Carmenère and 6% Petit Verdot, comes from a vintage heralded for its potential. The nose entices with brooding berries, charcuterie and subtle sweet spice, while the palate is pronounced, but never overblown, beautifully balanced with finesse from the fine-grained tannins, and remarkable length.So elegant, this could well be the best ever Seña.
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