March 20, 2025
Today we are back at Danbury Ridge Winery in Essex with Richard Bampfield MW and winemaker Liam Idzikowski tasting their latest release from their Octagon Block, Chardonnay 2022. Danbury Ridge Chardonnay 2022
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Danbury Ridge was founded by two generations of the Bunker family: Michael and Heather Bunker and, their daughters Janine and Sophie. While walking with friends on the estate it was suggested that some of the agricultural land owned by the Bunker family may prove an ideal location for growing vines. The fields had long been scorned by local farmers for being lean and arid - a good training ground for racehorses over wet winters, but far from ideal for summer cereal crops. A detailed feasibility study was undertaken, and the conclusions formed the outline of a plan that the family expanded upon over the following years. The first vines were planted in 2014 with a focus on identifying Pinot Noir and Chardonnay clones which could best exploit the unique mesoclimate. After just a few seasons the vines were producing grapes of a quality and ripeness previously unseen in the UK; surely England's finest still Chardonnay producer.
Vinification: Fruit was handpicked and whole bunch pressed. With no settling, the juice was transferred to 228L Burgundian oak barrels with full solids for fermentation. The wine was then left on gross lees for 12 months, where malolactic fermentation took place. Battonage was performed once, as the wine was transferred out of barrels to tank to give the wine further time on gross lees before bottling 6 months later. The wine was bottled unfined.
The Vineyards: The grapes are sourced from the loamy, carbonite rich clay of the estate’s most easterly block, Sleipnir and Spar Hill, overlooking the Blackwater Estuary. The sites were picked for their ideal mix of London Clay, sand and silt providing rich and deep soils optimal for Chardonnay vine cultivation with excellent drainage and heat retention.
Weather: 2022 was a vintage of anomalies. A maximum temperature of 41.43°C was recorded in the Polo Field on the 19th July, whilst cumulative precipitation for the three summer months, June - August, was a miserly 10mm. Temperatures in September and October fell back to normal values, slowing ripening. Rainfall remained low across September and October. We saw zero botrytis and the bunches and berries for both Chardonnay and Pinot were small. The team had it easy on the sorting table, but the punch downs were brutal given the high percentage of solids. Pump overs and délestage were a salve for aching harvest limbs. Climate is delivering a crammer course. It feels like we’ve experienced a lifetime of meteorological possibilities since our first vintage in 2016. The memory of 2022’s long hot summer will live long in the wines.
Technical Information:
Region: Crouch Valley, Essex
Sub Region: Danbury
Grape Varieties: 100% Chardonnay
pH: 3.00
TA: 7.3g/L
ABV: 13.5%
Production: 46 Barrels
Drink: Now to 2030
Tasting Note: The 2022 Chardonnay has a taut and linear bouquet with clementine and apricot. Fresh and vibrant, the wine opens up gradually in the glass. The palate has a lovely texture, which marks it out from the previous vintage, much more weight. With very fine delineation and minerality, it’s beautifully balanced, deepening towards the finish with a prickle of stem ginger that feels more pithy and, therefore, has greater umami that the previous vintage. Superb. - Tasted by Neal Martin
Vinification: Fruit was handpicked and whole bunch pressed. With no settling, the juice was transferred to 228L Burgundian oak barrels with full solids for fermentation. The wine was then left on gross lees for 12 months, where malolactic fermentation took place. Battonage was performed once, as the wine was transferred out of barrels to tank to give the wine further time on gross lees before bottling 6 months later. The wine was bottled unfined.
The Vineyards: The grapes are sourced from the loamy, carbonite rich clay of the estate’s most easterly block, Sleipnir and Spar Hill, overlooking the Blackwater Estuary. The sites were picked for their ideal mix of London Clay, sand and silt providing rich and deep soils optimal for Chardonnay vine cultivation with excellent drainage and heat retention.
Weather: 2022 was a vintage of anomalies. A maximum temperature of 41.43°C was recorded in the Polo Field on the 19th July, whilst cumulative precipitation for the three summer months, June - August, was a miserly 10mm. Temperatures in September and October fell back to normal values, slowing ripening. Rainfall remained low across September and October. We saw zero botrytis and the bunches and berries for both Chardonnay and Pinot were small. The team had it easy on the sorting table, but the punch downs were brutal given the high percentage of solids. Pump overs and délestage were a salve for aching harvest limbs. Climate is delivering a crammer course. It feels like we’ve experienced a lifetime of meteorological possibilities since our first vintage in 2016. The memory of 2022’s long hot summer will live long in the wines.
Technical Information:
Region: Crouch Valley, Essex
Sub Region: Danbury
Grape Varieties: 100% Chardonnay
pH: 3.00
TA: 7.3g/L
ABV: 13.5%
Production: 46 Barrels
Drink: Now to 2030
Tasting Note: The 2022 Chardonnay has a taut and linear bouquet with clementine and apricot. Fresh and vibrant, the wine opens up gradually in the glass. The palate has a lovely texture, which marks it out from the previous vintage, much more weight. With very fine delineation and minerality, it’s beautifully balanced, deepening towards the finish with a prickle of stem ginger that feels more pithy and, therefore, has greater umami that the previous vintage. Superb. - Tasted by Neal Martin
