Vineyard Diary – Page 2 – Coates and Seely

A Vineyard Diary Part 14

This Christmas, as we retreat into our bubbles, we should treat ourselves to some bubbles.

Vineyards and Coronavirus

The story so far: No sooner do we exit a month of lockdown than over half the country is cast back there and we are each consigned to our Christmas bubble…

‘Bubble’.

It’s a curious word.

We share it with the Swedish ‘bubbla’, the Danish and Norwegian ‘boble’ and the Dutch ‘bubbel’.

It first entered Middle English as a ‘burble’, but eventually popped up – as burbles tend to do – in modern English as a ‘bubble’ (in ‘As You Like It’).

Cast as an image of hollowness, and then later of ephemerality and later still of excess (viz the ‘South Sea Bubble’), the hapless bubble has nevertheless also had its admirers along the way.

Remember Keats’ intoxicating ‘beaded bubbles winking at the brim’? Or Shelley’s ‘bubbles on a river sparkling, bursting, borne away’?

Each an image of joy and fragility.

And in Cockney, a ‘bubble’ means a ‘laugh’ (rhyming, as it does, with ‘bubble bath’).

Today the bubble’s imagery has once again – dare we even say it – mutated, and we now all find ourselves, irritatingly, stuck in one.

To a greater or lesser extent we probably always have been (stuck in one), but this is surely the first time we have been ordered there by decree?

Let us hope such grotesque legal overreach is itself a mere bubble – here today, gone tomorrow – to be pricked by the immunising needle of modern science.

Of course we are, at Coates & Seely, purveyors of bubbles ourselves, and over the years have developed our own observations on the subject.

Bubbles, we have observed, are best consumed.

Not chased, or pricked, or invested in, still less retreated into.

They should be consumed: ideally, in extremely generous quantities of tiny, eddying spirals that tease the palate with a natural and spontaneous thrill.

Consumption should be frequent, too, so that the bubbles’ natural evanescence is counter-balanced with regular replenishment.

This is very good for the spirit (and for Coates & Seely sales).

Our forbears discovered this long ago and we have happily maintained their tradition.

We drink, in this country, twice as much Champagne as our American cousins, with only one quarter of the population. That is eight times more Champagne than the average American.

It makes you proud to be British.

So this Christmas, as we retreat into our bubbles – lamenting, as well we might, our loss of traditional freedoms – we should know that not all our national traditions have died.

We should treat ourselves to some bubbles.

They will raise the spirit.

Bubbles within Bubbles. There are worse ways, after all, to spend a pandemic…

A VERY HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO ALL OUR FRIENDS OF COATES & SEELY!

A Vineyard Diary Part 13

To ease our clients through further pandemic chaos Coates & Seely are curating a hamper of Christmas food and goods from local Hampshire producers.

Vineyards and Coronavirus

The story so far: after a small but perfect harvest, pandemic chaos strikes again and we enter another lockdown…

Lockdown strikes again and we have re-occupied our positions on Albion – the perfect socially-distanced pandemic-proof office.

It’s sometimes a little nippy, but nothing that long-johns and a hint of vintage fur can’t cope with.

Sales have flat-lined once more as our wonderful clients – hotels, restaurants, pubs and events companies – struggle themselves to deal with the devastation that lockdown creates for them.

We are truly all in this together…

Meanwhile, one of our corporate customers has placed an order for bottles of Coates & Seely to be sent to their clients and has asked us to curate a Christmas hamper of locally produced food and goods around them.

The variety and quality of the produce we have on our doorstep in Hampshire (with the occasional foray into Somerset) is astonishing.

From hand-made Christmas puddings, dressed in calico, made to an original nineteenth century family recipe (Plum Duff & Stuff), to mince pies with home-made mincemeat of pear, walnut and brandy, and delicate sweet pastry (Mrs B’s Kitchen); from Christmas pudding flavoured fudge that literally melts in the mouth (it melts hearts, too) (Marsden’s Confectionery), to chilli, sweet and smoked flavoured almonds and cashews for your Christmas day ‘quarantinis’ (Cambrook Extraordinary Nuts) and mature cheddars made from an ancient recipe and a single family herd of 320 organic dairy cows (Godminster).

And, whilst not exactly edible, you will probably be tempted to eat, when you first experience their delicious scent, Mariana’s home-made soaps of lavender, lemongrass and sweet orange, hand-wrapped by Mariana herself and which, like your bath, will provide the perfect ending to even the most trying of days.

What each of these – and the many other local producers we work with – all share is an artisanal approach to production, using the highest quality craftsmanship, the best and most ethically sourced ingredients, recyclable packaging and rurally-based production facilities, within a family environment.

The artisans are the great sanctuary of quality, the family the last stronghold of happiness. When they disappear, and the big brands take over, all will be lost.

If you are interested in any of these products, or in our Christmas hamper, do please click on the above links or respond directly to us if you’d like to order any of our sparkling wines which will produce the fizz and the sparkle we must all surely deserve after the trials of this rather extraordinary year!

A Vineyard Diary Part 12

There is a genius in these English chalk soils that produces Champagne varietals – Chardonnay and Pinot Noir – of great quality, which even pandemics and late-spring frosts can’t affect.

Vineyards and Coronavirus

The story so far: after late spring frosts, record levels of rainfall and a resurgent pandemic, how will the harvest be affected?

Chardonnay Harvest 2020 at Coates & Seely — Chardonnay Harvest 2020

The harvest is finally in.

Neither the coldest late-spring frost in decades (Diary Entry 4), nor the wettest day ever recorded in the UK (October 2, mid-harvest) – nor even a global pandemic – have managed to affect the quality of the fruit.

The harvest this year might be very small, but it’s undeniably beautiful.

A vintage year, despite it all…

This afternoon, with all the fruit now picked, I stood on the hill overlooking the vineyards.

They lie in the quiet, wooded hills between the clear chalk stream of the River Test that flows along the valley floor to the south and the high chalk ridge of Watership Down to the north, in a secluded v-shaped valley.

They are a winemaker’s dream, where chalk soils and clay caps disgorge rugged flints that help retain the heat of the sun, warming the top-soils; whilst in the late summer and early autumn the enclosed valley helps trap the last of the season’s heat to ripen the grapes.

C&S Pinot Noir Vineyard Harvest 2020 — Coates & Seely Pinot Noir vineyard during Harvest 2020

The fruit that then emerges contains the perfect balance of crisp acidity and sweetness, as well as the saline minerality, that lie at the heart of all great sparkling wine.

There is a genius in these English chalk soils that produces Champagne varietals – Chardonnay and Pinot Noir – of great quality, which even pandemics and late-spring frosts can’t affect.

People still express surprise when I say this, but why shouldn’t it be so?

It was as recently as 1830 that a Mr Cox, from Buckinghamshire, planted an English apple tree called an Orange Pippin. It was an experiment. Today, Cox’s Orange Pippin – with its razor-crisp flesh, beguiling sugars and thrilling acidity – is an apple unsurpassed anywhere in the world!

And so it is proving with English, chalk-grown grapes for sparkling wine. Just look at where the Champenois are now beginning to plant.

Chardonnay grapes C&S Harvest 2020 — Coates & Seely Chardonnay grapes

As I turn my back to the vineyards to head home, my phone pings.

Trade talks with the EU have been abandoned.

I feel a sadness, after all we have been through together, that we can’t even agree our trading arrangements.

After all, ten thousand years ago you could still have walked – just – from where I am standing, overlooking the vineyards, all the way to the region of Champagne, before the ice-melt of the last glacial period finally severed the last remaining land connection to the rest of the European continent, setting us off on our long island story.

Geologically speaking we are at least first cousins.

We share, too, the same long hinterland of triumphs and endeavour and sacrifice, same side or not.

So whatever the final outcome, we shall continue to work with our continental friends, to learn from their craftsmanship, to enjoy our differences and to sell them our wines.

It will take more than politics to prevent that.

As it takes more than frost, or a pandemic, to degrade our wines.

A Vineyard Diary Part 11

Virginia Coates, Head of Events demonstrates local and seasonal food pairing with English sparkling wine from Coates & Seely.

Vineyards and Coronavirus

The story so far: life begins to return to something closer to normality, with the hospitality sector having taken the first early steps towards re-opening, (although crowd-related ‘events’ remain prohibited). Meanwhile, we have completed the first curated tours of Coates & Seely on ‘Albion’, our 1952 vintage coach…

In addition to a curated guide of the vineyards and winery, with transport provided by ‘Albion’, our tour-guests are also treated to food matching – with canapés made from our own ingredients or those of our neighbours – followed by lunch outside under Indian Mughal tents.

Virginia’s culinary skills at this point play a leading role, proving that the chalk soils of North Hampshire not only provide outstanding fruit for the production of English sparkling wine, but also the perfect ingredients for food pairings with our wines.

Food pairing with English Sparkling Wine

England has no food and wine ’vernacular’, in the way that French or Italian wine regions, for instance, have developed – sometimes over centuries – local food dishes that perfectly match the local wines, but we have made an exciting start at Coates & Seely, knowing that no wine is ever entirely complete without matching food and the deep pleasure of accompanying friendship.

Here is Virginia at work.

A Vineyard Diary Part 10

Coates & Seely launch the private tours of their Hampshire vineyard and winery including sparkling wine tasting and food pairing lunch.

Vineyards and Coronavirus

The story so far: after battles with disappearing workforces, collapsing markets, devilish frosts and government fug, are we seeing the early glimpses of a return to a previous life?

Hampshire Vineyard Private Tour lunch under Indian Mughal Tent

In anticipation of the re-opening of the hospitality sector next week, and in an attempt to make up in some part for the lost, but essential, life pleasures of eating and drinking in beautiful surroundings, we have decided to open our Hampshire gardens and English Sparkling Wine vineyards and offer socially-distanced Private Tours of our vineyards and winery, followed by tastings, food pairings and lunch under Indian Mughul tents.

Given the constraints we are under the tours, filmed below, can only be taken by groups of 8-12 people and are aimed principally at the corporate hospitality sector or perhaps for those special occasions.

(to be continued….)

A Vineyard Diary Part 9

Coates & Seely applaud and salute the hospitality industry inspired by generosity and care for their staff and the vulnerable throughout the pandemic.

Vineyards and Coronavirus

The story so far: beyond the struggle to survive pandemics and mother nature, and through the chaos and absurdities of current lockdown policy, the shoots of practical self-help continue to take root.

Commedia dell’Arte – also known as Commedia alla Maschera (masked comedy), or Commedia Improvviso – is said to have died out in the late 18^th century.

Nevertheless, it appears to be making a concerted comeback, in only the thinnest of disguises, with our current leadership.

What could be more ‘improvised’ (and comic, if it weren’t so tragic) than the current farrago around quarantine?

Or a more perfect comic plot than the tortured issue of wearing (or not wearing) (or being seen to wear) a face ‘mask’?

It is as if Il Capitano, Scaramouche and Il Dottore have metamorphosed into some of our most (or least!) eminent politicians. (We will leave it to you to apply names to characters. By email, please – the best suggestions to qualify for a bottle of Coates & Seely).

Away from this hopeless mess, it is heartening to see so many of our clients within the hospitality sector – one of the worst to be hit by the pandemic – emerge with initiatives of their own, fired both by generosity and resourcefulness.

Into the first category fall the Caprice Group of restaurants, who in conjunction with the Richard Caring Foundation have opened the kitchens of The Ivy Collection, Scott’s, Annabel’s, Le Caprice and Bill’s across the country to provide 50,000 meals a week to the vulnerable throughout the pandemic. And our dear friends at Food Show, one of the most renowned events caterers in London, who have done something very similar.

These are wonderful, real-life performances, inspired by generosity and care for their staff, which we applaud and salute.

Initiative and resourcefulness also abound. Skye Gyngell of Spring and Heckfield Place has helped protect their inspired kitchen garden at Heckfield, their bio-dynamic farm supplier, Fern Verrow in Herefordshire, as well their own chefs, by supplying their renowned sourdough breads and kefir butter, cakes, jams and cordials and specialist store cupboard ingredients for their stranded London customers via an on-line shop.

Simon and Jason, at The Wellington Arms in Baughurst, have done something similar, turning their restaurant into the Welli Deli where each morning you can find their signature cheese soufflés, crab & asparagus quiches and home-grown miniature vegetables, along with bottles of Coates & Seely, alongside a good-natured gathering of satisfied local customers.

In London, the Cubitt House group have turned The Coach Makers Arms, The Orange and The Alfred Tennyson into purveyors of the finest takeaways; whilst the deeply talented Jonny Lake and Isa Bal – previously head chef and head sommelier, respectively, at The Fat Duck – have launched an online shop to supplement Trivet, their quite outstanding new restaurant in Bermondsey, which we urge you all to visit the minute lockdown is over (it is the most exciting new restaurant in London).

All of these inspirational establishments, as well as hundreds of our other friends within the industry, will in time thrive once more in providing outstanding service, at the very highest levels, to their devoted customers.

But we do urgently need the current cast of comic characters to speak their final lines, promptly, clearly and judiciously, without contradiction or inconsistency, and to remove themselves from the hospitality stage as soon as possible, as has now been done in almost every other European country.

Not just to save jobs, companies and whole industries, but to save livelihoods.

To ensure success, they might also quarantine the Home Secretary…

Finally, to soften this rather irritable tone, we invite all our friends of Coates & Seely to put themselves forward to win a fabulous prize of bottles of Coates & Seely, boxes of Summerdown Mint Chocolates and photo frames from our friends at Addison Ross.

(to be continued….)