Cor blimney!

Another English wine recently appeared in Vinoland for my delectation, this time courtesy of Monkey.
The Limney, 2007 Horsmonden Dry White Wine, produced by Davenport Vineyards, is a wine that seems to be suffering from an identity crisis. Trying to understand the wine that was in my glass proved to be a little too taxing, when all I really wanted to do was simply enjoy a pleasing white wine as an apéritif...ho hum!
Davenport's website does little to shed light on the personality of this confusing tipple, even themselves quoting the wine as being "in conversion...half way to being organic." And Loire-style? What's wrong with English-style?
The wine is composed of five different grape varieties; Ortega, Bacchus, Faberrebe, Huxelrebe and Siegerrebe. As with the Denbies wine, that I enjoyed earlier this month, the Limney is a blend produced from grapes that are hybrids of predominantly German grape varieties - that in turn are themselves hybrids. Davenport Vineyards also grow Pinot noir at their Horsmonden farm and I wouldn't be surprised if they threw some of this into the mix also, a la the kitchen sink. Immediately upon smelling this wine I detected burnt matchstick which is an odour that is usually associated with an excess of sulphur dioxide. Given time this usually dissipates and sure enough, in this case, it blew off relatively quickly. Some people contend that the flavour of burnt matchstick is a tell-tale sign that a wine may contain Pinot noir...I personally think it simply illustrates the inherent funk that one often finds in organic wines. This wine was dry and quite crisp, but ultimately, and underwhelmingly, vinous. In the end, all the hyper-active-varietal-gymnastics were just a little too incestuous for my palate.
I have great hopes for the future of the English wine industry and genuinely look forward to enjoying many more wines from the likes of Denbies and Nyetimber. However, if now and again the odd, delusional producer insists on releasing a schizophrenic wine such as this offering from Davenport then, in my humble opinion, they will have only doomed themselves to failure and, perhaps even worse, ridicule.
Next!

English Rosé.

Thud always turns up in California with a little something of interest in the wine department. This visit is no exception. Denbies 2007 Rose Hill rosé is an ever so slightly sweet, deeply salmon-hued still wine which is a blend of Pinot noir and Dornfelder. Dornfelder? Yes, Dornfelder - a cross between Helfsteiner and Heroldrebe, two German grape varieties which, in turn, are themselves crosses. A very nice tipple.
I have had Denbies wines before, namely their Juniper Hill, and have always found them to be very pleasant. The Juniper Hill is a rather aromatic still white wine that is vinted from Bacchus and Schnöburger grapes. Bacchus? Schnöburger? Yes, Bacchus - a Silvaner and Reisling hybrid which is then crossed with Müller-Thurgau. As for the Schönburger...you can look that one up for yourself!
It is heartening to me that there are now some quality wines emanating from the Mother Country, albeit reliant on Teutonic inventiveness, with the introduction of newer, cool-climate hybrids.
All in all, the Rose Hill is a very agreeable mongrel of a wine.