The UnCorker

Weird Wine of the Week-Breaky Bottom Sparkling Brut 2004 Cuvée Donna Elvira

May 24, 2009 | In WINE REVIEWS | No Comments

We will admit right off that this is gratuitously weird; like we’re trying to be too clever by half, or ironic in that smug, annoying hip way that we thought our friend, recently returned from England was being when he gave us this bottle of Breaky Bottom(yep, Breaky Bottom) Sparkling Brut 2004 Cuvee Donna Elvira. So it sat on the desk at The UnCorker headquarters for awhile, until we realized we’d be crazy to not run to our first chance to drink English wine.

We poured and raised our glasses all toasting ‘Breaky Bottom’, and we were, well, fairly impressed; this was real methode champenoise wine- straw yellow, green highlights with apples, pears,  hazelnut and a yeasty finish. Not a fine Champagne, or Franciacortia- but lets face it, our expectations weren’t exactly high either. So maybe this piece shouldn’t be a WWOW, maybe it should be a Weird Wine Region piece. We decided to look into the British wine scene(at least as best we could, there are no English wines imported to the States) and it seems that in England, there is a confluence of events and trends that are rapidly changing the agriculture of Southern England.

As a wine region, Southern England is a blank slate, one where modern viticulture, climatic trends( i.e., global warming) and geology all swirl around and play out. In Europe, viticulture was historically dictated by the grape varieties one found locally, as well as tradition, ultimately codified by  laws and systems; the AOC, DOC, etc, etc. The new world might not have had native vitis viniferia, but it had immigrants from the old world bringing their familiar grapes.  Being completely free of the moorings of law and tradition, the English are free to pick and choose whatever grapes they feel have a chance to thrive- in the case of Breaky Bottom, it’s seyval blanc, a early-ripening, productive white grape- a weird french hybrid in itself, that thrives in cool climates. With some non-viniferia genes, it is outlawed in the EU for quality wine production.  Breaky Bottom started planting it in 1974, and it is the most widely planted grape in England. When Breaky Bottom got started in 1974, there were only 12 commercial wineries in Britain, many of them dedicated to the production of fruit wines-now, according to various sources, there are no fewer then 350. Many of these are moving away from seyval blanc, for reasons of taste- apparently it is good for sparklers, but not much else. So, besides the desire to produce still wines, the Brits, ever status seeking, want some prestige and respect- so they are turning to chardonnay. Modern viticulture, in tandem with global climate change may help English winemakers thrive; using modern scientific techniques, the best earliest ripening clones can be paired, using global positioning systems (GPS) to the best sites. Things can be tried and abandoned with relative ease- no rules, no regulations- they are out to see how far you can get with money and science.

Those white cliffs of Dover, why they’re made up of the same submerged basin of clay and chalky limestone, ancient oyster beds, called Kimmeridgian, that gives chardonnay its unique character in Chablis and Champagne, and extends well up into southern England, so why not? As the world warms, their vineyards will thrive- as heat destroys the razors-edge acidity and typicity of Champagne and Chablis, wine lovers will beat down those British doors demanding their wine.

So its possible that someday we’ll eat oysters and drink a crisp, appely, mineral driven chardonnay from the south of England- but for now, we’ll have to stick with Chablis.