Eagerly awaited, we can finally release the two new vintages from Domaine Hugo.
The project of Hugo Stewart and Daniel Ham, with Hugo responsible for the biodynamic viticulture, and Dan taking care of the winemaking, Domaine Hugo is a shining example of winemaking in the UK. Hugo will be pouring the new releases alongside the 2018 at this weekend's Real Wine Fair, make sure you book your ticket!
Available now, we have the 2019 Hugo: the single vineyard field-blend made to the traditional method, and the 2020 Botley's: a Col Fondo sparked into secondary fermentation with a little of the fermenting must of 2021.
Tasting the Hugo 2019 besides the vineyards recently (two hectares of Champagne varieties on a gently-sloping chalk hill just outside Salisbury) it was clear this is a wine that sings of its place. Hugo added "we really didn't want to make something that tastes exclusively of dead yeasts and autolysis, we wanted it to taste like here. You can feel our chalk at the end."
2019 was an easeful vintage on Botley's farm: enough rain, no disease, reasonable yields. Hugo jokes as he struggles to recall the more precise details of that growing season "You often only remember the disasters, and 2019 simply didn't have any! Honestly, it all went to plan." In the winery, the fermentation reflected the painlessness of the year- in contrast with 2018 which took a little time- the 2019 zipped along.
Pressed slowly, and co-fermented in old barrels with indigenous yeasts, the wine was aged for 11 months before tirage and bottling, then aged on the lees before disgorging on January 21st, 2022. Bone dry, the finished wine saw zero dosage, and zero sulphur.
Hugo and Dan talk about the fermentation of the 2020 Col Fondo with a mixture of amazement and sheer relief: "Trying to spark the fermentation of the Botley's 2020 with the juice of the 2021 was a bit like jumping between two moving trains. You have to keep recalculating on the fly as the sugar of that active ferment can change so quickly. Thankfully, we've figured out a slightly easier way now, without losing the spark for the wine."
This is Dan & Hugo's second time nailing the landing of the Col Fondo: inspired by the Cremant of JP Rietsch, the final draw of the 2020 pressing - about 15% of the total yield- is saved in a separate tank for fermentation, before bottling with a little of the lively 2021 fermentation in the winter of that year. Rested in bottle over winter, second fermentation properly began in the spring of 2022 as the ambient temperature in the shed warmed up. No disgorgement, no additions.
The attention to detail in both the vineyards and in the cellar are immediately apparent in these wines. It's a thrill to closely watch the Domaine Hugo project develop, and the second release is a testament to Hugo & Dan's hard work.
SPARKLING
NEW 2019 - Hugo - Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier, Pinot Gris
NEW 2020 - Botley's Col Fondo - Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier, Pinot Gris
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