Hundred Hills Preamble No.2 2021
A light palate with a core of zingy freshness showing as ripe lime zest and passionfruit. The gentle oak cask influence of vanilla, honey and delicate spice linger on the palate with a creaminess that persists
The Hundred Hills vineyards are planted on the steep chalk slopes of the Stonor Valley in the Chilterns of Oxfordshire, split into ten individual parcels of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay vines that are managed, harvested and vinified separately to allow for a great diversity of blending options. The thin top soils and flint cover over 160 metres of chalk.
After gentle pressing in the Coquard press, the Pinot Noir musts were fermented in temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks and the Chardonnay musts were fermented in Rousseau casks and barrels. A selected yeast strain 'La Marquise' was used and a full malolactic fermentation was used for this wine. The Pinot Noir musts were aged in only stainless steel tanks, but all Chardonnay lots passed through Rousseau casks or barrels for one to six months. The base wines were blended and bottling took place the year following harvest. The wine spent thirty-six months ageing on the lees prior to disgorgement.
Stephen and Fiona Duckett set out in 2009 with one very clear objective in mind: to create sparkling wines to rival some of the finest in the world. Leaving behind successful careers in pharmaceuticals and IT, the couple spent three years searching for the perfect location and looked at over one hundred sites, eventually drawn to the warm slopes and free-draining chalk soils of the Stonor Valley in Oxfordshire. The land was previously used for lowland grazing, with no crops grown on these soils for nearly five hundred years. This unfaltering attention to detail shines through in every aspect of production at Hundred Hills, from the state-of-the-art winery to the seamless visitor experience that awaits guests. It is unsurprising that the estate is fast gaining recognition as one of the most ambitious and exciting names in the English wine industry.
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