Shaping the Future of English Wine: Inside the Hattingley Valley House Style
This month marks a significant milestone, as our Head Winemaker, Rob MacCulloch MW, celebrates his third anniversary at Hattingley Valley. Over the past three years, Rob’s influence has become a defining part of our identity. While it will be a few years now, before his own sparkling vintages reach the shelves, his philosophy and approach are already deeply woven into the fabric of our wines. Today, the learning curve is behind us, and we're entering a new chapter, one defined by confidence, clarity, and a shared commitment to growth.
When noting this milestone, Rob, true to his wit, quoted Winston Churchill’s iconic wartime speech, highlighting the closing of this first chapter:
“This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is perhaps the end of the beginning.”
With our head winemaker and the steady hands of a seasoned team behind us, we believe now is the perfect moment to shine a light on our journey, our house style, and the spirit of innovation guiding Hattingley Valley into its next era.
What Innovation Means at Hattingley Valley
At Hattingley Valley, the Traditional Method will always be at the heart of what we do. If you're not familiar with it, this process, also known as the Méthode Champenoise, is the technique used to produce sparkling wine through a second fermentation in the bottle, creating the fine, persistent bubbles you expect from your Champagne (or English sparkling wine!). Though it was perfected in the Champagne region of France, we proudly carry that tradition forward in our own distinctly English way (and tell our French friends to remember Christopher Merret! If you don't know, you should look him up…).
We will always honour the heritage of this time-tested method, but we also believe in moving forward, refining and evolving with purpose. And while innovation can be technological, at Hattingley it starts with something more human: our attitude.
At the heart of our innovation is collaboration, and we’re lucky to have a team that brings just that, some who have been with us for nearly a decade, and others who’ve joined more recently with fresh energy, ideas, and expertise. That blend of experience and enthusiasm is what keeps driving us forward.
Innovation also shows up in the choices we make every day, often quietly and behind the scenes. It’s not just about shiny new kit (though we love a bit of that too), but about careful, considered improvements. Take our latest barrel delivery: a collection of pre-used red wine French oak casks, which we’re using to gently shape the texture and complexity of our wines and colour of our Rosé wines moving forward. Rob has recently expanded our use of puncheons, larger-format barrels that allow for fermentation and ageing with a more subtle oak influence, thanks to their smaller surface-area-to-volume ratio. It’s a small but significant step in our ongoing barrel programme, and Rob is particularly excited about the possibilities they open up.
These kinds of innovations help us refine our craft, but they don’t define it. Because at Hattingley, innovation isn’t found in a single piece of equipment, it’s found in the way we think, the way we work, and the way we constantly ask: Could this be even better? It’s in the vineyard and in the winery, it’s the quiet decisions that shape every bottle, and at the centre of it all is a philosophy we come back to again and again:
Source good grapes. Make good wine. Sell it well.
It might sound simple, but doing it the Hattingley way, with care, creativity, and consistency, is anything but. And while some of the biggest names in English wine are facing challenges or changing hands, we’re continuing to grow at our own pace, steady, thoughtful, and always looking ahead.
Our House Style: Our Signature
At Hattingley Valley, our wines don’t just happen; they’re shaped by intention. Behind every bottle lies a guiding framework built on three core pillars, Balance, Time in Bottle, and Oak, each playing a key role in what makes a wine unmistakably Hattingley.
Balance
Everything begins with balance. For us, that means more than just flavour, it’s the harmony between tradition and innovation, structure and softness, complexity and drinkability. Whether we’re blending a fresh Bacchus or crafting a Prestige Cuvée, we aim for a style that feels refined yet effortlessly enjoyable. You’ll find lively fruit, floral lift, and creamy textures held together by bright English acidity, all working together in equilibrium. As Rob says:
“Balance isn’t just a goal at blending, it’s the lens we use to make every decision in the winery.”
It’s this balance that allows our wines to shine across occasions: joyful enough for casual sipping, but elegant enough for those who like to pause and savour.
Time in Bottle
If balance is the foundation, patience is what brings it to life. At Hattingley, we never rush our wines. Time in bottle is essential to our house style, allowing vibrant acidity to mellow, textures to soften, and flavours to unfold in layers.
All of our core sparkling wines age for a minimum of three years on lees, followed by at least three months on cork post-disgorgement. This extended ageing adds body and complexity, transforming freshness into finesse.
It’s one of the quiet luxuries of our winemaking: time. And we believe it’s always worth the wait.
Oak
Used with restraint and a light touch, oak is our subtle signature. We view it not as a flavour, but as a structural element, a tool to shape mouthfeel, not overshadow fruit.
Our team uses a mix of older Burgundy barrels and large puncheons to bring gentle roundness, softness, and background complexity. You’ll find its influence in wines like Kings Cuvée and our Sparkling Rosé, where the oak whispers rather than shouts, adding texture and elegance without ever taking centre stage.
As with everything we do, it’s about knowing when to hold back. Oak at Hattingley is never formulaic; it’s part of the conversation we have with every wine, vintage by vintage.
Looking to the Future: What comes next?
Three years in, Rob’s influence is clear, and it’s not just in the winery but in the culture and the team he’s helped shape. While his first sparkling vintages are still maturing in bottle, the future is subtly falling into place. Rob’s era isn’t about big overhauls; it’s about evolution, refining what we do, and guiding the team with a steady hand.
This year, WineGB’s English Wine Week invited people to “create new traditions”, a message that couldn’t feel more timely. At Hattingley, that’s exactly what we’re doing: honouring the craft of traditional method winemaking while continuing to push forward in our own distinctly English way.
We’re proud of where we’ve come from, and even more excited about where we’re going. So whether you’re opening a bottle with friends, visiting the winery, or discovering English wine for the first time, we invite you to join us in shaping what’s next and in creating your own new traditions along the way.
As Rob puts it:
“Watch this space.”
