The Legend of Entice: How Our English Dessert Wine Came To Be

Like many Hattingley legends, our English dessert wine has a story as rich and captivating as the wine itself. A tale of adventure, innovation, and true English ingenuity.

It begins in 2011, just a year after our winery was first built, when the vines were still rather new and not yet producing a quantity of fruit. Our first official winery release would not take place for another two years, in 2013, and with no substantial harvest arriving at the winery in 2011 and no wines on the market, owner Simon Robinson took the decision to send one of his team, assistant winemaker Jacob Leadley, on an educational adventure.

Jacob spent a year in New Zealand, refining his winemaking techniques and gaining hands-on experience during the harvest season. Upon his return, he brought back more than just new knowledge; he returned with an exciting experiment that would go on to shape the future of Hattingley Valley’s English wine portfolio.

A Twist on Tradition: Crafting an English Ice Wine 

Traditional Ice Wine (or Eiswein) is made by leaving grapes on the vine until they freeze naturally in cold winter temperatures. This method is common in Germany and Canada, where the climate allows for a natural freeze. Once harvested, the grapes are pressed frozen, extracting only the concentrated, sweet juice while leaving the ice behind in the press. The result? A dessert wine that is naturally high in sugar and wonderfully pure.

As much as we Brits love to grumble about our chilly weather, our climate is actually too mild to produce ice wine in this way. This is where Jacob’s New Zealand-acquired method came into play.

The First Experiment: A Bacchus Ice Wine

Upon Jacob’s return in 2013, we embarked on our first ice wine experiment, albeit on a very small scale. Rather than leaving the grapes on the vine to freeze, we harvested the clean fruit at peak ripeness and placed it in our industrial freezer. And rather than using traditional ice wine grape varieties such as Riesling, Vidal, or Cabernet Franc, we opted for our own aromatic white grape, Bacchus.

With only a tiny batch produced in 2013, it wasn’t commercially viable to sell. However, the following year, our team went all in, harvesting four tonnes of Bacchus grapes specifically for this purpose. Once frozen, they were ready for pressing and this is where the real challenge began.

A Labour of Love: Pressing Frozen Grapes

Pressing frozen grapes is far from straightforward. The only press capable of handling the immense pressure required for such a task is our highly technical Champagne press, the Cocquard. This sophisticated press allows us to adjust pressure levels based on grape variety and size, ensuring we extract the finest juice possible.

This stage is truly a labour of love. The pressing process takes anywhere from 36 to 72 hours, requiring the winemaker to restart the press every three hours. This process has led to our winemaking team taking shifts sleeping on the tasting room sofa, though, over the years, they’ve learned to schedule pressing on a Thursday or Friday when the nearby Yew Tree pub is open. A hard lesson was learned one year when pressing took place on a Monday, leaving them without a well-earned pint at the end of a gruelling shift!

The Final Harvest Challenge: The Iceberg Effect

By the time we reach this final press of the harvest, the winemaking team is utterly exhausted, but their dedication never wavers. The pressing process leaves behind a sizeable ‘iceberg’ in the press, which can take up to two weeks to thaw completely. Therefore, the Entice pressing must wait until the very end of harvest before being pressed. To speed things along, the harvest team has turned ice removal into something of a tradition, steaming and chipping away at the frozen mass in an effort to coax it into melting more quickly.

The Sweet Reward

Despite the challenges, the result is more than worth it. Crafted from multiple vintages, our latest release, Entice NV, perfectly captures the essence of our Hampshire terroir through its blend of multiple vintages. Bursting with luscious fruit flavours, a beautifully balanced acidity, and an exquisite sweetness that lingers on the palate. It’s a testament to our team’s passion, patience, and innovative spirit, a wine born of determination and crafted with care.

So, the next time you enjoy a glass of Entice, raise a toast to the adventure, the late nights, and the icebergs that made it possible. And remember that sometimes doing the best with what you’ve got, yields the sweetest reward.

Ready to taste it for yourself?
Discover the latest chapter in our story with the newly released Entice NV only available in limited quantities - get yours today!