Watching Wine

Time flies, it's been a whole month since we finished our last tour of 2020 at Trotton Estate Vineyards and made way for harvest. 

The grapes stayed on the vine well into October to ripen up fully after a wet and cool September, in just over a week the sugar developed to just the right amount and the team came in to hoover it all up. Now pressed and fermenting it's a waiting game for us at English Vineyard Tours to see what the 2020 vintage produces whilst the wine makers are hard at work making it all happen in the winery. 

Attention is slowly turning to tours in 2021 where we hope to add some new experiences to our offering and show even more people the beautiful vineyards in Surrey, Hampshire and Sussex. On these wet and grey Autumn days we are quite thankful we aren't squelching through a vineyard and can stay warm inside but we do miss the scenery and the people. Thankfully there are some wonderful wine documentaries and films to help us pass the time so here are our top 5 (in no particular order) for you to add to your list; 

A Year in Champagne

Available on Amazon Prime it follows, as the name suggests, a year in the Champagne region. The cinematography is stunning, beautifully romantic and seductive - it will leave you craving a glass of something sparkling. 

A Year in Burgundy

Again, available on Amazon Prime and you guessed it, the documentary follows a year in Burgundy meeting the growers and producers of this acclaimed region. The scenery is beautiful and the passion and energy from these producers is invigorating.

Bottle Shock

Available on Amazon Prime this follows the story of the Judgement of Paris and stars the late, great Alan Rickman. We loved it because it feels like the energy and excitement we see in the English wine movement now, the excitement and drive of these Californian wine producers trying to make themselves heard and taken seriously is truly inspiring. If anyone would like to give us a bottle of Chateau Montelena 1973 we can offer a free tour next season!

Sour Grapes 

Available on Netflix, an absolutely fascinating look at Rudy Kurniawan's wine fraud and deception. The evidence is shockingly conclusive but still so many of the people he stole money from for fraudulent wine believe he is innocent and that they have, in their collection, wines that simply never existed. 

Uncorked 

Available on Netflix, riddled with inaccuracies but a beautiful film which gives an insight into the super human people sommeliers' really are. The training and work that goes into gaining that qualification is stupendous and truly awe inspiring. 

Let us know what wine related things you've watched recently, we can't get enough.