Within a few short years, this 2010-founded estate has already coined a consistent style based on ripe fruit expression and low dosage.
The 2018 vintage was a game-changer in England. The new sparkling wine industry had already come far, but 2018 then proved a particular point: given the right conditions, the sparkling (and even still) wines had that particularly fine fruit expression often associated with cooler climates: a ripeness perfectly tempered by precise freshness.
Rathfinny’s latest release, Rathfinny Rosé 2018, bears this out. Despite just 24 months on lees, the fruit shines and has backbone while the wine has texture and poise with a wonderfully low dosage of 5.3g/l that the estate has made its hallmark.
Owner Mark Driver notes that they “picked very clean fruit with an ideal balance of sugars and acidity for our Sussex sparkling wines.” The wine is most appetising right now, but has all the makings of turning into a truffle-scented marvel with a few years of bottle age.
