Ancre Hill comes out top in first Welsh Vineyard Association awards

Published: 01 November, 2013

Ancre Hill cemented its place as Wales' premier winery by winning the sole Gold and three of the five Silvers in the inaugural Welsh Vineyard Association Awards, held on Monday 28 October at Llanerch Vineyards near Cardiff.

With 35 entries in total, the Ancre Hill Sparkling Rosé 2009 took the top spot, with two of the Monmouth winery's Pinot Noirs - the 2009 and the 2011 - sharing Silver honours with Ancre Hill Sparkling White 2008, and two Parva Farm Vineyard wines, its Tintern Parva Bwthyn Rhosyn Rosé 2012 and the Tintern Parva Bacchus 2011.

Roger Jones, chef proprietor of Michelin-starred The Harrow at Little Bedwyn, chaired the judging panel, comprising Bill Gunn MW, former UK MD of Pol Roger, and Julie Bell, manager of the multi-awarded Felin Fach Griffin of nearby Brecon.

A Welshman himself, Jones felt the embryonic Vineyard Association - it was only formed in late Spring 2013 - "had taken a big risk. "I had been asked to judge this at Decanter World Wine Awards standards, he explained." But he needn't have worried - "I was blown away by the class of the fruit," he said.

Gunn and Bell agreed. "I was surprised, but in a very nice way," said Bell. "The wines are good in their own right," she said of the 21 medal winners.

While no sparkling whites achieved Gold, Gunn felt they were "serious wines. They will get there as the maturity of the winemaking increases."

Jones praised the still Pinot Noirs for their different styles - the 2009 "was Otago-esque" while 2011, "the fresher of the two", was just the sort of style restaurateurs wanted, he said.

While the reds wines were "the surprise" for all the judges, the Tintern Parva Bacchus inspired all. "It was so fresh and positive," said Gunn, "it absolutely delivered all you wanted". Being such a difficult grape, Bacchus isn't made every year, said Parva's Judith Dudley. "But when it works it's very good," she said.

Fresh from winning a Gold at the China Wine & Spirit Awards. Ancre Hill co-founder, Richard Morris, attributed his pink sparkler's success to his vineyard's biodynamic approach - "it gives much more intense fruit" he told Harpers.com.

Chair of the WVA, Morris, hopes the competition will grow into an annual international event, along the lines of the Sydney Royal Wine Show. He wants to see Welsh wines, still and sparkling, judged alongside wines from other countries. "We need to push Wales as a wine industry, not against England, but the rest of the world," he said.

The Welsh Vineyard Association's new website is due to launch later this Autumn. In the meantime, members' details can be found at http://www.winetrailwales.co.uk/

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