Langham claims first with English Col Fondo

By Lisa Riley

Published: 05 May, 2021

Langham Wine Estate has announced it will release kegs of a Col Fondo wine later this month, a move the winery claims to be a first for a UK producer.

Producing Col Fondo wine, where the second fermentation has taken place in the keg as opposed to the tank or bottle, would encourage people to drink English sparkling wine at “an affordable price”, the Dorset winery said.

Named ZigZag, the wine is made to the same exacting standards of Langham’s other English sparkling wines, and features a a blend of 50% Madeleine Angevine and 50% Chardonnay.

It will be sold in 20 litre kegs to bars, restaurants and festivals to be served by the glass.

“I was in a pub and saw Prosecco on tap and thought, I wonder if I could get a second fermentation to happen in keg; so, I did a trial of three kegs and it worked,” said Langham’s winemaker, Tommy Grimshaw.

“I also wanted to create something that has the same care and focus on quality that applies to all of our wines. We think this is a way of making English wine fun and a little more accessible from a pricing perspective,” he said.

Forty, 20-litre kegs holding 160 glasses of white and rosé frizzante-style English wine will be available from Langham at the end of May.

The name ZigZag comes from a chalk strata over which Langham’s vineyards are situated, with the estate’s two classic cuvées - Corallian and Culver – also named after the vineyard’s chalk geology.

The boutique winery produces between 50,000 and 60,000 bottles of exceptional quality sparkling wine per year priced from £27.50.

In February last year, Langham’s previous head winemaker branched out on his own to embark on a sustainable winemaking venture.

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