2018 At Sharpham Wine & Cheese

As 2018 draws to a close, we thought it would be a good time to reflect on what has been quite an exceptional year.

The 2018 season started off with us having to postpone our shop opening due to the ‘Beast from the East’ but these freezing snowy conditions actually helped things in the vineyard and played a big part in what was to come.

From one extreme to the other, with a long hot summer and very dry conditions meaning vital stages in the life cycle of the vines such as flowering and fruit set took place in perfect conditions and the lack of rain all season meant diseases like botrytis and mildew were at an all-time low.

We started harvest unusually early on the 6^th September and only finished on the 26^th October with our last load of beautifully ripe Pinot Noir. The trend for the fruit this year seems to be high levels of ripeness and sugar and lower acidity. Already many of the tanks are showing great potential, and over the winter the wines will settle, mature and develop their personalities.

The next big date on the Sharpham calendar was the 15^th November when we launched our first wine of 2018, our New Release 2018! A tongue in cheek nod to the Beaujolais Nouveau but a vibrant and exceptionally fruity white wine that’s vinified in 6 weeks from vine to bottle, it is a true expression of the 2018 vintage and a sign of what to expect from the wines to follow. New Release 2018 is now available to buy direct on our website by clicking here..

And now the festive season that is already upon us! We are currently selling through our bespoke hamper range for this year and we reckon they’re better than ever! We have just released some new wines (our Sparkling Reserve in Extra Brut and Pinot Gris Wild Ferment) and they will be included in the hamper selections or alternatively available to purchase individually online or at our cellar door shop, by the case or even in a mixed case!

Due to such high demand, the last day to order Christmas wines, cheeses, hampers, etc. is Monday 17^th December and we will pack and ship all orders by Wednesday 19^th December which should ensure delivery before Christmas. Late orders will be shipped at the customer’s request but we cannot guarantee they will arrive in time.

The cheese dairy is buzzing with activity as the cheese makers try to produce enough extra and smaller cheeses for Christmas. Frustratingly this is a goal we usually fall shy of; we always sell out of some, if not most of our cheeses due to overwhelming demand, so we recommend getting your orders in now! We hope you won’t mind us substituting something of equal or higher value if we need to.

This year the shop will be closing at 4.00pm on Saturday the 22^nd December but we will be open by appointment for tastings and wine purchases. We will be working hard to ensure we’re all prepped for what we hope is a hot and sunny 2019 season.

Thank you to everyone who has visited this year; we’ve seen record numbers and had the best feedback on our wines, cheeses, tours and the food cooked up by The Cellar Door Kitchen.