Beginning with Bubbles
The Wild Swan is embarking on an exciting journey; new menus, new faces and new drinks… and we must say that having taken ownership of our little Yorkshire pub, we are in a celebratory mood so what better way to start our blog series off, than a blog about bubbles!
From the outset we’ve always wanted to champion local produce and so we are delighted to announce we will now be selling wines from the multi-award winning Gusbourne Estate as our new range of premium sparkling… not champagne we hear you say?!
Well let us introduce you to Gusbourne, and to the beauty of English sparkling wine…
Gusbourne Estate was founded in 2004 by Andrew Weeber, a South African orthopaedic surgeon. At the time Andrew had been based in Northallerton, North Yorkshire (not all that far away from us here in Minskip) but had always held a fierce passion for wine. In 2004 English wine was (with the exception of a few brave pioneers) not commercial and didn’t exactly have the finest reputation on these shores. To take the risk then, and plant 51 acres of vines in the south of England was surely madness?
Well, 17 years later – Gusbourne has won 300 international awards, planted another 272 acres of vines, built a state of the art winery and tasting room and is exported to 21 different countries around the world. Sometimes a bit of madness pays off… and here at pub, we’re mad about bringing the restaurant and you, the best in locally sourced delicious food and couldn’t think of anything better than pairing it with some (relatively) local wine.
We’ve got both Gusbourne Brut Reserve, and Gusbourne Brut Rosé on our menu for you here. They’re both made in the ‘traditional method’, the method by which all premium sparkling wine from France to Spain and further afield is vinified. What makes them special you might ask? Why would we remove Champagne and go for English… well, it’s all about the soil, the grapes and the people.
Gusbourne have planted their grapes on both clay (adds warmth and ripeness) and chalk soils (adds purity and acid) keep all their vineyard parcels of fruit separate during their blending processes. Nearly 200 specific sites/grapes/parcels go into this year long decision making process, before the wine sleeps away in a cool dark cellar for a minimum of 3 years before release. The wines we have for you at the moment have had nearly 5 years. That’s 5 years of developing complex, lovely flavours that we think, complement our food extremely well. English wines are packed full of juicy acid, and this keeps them fresh and vibrant whilst they are ageing. We love the attention to detail that runs through the Estate – from the grapes, through the winemaking, all the way to the finished beautiful product in front of you.
Generally people like to have a bottle of sparkling before and after dinner, but we’re going to recommend something different. These wines are meant to be drank with food… good food. We think these wines compliment our pub’s food wonderfully.
The Brut Reserve is a golden drop of nectar, with green orchard fruits developing into riper stone fruits and pastries. On the palate this wine is opulent, full of delicious, developed toast, cream and ripe warm fruits. What to pair it with? Well you might be a bit shocked here, but we’re going to say a pub classic – our burger. Cheeseburgers and Champagne have been a staple in New York for a while now, so why not English Sparkling Wine and an 8oz burger in Old York(shire)? Trust us on this.
The Brut Rosé is like taking a dive into an English summer, think fresh strawberries and clotted cream on the nose with a bright cranberries and crunchy raspberries on the palate. Think Wimbledon. Think long lazy Yorkshire summer days. Think sparkling Rosé. We suggest the crunchy acid on this will pair extremely well with our Chicken Breast, Wing Kiev, Mushroom & Truffle Cake, Egg Yolk Jam & Baby Leek.
