Rathfinny 2018 Blanc de Noirs

“Our Blanc de Noirs is the wine Sarah and I set out to produce at Rathfinny. It’s our signature wine, a wonderful blend of predominantly Pinot Noir with a small quantity of Pinot Meunier. It has a lovely golden hue, a lovely nose of rich red fruits and on the palate.” Mark Driver, co-owner of the Rathfinny

TASTING NOTE

Translucent saffron in colour, delivering an expressive nose of mulberry and almond blossom, a mouth-filling perlage of baked blueberry and russet pear, giving way to a lively clementine finish.

Food Match

This delightfully fruity style matches beautifully with intensely umami-sweet flavours delivered by steamed barbecue pork buns, crispy duck with hoisin sauce or Japanese Nimono dishes.

View the tasting notes.

Vintage

Often referred to as the vintage of the decade, 2018 was one of the warmest summers on record. A mini heatwave developed from April onwards, bringing on early flowering and the dry weather promoted good fruit set. New temperature records were set in July and August and despite heavy rain in early September, the weather during harvest in October was very favourable and we picked very clean fruit with an ideal balance of sugars and acidity for our Sussex Sparkling wines.

Critical Praise

“Ripe and juicy notes of fresh red and yellow apple come with a buttery shortbread note and an enticing overtone of candied redcurrant. The palate is wonderfully taut, has real tension, softened by very fine, lively bubbles which will only get creamier with more time in bottle. The ripeness of 2018 expresses itself in an exquisite balance: the wine shows generosity of body, of fruit, while remaining absolutely sleek, taut and brisk. The finish sounds a beautiful and serene note of harmonious freshness.” Anne Krebiehl MW, Falstaff