The Society's English White 2021

Situated in the English countryside where the three counties of Herefordshire, Gloucestershire and Worcestershire converge, Three Choirs has become one of England’s most significant producers. As well as being the second largest wine estate in the country with around 100 acres under vine, Three Choirs is also one of the oldest, having pioneered the English wine movement in the 1970s when the industry was still in its infancy.

Award-winning winemaker Martin Fowke has closely studied the techniques of New World producers such as those in New Zealand, working in cooler climate areas and has successfully tailored the winemaking processes to the prevailing English climate. The gentle undulating south-facing slopes here lie within a special microclimate, sheltered by the Malverns and the Brecon Beacons. The conditions are ideal for ripening the grapes, which are kept cool and clean by the breezes coming up the valley from the River Severn. A variety of well-suited grape varieties including pinot noir is planted and each year, red, white and rosé styles are produced along with sparkling whites.

Martin has recently started projects with boutique wineries around the world to bottle small amounts of their wines as well as brewing speciality beers and producing a range of ciders. He also makes wines for thirty other vineyards in England and Wales at the modern on-site winery. These ongoing enterprises, as well as the visitors’ facilities attracting tourists from around the world to this rural setting, look set to keep Three Choirs firmly at the top of its game.