Giffords Hall Wine List
Giffords Hall is a family owned vineyard planted on the site of an ancient glacial riverbed near Long Melford in Suffolk. Our sandy/clay soil produces quality grapes, high in natural sugars and acids, that lend themselves particularly well to both sparkling and dry, aromatic still wines.
Our wines have a delicate floral character very typical of the region. We make our wines from the best years only and have selected the best winemakers for the varieties we grow.
Giffords Hall Sparkling 2005
The 2005 vendage at Giffords Hall produced a small quantity of grapes with perfect acidity for producing a sparkling. 2005 was the best year for making sparking wine that we have seen. We sent our grapes to Owen Alias at Chapel Down, one of the top UK sparkling wine makers.
Not only can you buy this wine from our 'cellar door'; but you will find it on the wine lists of several popular local restaurants. This sparkling is a very good example of English wine at the top end.
A senior wine judge has compared it favourably to Nyetimber and Ridgeview sparkling. It is light, sophisticated with lots of depth and a fine dry finish.
Giffords Hall Rose 2009
This is our first rosé – carefully blended from our best ever Madeleine Angevine and our Rondo, a deep red grape which gives it a wonderful clear crystal pink. Rosé originated in France as a by-product of making red wines but can, as with pink champagne, be blended; this is a very skilled process.
Madeleine is a very distinctive early ripening grape with a thin skin and a very floral, delicate character. It grows with great exuberance here and often overcrops. The rosé is a fruity but dry wine with overtones of strawberry, lemons and roses – great for summer drinking.
Duncan, our winemaker from Sharpham, is the MA specialist in the UK, and he is so pleased with the result that he has entered this wine for the English and Welsh Wine of the Year award.
Giffords Hall Bacchus 2009
Bacchus is becoming known as the UK's answer to a New Zealand style Sauvignon Blanc. It is a Riesling cross grape with big fat bunches and a thick green skin. As a variety it can be difficult to grow, but all UK vineyards will produce Bacchus if the season has been good enough, as it is the best selling UK still wine. East Anglian Bacchus has a distinctive aromatic, slightly flinty quality though each season brings its own individuality. Most people love the gooseberry and elderflower notes. In other English regions it can taste quite different.
Our Bacchus grapes have produced Gold medal winning wines for Sharpham Partnership. 2009 gave us a great ripening period and the sugars were 80 oeschle plus – the resulting wine is softer, very refreshing and you can really taste the fruit. This years Bacchus is an almost golden green colour. We love Bacchus and will always produce this wine if we have a good growing summer.
Pinot Noir 2009
Our Pinot Noir vines were planted 3 years ago. We completed this bay this Spring. Our first crop was small but enthusiastic. Piers Greenwood, the 'uncle of East Anglian Wine', has blended this with Dornfelder, Accolon and Seyval grapes. The result is very mellow and would be great with cold beef, salads and even spicy foods. Don't expect Bordeaux, this is English red and we don't have the same climactic conditions, so it is lighter with a low alcohol content.
Our local tasting team, (our neighbours) really like this wine as a 'vin de pays' equivalent. Some have enjoyed it chilled which is becoming more of a trend with lighter red wines. We only have a small amount of this and we welcome feedback.