Leonards Three’s South African winemakers wanted to prepare for “the next big thing in the wine world” by focusing on Sussex terroir.
Lennersley Family Vineyards has released its first wines, including three wines from the 2020 and 2021 vintages. Brut Reserve, Blanc de Blancs and Brut Rosé are the first wide releases from vineyards planted in 2017.
When it comes to making English sparkling wine, Leonardsley joins an increasingly crowded market, with the likes of Shepherd Neame and Taittinger releasing brands in the past 12 months. But Lennersley plans to highlight its Sussex wines with an unusual cross-continental connection.
6,000 mile journey
Every bottle of Leonard’s Three features a swallow designed by Sussex artist Will Parr. The bird is meant to represent the company’s international story beyond its signature brand. Like the Swallow, Lennarsley’s story is a journey from South Africa to England.
Producer owner Penny Streeter grew up in Zimbabwe, South Africa and the UK. She eventually made a name for herself by founding A24Group, a medical staffing company.
Following that success, she purchased Benguela Cove, a wine estate in South Africa’s Western Cape province, in 2013. After upgrading its facilities, including building a new winery so Benguela Cove could bottle its own wine, she turned her thoughts to what was next. project.
“Around 2016, I said, ‘The next big thing in the wine world is going to be English sparkling,'” explains Johan Fourie, head winemaker at both facilities. Streeter was convinced, and by September of that year the team had identified a plot they liked. “Penny works fast,” Fourie says.
Winemaker Johan Fourie uses Leonardslee grapes.
The new location required some adjustments. After a gentle 2020 growth period, which Hooley describes as “textbook,” 2021 is a “completely different deck of cards.” While disease pressure threatened the vines, low “degree day” values meant the grapes had very high acidity.
It required adjustments on both the vineyard and winery. The vineyard team cleared the canopy, but the winery needed malolactic fermentation to reduce acidity. “Coming from South Africa, the learning curve was steep,” Fourie admits.
Even if it doesn’t bring the South African sun, the connections between the continents can be seen in the wines. Leonardslee brought Pinotage to England.
This grape, which is macerated at low temperatures and used to bring the raspberry and cranberry notes to the Brut Rosé, is only a small part of Leonardsley’s vineyard holdings. These 10 rows are hardly a rewriting of Sussex vineyard tradition.
Still, the Pinotage serves as a small nod to the company’s history. And for those who worry that it’s too deep and bold for a British sparkling wine, Fourie has a simple answer: “In England, even black grapes have no color.”
Focus on Sussex terroir
The Pinotage row may be a good reference, but Leonards Three is clearly much more representative of Sussex than South Africa. Indeed, early focus was on estate wines led by two parcels in Horsham, West Sussex.
This producer has no ambitions to move beyond its own vineyards. The site-specific approach embodies Hooley’s ethos of communicating terroir, not personality. “We are looking for a unique identity and personality in places that are considered marginal places.”
These remote locations are typical of West Sussex, where the varied soils on rolling hills encourage high quality wine production even at high latitudes. On the Leonardry property, vines also have unique benefits. Many of the vines are located on rolling hills that open up to forests and large ponds, which have a calming, protective influence.
This vineyard has an even more distinctive feature that Hooley and his team believe may be unique in the world. The vineyard soil is littered with golf balls because the golf course has been modified to plant vines. Whether it constitutes a definitive new terroir will undoubtedly be a question for future Master of Wine candidates.
Ranulph Sessions of Artis Drinks, which works with producers on sales, says the focus on locality is already paying off. “It’s important for customers to know where every grape has spent its life,” he says.
The winery is home to a Michelin-starred restaurant, Interlude, and its wines have garnered attention in Singapore and across Europe. In these markets, the story of site-specific wines is attracting customers, two of which are bottled under the Sussex PDO, he says.
But perhaps most pertinently, Lennersley’s Sussex-specific wines are finding a Sussex-specific customer. Cellar doors have always been key to our business model. But Leonardslee is relieved by the deal, which means it can realistically generate 30% of its sales domestically.
South Africa may be the most eyebrow-raising part of Lennersley’s story, but his roots are already deep in Sussex.
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