The ‘signature’ blend has been created from all three classic grape varieties, led by the pure fruit and texture of Pinot Noir & Pinot Meunier and well supported by the finesse of Chardonnay. This the 7th Edition bottling, dominated by the watershed 2018 vintage, supported with 20% reserves from 2014 (6%), 2015 (4%), and 2017 (10%), all aged in old oak barriques. The 2018 summer was stunning and provided fruit of exceptional health and ripeness. No 7 displays many similar traits to all the 2018 releases, showing a juicy, soft and friendly structure that has a lovely purity that you only seem to get when the fruit is properly ripe. Once again this wine comes from plots from every part of the vineyard and so it is the best representation of the whole site. Combining this with 20% reserve wines you really start to see the complexity of the different soil types and how they show up in all the wines. With the previous No 6 picking up trophies for best English NV sparkling at Wine GB awards 2022 and Best Value English Sparkling Wine in Tom Hewson’s definitive English Wine Report 2022, this wine has a lot to live up to, but Henry has every confidence it will show its quality.

The 2018 grapes were handpicked and whole bunch pressed to tank. After four months of aging the selection of lots is made and racked to a blending tank to settle and a 20% addition of reserve wine from barrel is added. The wine is bottled and secondary fermentation is carried out. After 33 months on lees it is disgorged and topped with a seven-gram dosage. The wine is further aged for six months under cork mellowing it out. Bottled unfined with a gentle earth filtration and small sulfur addition.