The Laytons Team visit Nyetimber Vineyards, West Sussex
As stockists of both the 2005 Classic Cuvée and 2001 Premiere Cuvée, Blanc de Blancs, the Laytons sales team were pleased to accept an invitation to visit the prestigious Nyetimber Estate for a tour of the vineyards and wine tasting.
Nyetimber is now the largest vineyard in the UK with 438 acres under vine, and, is the only producer to solely make premium sparkling wine exclusively from estate grown fruit, thus ensuring complete control at every stage of the process. Located in the south of England, in the picturesque village of Pulborough, it shares similar geology and soils to the Champagne region, and the classic Champagne varieties, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier are ideally suited to chalk terroir.
After a short train journey from Waterloo, the team arrived at Pulborough station, and were welcomed by Dave Roles, Sales Director at Nyetimber. The tour then commenced, with David providing some very interesting facts about the viticulture, with an opportunity to visit the main vineyard and see the vines and terroir. 
It was a rare treat to be in the heart of the Sussex countryside visiting vineyards, yet only 1 hour away from London!
Having spent some time in Champagne, Michael Robins observed that these beautifully managed vineyards were very similar in appearance to those in the French region, with the only difference being the obvious English accent!
The team were impressed by the very ambitious plans for Nyetimber, and how the estate perceives itself in the UK market. It was refreshing to see such drive from a UK winery. This was reinforced with the news of the technological leap in equipment that has recently been purchased for the new winery in Crawley that has even had the champenois beating the path to the door of winemaker Cherie Spriggs.
The tasting took place in the old winery, an impressive building site due to the careful and considerate renovation work that owner Eric Heerema has been undertaking for several years on the main original Tudor house, to restore the buildings and lakes to their magnificent past glories.
The team finally indulged in a tasting of the current vintage of the Nyetimber Classic Cuvée, plus a host of other cuvées and vintages, finishing with a real treat in the original and famed 1992 vintage.
It was a great tasting which showed exceptional breadth and ability of the wines to remain vital and exciting. These are the very best of what this country can produce and a contender to be the finest sparkling wine in the world.