Freedom of the Press Bacchus

A very impressive debut release from Freedom of the Press winery.

£16.99

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SKU: Freedom of the Press Bacchus Categories: , ,

Description

Freedom of the Press Bacchus 2020 is a dry wine with aromas and flavours of citrus, pear, a little almond blossom, pine nuts, some minerality, and a hint of aromatic herbs. It is a clean, fresh, linear wine with a bit of ‘zip’, an elegant subtlety, and a good mouthfeel. Perfect for picnics, aperitifs, salads, fresh sheep and goats cheese and even vintage cheddar and seafood. We think this wine would also pair nicely with spicy or aromatic food.

12% Alcohol. Serve at around 10 degrees C, ideally leave it open for 30 minutes before drinking. Drink within the first year or two of release.

Freedom of the Press Bacchus 2020: The technical bits

The grapes were harvested at Martin’s Lane Vineyard in the Crouch Valley in Essex on 21st September in beautiful condition and at a sugar level of 77 Oe (on average, bunches vary a little). This ripeness suited the intended style very well. Any riper and the wine would be quite ‘exotic’. Any less ripe and it would tend to grass and elderflower. This is the sweet spot of fruit, elegance and drinkability.

A medium length fermentation to dryness at around 15-16 degrees C, 90% in steel, 10% in sandstone amphora. The very minimal handling, and an approach that reduces oxygen uptake has also left a little residual CO2 from tank fermentation that never escaped, you may note some tiny bubbles on first opening which quickly disappear. This adds to the zip, mouthfeel and freshness – it also helps protect the wine. This is a natural outcome of the process which we chose to leave in the wine, it is not fermentation in bottle, nor is it an artificial addition. Total sulphite (SO2) is less than 70mg/l, the free portion, at bottling, was 34 mg/l.

Sustainable packaging

Instead of using a plastic or tin capsule, Freedom of the Press have simply placed a paper sticker over the bottle top. A capsule is not a requirement and is of no advantage to the wine, it is however a waste of resources. The paper sticker keeps the bottle top clean, and completes the ‘look’. This combination is the best for the wine and the environment.

Additional information

Weight 1 kg

Wine at a glance

  • Size: 75cl
  • Alc Vol: 12%
  • Vintage: 2020
  • Grape: Bacchus
  • Region: Grown in Essex, made in the Cotswolds
  • Special Features: Vegan

About the vineyard

Freedom of the Press

Freedom of the Press is an urban winery on a hill in the Cotswolds. “That makes no sense” you might say. The original plan was to establish an ‘urban winery’ in Oxford with no vineyards of our own, buying the best grapes from the best sites. More like an ‘in-town’ micro brewery or boutique distillery than what most people think of as a vineyard. So that was the plan – we had a venue selected and everything. That was early Spring 2020. Covid took control of everybody’s lives, and the Oxford venue fell through. But just as it looked like it was curtains for the project we found a new ‘unit’ on a beautiful farm above Minster Lovell in the Cotswolds, 15 miles from Oxford.

A winery without vines is nothing new or unusual. It acknowledges that there are two very different processes in wine production, each requiring different skills and facilities. Grapes have to be tended, grown, nurtured and harvested in the best possible sites. They then have to be transformed into wine: specific equipment and processes have an impact on the final outcome, and while the objective is to let the fruit speak for itself the skills of the winemaker give song to that voice – choosing the vessels, the pressing cycles, the temperatures and other transformative practices. And of course it means that a wine can be made locally, even in parts of the country that are not ideally suited to growing the best vines.

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Please note - every effort is taken to ensure the vintage displayed on this page is the vintage supplied, but due to constantly refreshed stock the vintage supplied may vary.

This product contains sulphites

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