Simon Roberts amid the Chardonnay
THE FIRST thing that strikes you on entering Ridgeview’s beautifully manicured vineyard is the maturity of the vines, now 25 years old. They are gradually being replaced but are a timely reminder that Ridgeview has been there since the start of the explosive phase of the UK sparkling wine revolution.
It is still very much a Roberts family business even though head winemaker Simon Roberts (above) says he trained as a marine engineer and never intended to join the firm until the bug bit and he found, surprisingly, that he had unusually fine taste buds. Which comes in handy if you are tasting up to 60 different varietals to get a consistent blend as he does for their Bloomsbury label.
The public image of Ridgeview has undoubtedly been affected by the trail-blazing success of fellow Sussex producer Nyetimber. Simon is the first to admit that the international success of Nyetimber was, and is, hugely important for the success of UK fizz. However, the idea gaining currency by international experts such as @JancisRobinson and Tom Stevenson that without Nyetimber there would have been no sparkling wine industry in the UK seems to me to be highly debatable to say the least.
Nyetimber wasn’t the first to produce sparkling on a commercial scale. From 1983 the Carr Taylor vineyard near Hastings was producing sparkling from (non Champagne) grapes and in the same year New Hall in Essex produced the first sparkling from Champagne grapes on a commercial scale – and for years was the main if not only producer of Champagne grapes for southern vineyards. Before them there is a long history of vineyards producing sparkling wine often of a high quality but not on a commercial scale.
View from the tasting room towards the snacking zone
The plantings at Ridgeview were nothing to do with the founders of Nyetimber whom they did not meet until later. Simon’s father, the revered Mike Roberts, had always liked Champagne and was originally looking to set up in France until he decided to plant a vineyard near his Sussex roots. By the time Nyetimber burst onto the scene with international gold medal recognition in 1997 the vines at Ridgeview were already two years old and destined for success. Since then Ridgeview has been festooned with gold medals including “best sparkling wine in the world” and culminating last year when it was declared winemaker of the year in the International Wine and Spirit Compeition 2018. This was the first time in the near-50 year history of the competition that the prize has been awarded to an English vineyard.
And – vitally important – throughout this period the two great drivers of the UK wine revival – global warming and the supply of highly trained wine makers from Plumpton College – were continuing apace helping the growing numbers of people planning vineyards up and down the country. It is difficult to avoid the conclusion that without Nyetimber the UK vineyard explosion would undoubtedly have been slower but it would certainly have happened – and almost certainly led by Ridgeview.
Meanwhile Ridgeview’s expansion is continuing apace with a spanking new winery complete with cellar under construction. Simon says they will remain a family firm from CEO Tamara Roberts downwards. They don’t want to join the million-bottles-a-year club. Half of that amount will suit them fine. Compared with the likes of Denbies, Rathfinny, Hush Heath or Chapel Down Ridgeview is almost boutique with a small tasting area looking out across the rows of Chardonnay to a discreet tasting and snacking area (see above).
It has the great benefit of being a short taxi ride from Burgess Hill station. Like Nyetimber it has been forced by the price of land to have vineyards elsewhere (17 from Essex to Hampshire) but the comparative smallness of the home vineyards – you can walk through woodland from the Chardonnay to the Pinot Meunier – is reflective of their desire for quality not quantity, a fact underlined when we had a lovely tasting of their delicious award-winning fizz. Long may it continue.
Victor Keegan 
Looks a great day out.