Rock Story is a wine that Ana and I make, quite deliberately, for the restaurant table. Rich and mouth-filling, with a satin-soft texture and fresh acidity, it has serious gastronomic intent – just the sort of bottle we'd want to see us through a meal. Dramatically different in style to our single-vintage, Chardonnay-led sparkling cuvées, Rock Story is a multi-vintage, Pinot-dominant wine from vineyards nourished by chalk, limestone, sandstone, and clay across the South Downs and beyond. It is, in many ways, a composite of my winemaking over the last twenty years in England. A unique tale of six vintages between 2011 and 2022, it includes 40% reserve wines, which lend Rock Story its complexity and depth. Rock Story is poured exclusively at restaurants that we return to time and again: Angela Hartnett's Murano and Café Murano, Mitch & Ben Tonks' Rockfish restaurants in Devon and Dorset, Neil Borthwick's The French House, Lime Wood in the New Forest, and THE PIG. Until now, it has not been available beyond those dining rooms. But, as so many of you have asked to enjoy it at home, we have set aside a small amount from our cellar. Rock Story is released to our mailing list twice annually – in the spring and the autumn – offered by the case for a short window. A chance, perhaps, to keep a little of your favourite house pour within reach...
