Ridgeview

International Chefs of Heads of State served Ridgeview Wines

Ridgeview wines were served to a society of the world's most prestigious chefs at a special event at the Royal Automobile Club in London.

The Club des Chefs des Chefs meets annually to promote each nation's major culinary traditions. The members are a select group of the current personal chefs of each country’s head of state and include Her Majesty the Queen’s Chef Mark Flanagan and Chef to the US President, Cristeta Comerford. Each year a different country is selected to host the event and in 2014 England was awarded the honour.

Ridgeview was founded in 1994 by Mike and Chris Roberts and is dedicated to creating world class sparkling wines in the South Downs of England. Our vineyards specialise in growing classic grape varieties to make the highest quality bottle fermented sparkling wines. The world class status of our wines is reflected by the number of national & international medals and trophies we have received since the release of our first wines from the 1996 vintage.

The second generation of the family have now become established in key roles within Ridgeview, enabling the continued expansion of the business. Our dedication, passion and determination have significantly contributed to the international reputation and popularity now attributed to English Sparkling Wine. This passion and determination is shared by a great team of dedicated staff who are fundamental to the continuing success of Ridgeview.

In 1994 we planted our original site at the foot of the South Downs in Sussex. With advice from Epernay we selected 13 French clones of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier on three different rootstocks. This way we can emulate “l’assemblage” of the Champagne Houses that combine together the vintages of small vineyards, thereby creating imaginative blends. We have expanded our production through the development of partnerships with a number of growers who are predominantly in or adjacent to the South Downs National Park. “To me, it was obvious that sparkling wine was the way to go because what you get here in Sussex (and in Champagne) is fully ripe grapes with great flavour, but which aren’t high in alcohol, as this prevents fermentation, which creates fizz. Because we get cold nights even in summer, English grapes have super-acidity – the hallmark of a good sparkling wine” -Mike Roberts

The regions climate is semi-continental and, like the champagne region just 88 miles to the south, has cool nights which make it ideally suited for the growing of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier for traditional method sparkling wines. The cooler climate enables the grapes to retain high levels of natural acidity when they are fully ripe which is crucial to producing sparkling wines with fine flavours.

Mike and Simon Roberts have been making wines at Ridgeview since our first vintage in 1996. Following the traditional winemaking methods used by our neighbours in France, we have developed expert knowledge of producing sparkling wines in England. This has ensured that Ridgeview wines are highly regarded around the globe for their consistent quality. In 2009 they were joined by winemaker Charlie Holland who brought with him a broad knowledge of winemaking from his work at wineries in California, France, Germany, New Zealand and Australia.

The winery is purpose built with an underground cellar where the wines can be stored in perfect conditions for the secondary fermentation, lees ageing and the development of a very fine mousse. Our sole focus at Ridgeview is the production of the highest quality sparkling wine so we are continuously investing in state of the art specialist equipment. We perform all aspects of the production on site from pressing the grapes in our Coquard PAI & Willmes SIGMA 8 presses to bottling, riddling, disgorging and labelling the wines on our fully automated production lines. These investments enable us to have complete control over all stages of the winemaking and production process.