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Bristol wine producer celebrates sparkling success at international competition
A Bristol-based wine producer was the toast of a recent major international wine competition.
A sparkling red crafted by Dunleavy Vineyards has clinched an award at the Glass of Bubbly Awards, dubbed “the home of champagne and sparkling wines,” which celebrates the excellence of sparkling wines and champagnes from around the world.
The 2022 Sparkling Red won a silver medal in the ‘Summer Days’ category. The competition is noted for unusual and quirky categories such as “First Date,” “Forget Me Not,” “Meditation,” and “Spring Fling.”
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Dunleavy Vineyards is thrilled with the industry accolade for its sparkling red – photo: Glass of Bubbly
Ingrid Bates, owner of Dunleavy Vineyards, expressed her delight at the industry recognition. She said: “We’re really proud of our sparkling red wine. It’s the first time we’ve entered these awards, so it’s great to get a silver medal. Sparkling red wines are quite unusual, so it’s nice to have the quality of ours verified in this spectacular way.”
2024 marked a bumper year for Dunleavy Vineyards as it bagged bronze medals for its 2022 sparkling rosé and 2022 sparkling white in the WineGB and IEWA awards, respectively. They also launched a still rosé wine with an interactive soundscape experience, produced in collaboration with the BAFTA-winning sound editor, Angela Groves.
Ingrid recently appeared on Radio 4’s On Your Farm programme, talking about the soundscape-incorporated still rosé wine.
Dunleavy Vineyards cites minimal intervention in their vineyards in Wrington as the secret to their success, where all wines are made using just two principal grape varieties: Regent and Seyval Blanc. Both varieties are modern hybrids that require little chemical intervention while growing, unlike their classic counterparts.
Sparkling reds, which were a novelty some years ago, have entered the mainstream market, and Ingrid commented on the upward trend.
Dunleavy Vineyards cites minimal intervention in their vineyards as the secret to their success, where all wines are made using just two principal grape varieties – photo: Dunleavy Vineyards
She said: “People often ask me how to serve sparkling red. The answer is that it should be chilled to open because it is under pressure and fizzy, but once open, it’s nice to experiment and let it warm up to room temperature to get some different flavours.
“Sparkling red is different from sparkling white because it is less acidic and also goes with a much wider variety of foods.”
Main photo: Remco Merbis
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