Rathfinny Wine Estate was founded in 2010 by Mark and Sarah Driver, who planted the first vineyards in April 2012. This family-owned estate now comprises over 93 hectares of vines in the South Downs, just three miles from the Channel. Their vineyards are predominantly planted with Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Pinot Meunier on a south-facing slope. Combined with a semi-continental maritime climate and free-draining chalk soils, this unique site offers ideal conditions to ripen grapes for sparkling wine. Rathfinny uses only estate-grown fruit for their four traditional-method sparkling wines, Classic Cuvée, Blanc de Blancs, Blanc de Noirs and Rosé, each produced and labelled as a vintage wine.

Rathfinny's hand-harvested and whole-bunch-pressed grapes are vinified with minimal intervention and low dosage, preserving the purest expression of place and vintage. This preservation of character starts in the vineyard.

Sarah Driver explains, “We take the stewardship of our land seriously. All our buildings are constructed using locally sourced materials, such as flint from the vineyards, and we have worked with Natural England and the South Downs National Park to implement a programme of improvements to enhance wildlife habitats and reclaim areas of natural chalk grassland, as well as creating wildlife corridors throughout the vineyard.”

This ‘re-wilding' of what was previously an arable farm ensures greater biodiversity in their vineyards. Focusing on the environment, sustainability and soil also ensures excellent quality fruit. Mark Driver adds that “sustainability is multi-layered, it's everything we touch. It's not just about the use of carbon or energy or chemicals. It's about how we treat our soils, our use of water and all the inputs we have in the winemaking process, the whole environment.” This attention to detail shines through in the wines, which are beautifully made, elegant and balanced.

Situated just south of the village of Alfriston in East Sussex, and just three miles from the English Channel, Rathfinny's vines are set out on an ideal south-facing slope, protected from the worst of the prevailing south westerlies by a natural ridge that runs along the southern edge of the Estate. The soils are silty clay loam over chalk and free-draining like the soils found in Champagne, part of the Paris Basin.

The grapes were hand harvested, whole bunch pressed and vinified with as little intervention as possible, to preserve the purest expression of vintage and place. The base wine was fermented in stainless steel at 16°C with commercial yeasts, followed by malolactic fermentation. After bottling, the wine spent 36 months ageing on its lees to develop autolytic complexity. The wine was disgorged followed by a low dosage of 4.5g/l.

A really versatile food-matcher. The Classic Cuvée pairs perfectly with roast chicken and meaty fish like hake and monkfish or eggs benedict and gravlax.

“Bergamot peel on the nose. Crisp and brisk, sorrel and citrus. Lovely stoniness, like rolling marbles in your mouth. Firm and bracingly clean. Mouth-watering finish. A great appetiser! I found myself hankering for cockles to go with it!” - Tamlyn Currin, wine writer for Jancis Robinson