Cobble Hill Chardonnay 2022

Cobble Hill Vineyard

Award-winning wines enhanced by exceptional soils

Boasting a well-balanced profile of tropical fruits, citrus and elderflower notes, the Cobble Hill Bacchus 2022 is a bestseller. Awarded the Best Bacchus accolade in the 2023 Wine GB East Awards for its distinct flavours and delightful crisp finish, this is a stunning white wine to rival anything produced in France.

“The success of our wines can be attributed to the Norfolk countryside,” says vineyard owner Robert Perowne. “Beneath our feet is lovely chalky soil, which is free draining but also retains moisture deep down. This helps the vines to grow and gives the grapes a special flavour.”

“We’re also very lucky to have such a beautiful site, which is named Cobble Hill because it’s covered in white flint cobble stones,” he continues. “These cobbles reflect the heat warming the vineyard to around four degrees higher than the local area, helping our grapes to ripen and protecting us from frosts.”

Pinot Noir is one of the oldest known vine varieties and is grown at Cobble Hill as it thrives in cooler climates. These grapes are used to make three exquisite wines: a medium dry Pinot Noir Rosé with red fruit flavours and a hint of citrus, a Pinot Red 2023 and a refreshing Sparkling Rosé. Taking two years to produce, the sparkling wine is a very drinkable classic ‘Champagne-style’ Pinot Noir which garnered the Gold Medal for Sparkling Wine in the prestigious 2022 Wines of Great Britain National Awards.

Temperature and weather bring subtle differences to the flavour of individual wine batches produced at Cobble Hill each year. “The world-renowned wine critic Oz Clarke loves our 2021 Chardonnay and awarded it a Silver Medal in 2023,” Robert says. “It boasts a smooth and buttery texture and a flavour that’s significantly different to earlier bottles.”

 Robert hasn’t always been a winemaker, with his family having farmed the Norfolk landscape for generations. “I’ve been a vegetable grower my whole life,” he says. “Since I was a boy, I’ve loved having a vegetable garden. Nothing has changed really; I just like growing things. It’s certainly helped me set up the vineyard.”

Robert looks after around 17,000 vines across nine acres at Cobble Hill, producing around 20,000 bottles of wine in a good year. “When we began, the vineyard was halfway between a hobby and a dream; there’s been lots to learn,” Robert explains. “In the early days I was told I had too many grapes on the vines, and I should cut some off. The farmer in me found that hard to cope with. Going through a field of barley and cutting half the ears off would be seriously against the grain!”

At the top of Cobble Hill rests Robert’s stunning log cabin, a space where visitors can enjoy a peaceful wine tasting and lunch platter after a bespoke vineyard tour. “The rolling Norfolk countryside views make it feel like somewhere rather more exotic,” Robert smiles.

 “I love sitting here chatting to people and savouring the atmosphere.” Cobble Hill products can be purchased directly from the winery, on the vineyard website or from most Norfolk wine merchants and delis. It’s also available on the wine menus of many local restaurants, including The Gin Trap Inn in Ringstead, The Orange Tree in Thornham, The Duck Inn in Stanhoe and The White Horse in Brancaster.

“I personally enjoy savouring a Bacchus sitting outside my log cabin with local lobster or moules mariner; it goes so well with shellfish,” Robert says. “It’s just lovely to sit there and think – I did all this.”