A blend of three different grapes into a ‘cuvée’ has been declared the East of England’s top drop at a competition in what has been a bumper year for the region’s wine.

Eastern Daily Press: Judging the Wine GB East competition at Burn Valley Vineyard in North Creake were, from left, Jeremy Dunn from the Norfolk Wine School, independent wine merchant Tanja Wright and Maxwell Graham-Wood from wine merchant Satchells of Burnham Market. Picture: Supplied by Burn Valley VineyardJudging the Wine GB East competition at Burn Valley Vineyard in North Creake were, from left, Jeremy Dunn from the Norfolk Wine School, independent wine merchant Tanja Wright and Maxwell Graham-Wood from wine merchant Satchells of Burnham Market. Picture: Supplied by Burn Valley Vineyard (Image: Archant)

Essex’s Tuffon Hall Classic Cuvée 2018 - made from chardonnay, pinot meunier and pinot noir grapes - was named best-in-show at the Wine GB East competition.

Burn Valley Vineyard in North Creake hosted the awards, which cover six counties and the region north and east of London, encompassing around 90 vineyards.

Laura Robinson, 41, who runs Burn Valley along with her sister, Samantha Ciritci, said: “It was a fantastic line-up and the judges spent over three and a half hours blind tasting almost 50 different wines.

“The judges were really impressed by both the range and the overall quality of the wines they tasted.”

Miss Robinson said the number of properties producing wine in Norfolk was on the rise and the industry had weathered the Covid-19 storm fairly well.

She said: “A lot of people have been buying wine online because they couldn’t go out. “Although vineyards weren’t allowed to open for tours, they did very well in online sales.”

Miss Robinson said there was a trend towards grape varieties which ripened early in the season, including bacchus, which is particularly suited to the English climate.

She said the popularity of bacchus had boomed since Winbirri Vineyard at Surlingham won a Platinum Decanter best-in-show award in 2017, which saw it named the ‘Best single varietal white wine in the world’.Other winners were - white wine: Burn Valley Vineyard Solaris 2019 (gold), Babu’s Vineyard Solaris 2019 (silver), Valley Farm Pinot Gris 2019 (bronze); bacchus: Burn Valley Vineyard Bacchus (gold), Burnt Foot Bacchus 2019 (silver); rose: Chet Valley Redwing Rose 2019 (gold), Humbleyard Pearl Pink Rose 2018 (silver), Burn Valley Vineyard Pinot Noir Rose 2019 (bronze); red: Burn Valley Vineyard Regent 2019 (gold), Burn Valley Vineyard Pinot Noir 2019 (silver), Burn Valley Vineyard Rondo 2019 (bronze); sparking: Tuffon Hall Classic Cuvée 2018 (gold), Congham Sparkling Rosé 2017 (silver), Humbleyard Prestige Cuvée 2014 (bronze).