I was given a bottle of this wine for Christmas. The Grace Dieu vineyard is situated in the North West Leicestershire village of Whitwick. This is a very northerly vineyard located at 52 degrees and 44 minutes North. Forty years ago Whitwick would have been considered to be a very marginal location to grow wine grapes. The climate has changed considerably since 1975.
Even with a warmer climate The Green Man is produced from the Madeleine Angevine white grape variety which suits a cooler climate. The wine has an alcoholic content of 11% which is not very high by modern standards.
The Whitwick vineyard uses natural techniques in both the farming of the grapes and fermentation of the grape must. Not that I could taste this. I felt, however,that the wine would not give you a bad head if you drank a little bit too much - not that I would ever over indulge!
The Green Man had a crisp and sharp taste on the palate and it had floral characters along with a taste of green fruits but with a slightly vegetal edge. It was bone dry. It reminded me a little of Muscadet from the Loire.
We drank the wine with an organic chicken and some of the wine was used in the sauce. I found this wine very palatable and of good quality. Because it has a distinctive taste, it really does merit the prizes that it has won. It could be easily be drunk on its own in a wine bar or at a party; but I think it is better with food such as chicken or fish such as sea bass or sea bream.
You can find it at £13.50 a bottle but no doubt it will be cheaper at the vineyard. Many wine drinkers might find this wine very expensive and uncompetitive compared to French or Italian dry whites on a quality basis. This maybe true but English winemakers cannot achieve the economies of scale of their French or Italian counterparts. They deserve our support and this is why I am prepared to pay that little bit extra for a good English wine.
The Whitwick vineyard has had the imagination to give their wine a great name and why not? A wine of distinction deserves a good name rather than just to be called after a grape. If you are in the area why not
buy it and support a very good producer.
http://www.gracedieuvineyard.co.uk/
http://www.lazouch.co.uk/drinkshop/product.asp?intProdID=1188&strCatalog_NAME=&strSubCatalog_NAME=Grace%20Dieu%20Vineyard&strSubCatalogID=2&intCatalogID=&CurCatalogID=10049
http://www.englishwineproducers.co.uk/
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