Amongst the Vines

It’s my official day off and I’m heading to Ark Wines , I’ve known the Engstrom family since I moved to Sudbury around three years ago. I’d just left the beer industry in London and finding out I had a modern vineyard producing interesting wine on my doorstep was a revelation ,I was immediately intrigued.

Needless to say I’ve been a huge fan since taking home those early wines in 2021/22.

So when I’m invited to a tasting of the new vintages.. I’m in.

It’s a great day to be at a vineyard ,the glorious warm sunshine touching the flesh and a light cooling breeze making it the perfect alfresco wine drinking temperature. I arrive to see Hans, a fellow Saab enthusiast outside the tasting room, sunglasses on, the epitome of Scandinavian cool, we shake hands and catch up on the deck that over looks the Chardonnay growing quietly in the mid August afternoon.

His daughter and winemaker Amanda is inside with a table full of Ark wine ready to guide us expertly through,there are new vintages and a few older wines that are really starting to hit their peak.

With tasting glass in hand we get cracking.

Of all the wines we slurp and sniff over the next hour-ish there’s a real stand out for me ,it’s the soon to be released (and soon to be in the fridge at Two Sevens) Ark 2022 Chardonnay.

This wine is a perfect example of the vitality and vigour that smashes the preconception of English wine to smithereens!

It’s alive..and it bristles with energy and life.

The nose is a spiky hit of smoke and spice, it wakes you up and draws you in, then in the blink of an eye it develops into bright berries and acid, lemon zest, gooseberry ,a whiff of sweet blossom, stone fruit and hot holiday beaches, the taste is an exquisite blend of sweet and sour , of a decadent oily mouthfeel and palate invigorating sharpness.

It will no doubt age well ,rounding off the edges ,softening the current childlike excitement that makes it feel like a wine teetering on a tightrope.

But in that moment with the rays of Suffolk sun draped across the tasting table it’s youth is what makes it a wine I’m falling for.

It’s a wine that showcases the skill of the winemaker and the terroir of this part of Suffolk perfectly.

We take a tour of the barrel store and steal some liquid straight from the wood, to taste the early stages of a wines life is beguiling and allows you to understand how complex the process from vine to bottle is.

I pre-order the Chardonnay 2022 and say a fond farewell to Amanda and Hans, Ark truly are a local producer worth shouting about and searching out , catch them soon at Two Sevens Deli.