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Simpsons Wine Estate

Kent estate-grown still and sparkling wine from Chardonnay, Pinot Meunier and Pinot Noir, shaped by the chalky slopes of the Elham Valley.

The producer

Ruth and Charles Simpson established Simpsons Wine Estate at Barham, Kent, in 2012, after making wine at Domaine de Sainte Rose in southern France from 2002. The estate reports 30 hectares in production across sunny, sheltered North Downs slopes, with Chardonnay, Pinot Meunier and Pinot Noir supplying both still and sparkling wines from its own fruit.

White Cliffs Blanc de Blancs 2018 shows the Chardonnay sparkling side: dry and medium-bodied, with mousse, fruit, brioche-like lees character and a mineral finish after 36 months on lees. A 2022 planting of 35,000 Chardonnay vines extended the estate’s still-wine capability without displacing its three-grape sparkling foundation.

Known for

Estate-grown English still and sparkling wine from Kent’s Chardonnay, Pinot Meunier and Pinot Noir vineyards.

Notable facts

The story

35,000 Chardonnay Vines

In 2022, Simpsons Wine Estate planted 35,000 Chardonnay vines in Kent. Ruth and Charles Simpson had established the English estate a decade earlier, after beginning their French wine venture at Domaine de Sainte Rose in 2002. The first Barham vineyards had been planted with Chardonnay, Pinot Meunier and Pinot Noir, beginning with Roman Road Vineyard in 2014 and continuing at Railway Hill in 2016 and 2017. Those three grapes underpinned the estate’s sparkling wines, including Chardonnay-led White Cliffs Blanc de Blancs. The 2022 planting added a substantial new block of Chardonnay for the estate’s developing still-wine work, alongside the existing estate-grown sparkling production.

From the atlas

Simpsons Wine Estate

At A Glance

The Producer

Simpsons Wine Estate sits at Barham in Kent, where Ruth and Charles Simpson built an English vineyard estate after a decade of work at Domaine de Sainte Rose in southern France. Their 30 hectares in production supply both still and sparkling wines from estate-grown fruit, so the bottles begin with a defined set of Kent vineyards rather than purchased grapes. Chardonnay, Pinot Meunier and Pinot Noir connect the planting plan to a sparkling range, while later Chardonnay planting has widened the estate’s still-wine work.

Place

The vineyards lie in the Elham Valley, within Kent’s North Downs, where the estate planted its first English roots in 2014. Sunny, sheltered slopes and a maritime climate give the three principal grapes a protected growing setting; Chardonnay can become the basis for dry Blanc de Blancs, while Pinot Meunier and Pinot Noir provide the other two varieties used across the sparkling vineyards. Barham is therefore more than a label address: it is the site shared by the fruit in the estate-grown range.

Soil And Site

Chalk runs through the vineyard setting near Barham, alongside ancient woodland and sheltered slopes. The slope exposure helps bring sunlight to the vines, while shelter moderates the exposed feel of the North Downs landscape; together, those conditions shape the ripening environment for Chardonnay, Pinot Meunier and Pinot Noir. In White Cliffs Blanc de Blancs, made from Chardonnay, the resulting wine is described with mineral character on the finish rather than broad sweetness.

Story

Ruth and Charles Simpson began their wine venture at Domaine de Sainte Rose in southern France in 2002, then established Simpsons Wine Estate in Kent in 2012. The English project became physical with Roman Road Vineyard, where 10 hectares of Chardonnay, Pinot Meunier and Pinot Noir went into the ground in 2014. Those varieties put sparkling wine at the centre of the early vineyard plan, using grapes familiar from traditional-method sparkling production in a different growing landscape.

Railway Hill followed with 20 hectares of the same three varieties planted during 2016 and 2017. In 2022, the estate added 35,000 Chardonnay vines as it expanded its still-wine capability. The change did not replace the sparkling work: it gave Chardonnay two roles, from bottle-fermented Blanc de Blancs to a larger still-wine direction.

Vineyards And Cellar

Roman Road and Railway Hill establish the estate’s core grape mix, and the wines remain exclusively estate-grown. This keeps the sparkling range tied to Chardonnay, Pinot Meunier and Pinot Noir grown on the Barham sites, rather than treating the three grapes as a generic recipe. For White Cliffs Blanc de Blancs 2018, Chardonnay is the sole grape, and 36 months on lees adds bottle-aged character after the wine has developed its mousse.

A documented oak element also appears in the 2018 White Cliffs, though the supplied evidence does not quantify it. Lees ageing is the clearer structural marker: time with the spent yeast cells brings brioche-like autolytic notes and a fuller texture, while the wine remains dry and medium-bodied.

Wines

The range divides into estate-grown sparkling wines and still wines developed alongside the expanded Chardonnay plantings. The sparkling side begins with the three vineyard grapes: Chardonnay brings citrus-led fruit and mineral detail to Blanc de Blancs, while Pinot Meunier and Pinot Noir form part of the wider planting base. The still-wine branch gained vineyard scale with the 2022 Chardonnay planting, giving the estate more fruit dedicated to that direction.

White Cliffs Blanc de Blancs 2018 is the named Chardonnay sparkling wine in the range. It is dry and medium-bodied, with mousse and fruit shaped by bottle ageing on lees; its brioche-like notes and mineral finish show a wine built around texture and finish rather than dosage-led sweetness.

In The Glass

White Cliffs Blanc de Blancs 2018 opens with fruit and fine mousse, then moves into brioche-like autolytic notes from its 36 months on lees. Chardonnay gives the palate a dry, medium-bodied shape, while the documented oak component sits behind rather than replacing the wine’s fruit. The texture carries through to a mineral finish, where the wine feels more chalky and savoury than sweet.

A Bottle To Understand It

Choose White Cliffs Blanc de Blancs 2018. It is a Chardonnay sparkling wine from the estate’s Kent vineyards, aged for 36 months on lees and made in a dry, medium-bodied style. Its mousse, bottle-aged brioche character and mineral finish bring the Barham planting, Chardonnay focus and cellar ageing into one bottle. Serve it when a sparkling wine with texture and a dry finish is wanted.

Anecdote

In 2022, Simpsons Wine Estate planted 35,000 Chardonnay vines at its Kent property. Ruth and Charles Simpson had established their English estate a decade earlier, after beginning their French wine venture at Domaine de Sainte Rose in 2002, and the first Barham vineyards had been planted with Chardonnay, Pinot Meunier and Pinot Noir for sparkling wine. The new Chardonnay planting marked a substantial expansion of still-wine capability. It added to the existing vineyard holdings rather than changing the original three-grape foundation, leaving Chardonnay with a larger place in an estate already making both still and sparkling wine from its own fruit.

Final Word

Simpsons Wine Estate is grounded in a clear Kent sequence: sheltered chalk slopes at Barham, Chardonnay and the two Pinots planted from 2014, then a range extending from sparkling wine into still wine. White Cliffs Blanc de Blancs 2018 brings that sequence into focus through dry Chardonnay, lees-aged texture and a mineral finish.

Sources

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