Blanc de Noirs 2020

A little over a decade ago, Ben and Sam Ellis returned to England from a visit to Napa Valley, inspired to plant vines in East Sussex. In 2015, they built a house and established Everflyht, a small family-run single vineyard estate in South Downs National Park, to produce English Sparkling Wine. The following year, the family planted 6.8 hectares of vines, led by vineyard manager Luke Spalding. Another 3.5 hectares of land was set aside to help restore biodiversity, planting hundreds of trees, hundreds of meters of hedgerows, and wildflower meadows around the estate. Their collection of vintage and non-vintage English sparkling wines may be small for now, but like the Martlets of the Sussex crest that are ‘ever in flight’, the Everflyht voyage into the world of wine never intends to settle.