Leonardslee’s unusual grape mix has proved a mixed blessing. It has a little Pinotage which South African winemaker Johann Fourie uses to add colour to their sparkling rosé. It’s certainly got people’s attention but “all anyone wants to talk about is Pinotage!” Fourie complained when I met him and the team at wine club 67 Pall Mall recently.
Fourie had to admit that it makes a compelling story for a new English sparkling wine brand trying to differentiate itself in a crowded market. But there’s far more to this ambitious estate that released its first wines earlier this year than Pinotage.
Penny Streeter OBE and family: "doesn't do anything by halves"
The story of Leonardlee’s founder Penny Streeter OBE would make a great mini-series. She was born in what was then Rhodesia in 1967, educated in South Africa and then moved to England in the 1980s. She left school at 15, had three children and started her own recruitment firm. But when she got divorced and her business collapsed, she was left without a house and had to live in a homeless shelter.
From here Streeter picked herself up from the ground and in 1995 started a nursing recruitment agency in London which was successful. Immensely successful. In 2013 she bought Benguela wine estate in the Cape which up to that point had just supplied grapes to other producers and took on Fourie as her winemaker. Today it sits at number 53 in the list of World's Best Vineyards which includes the likes of Marques de Riscal and Catena Zapata.
Before Benguela was even finished, however, she was looking for another vineyard. Fourie commented: “My God can’t we finish one project!” But, he continued, “don't even bother trying to tell her different”. Initially she was tempted by Napa but Fourie, who has always been fascinated by English Sparkling Wine, suggested somewhere closer to home.
Leonardslee vineyards
Streeter “doesn’t do things by halves,” according to Fourie, so wherever they planted had to be a superlative site. Eventually they settled on an area in West Sussex around Manning Heath golf club which had two 18-hole courses. The team turned 9 holes over to vines in 2017 and 2018, a mixture of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier and, whisper it, a little Pinotage.
Streeter hired viticulturist Barry Anderson in 2019, another Saffer, naturally. Anderson explained that the land had an unique terroir - there were so many golf balls in the ground that they have just left them in the ground. The aim from the start has been to make a single estate wine, “that is from this place,” Fourrie explained.
With its golf course, hotel and Michelin-starred restaurant Leonardslee is a tourist destination in its own right. No wonder that they sell 30% of their wines to visitors, a figure that will make other English producers jealous. For the other 70%, Leonardslee has taken on Ranulf Sessions from Artis Drinks who has worked with Chapel Down to help sell into prestige retail and hospitality.
Barry Anderson: a single estate wine from the start
Sessions doesn't think the market is saturated, especially not for a wine with as good a brand story as Leonardslee. Looking abroad he’s particularly positive about Singapore and, surprisingly, he’s had interest from Nicolas in France. We might think of English Sparkling Wine as old hat but it’s still new abroad. “We need early adopters,” he said, “who are curious about English sparkling wine.” He added: “Penny's story is very important. Homeless shelter to international woman of business.”
Angus Murray, an international trade advisor who is working with the British government on pushing food and drink exports, was also at the 67 Pall Mall tasting. According to him, what really gets people interested are products with a sense of place, single estate wines rather than wines made from grapes sourced from all over.“People want provenance and heritage,” he explained.
As well as a compelling story, the branding is strong with beautiful packaging featuring a swallow which represents Streeter migrating between hemispheres following the sun. It’s the work of Will Parr, a graphic designer who has worked with other English wineries including Albourne and Hoffman & Rathbone as well as Adnams brewery in Suffolk. Inside the foil of every bottle is a personal message from Streeter.
Nice touch: a personalised message within every foil
The wines more than live up to the branding. Due to the usual trouble getting anything built in Britain, Leonardslee still doesn’t have its own winery so currently it uses Wiston. The 2020 Blanc de Blancs is astonishingly good: racy and precise but with a richness from barrel ageing providing texture. It’s right up there with some of the best in the country like… um… Wiston. The 2021 Brut Reserve, from a much trickier vintage with high acids and low sugars, required the wine being put through malolactic fermentation, it is well balanced and the 2021 Brut Rosé is exuberantly fruity.
The next step will probably be some single site Chardonnay wines. Fourie thinks the estate is particularly suited to Chardonnay – “we didn't choose it, it chose us.” There might also be some non-vintage releases but it has not been decided yet.
Currently the two white wines are part of the Sussex PDO, the team see this as an important part of the Leonardslee’s provenance story. “The English market is very aware of counties,” said Sessions. He also thinks it’s a useful way for customers to know they’re getting a Champagne-style sparkling wine rather than Charmat method. The rosé, however, is not entitled to a PDO because Pinotage is not yet a recognised variety, something that Fourie is seeking to change. There, I mentioned the Pinotage but I think I got away with it.
