Rathfinny's Classic Cuvée Brut is a wine that displays vibrant aromas of grapefruit, red apple and brioche. The palate is characterised by zesty acidity and creamy texture, with rich, biscuity notes leading to a refreshing and moreish finish. The perfect accompaniment for birthdays and festive occasions.

Critic Review

Decanter Magazine: 92Pts
Drinking Window: 2022 - 2026

"With its bright, light golden hue, and array of enticing flavours – oranges and lemons, peach, mint and tea biscuits – the vivacious 2018 single estate brut from Rathfinny shows great finesse. It's the winery's best release yet, which has spent 30 months on lees. From a south-facing slope of chalky soil in the South Downs."
Suzy Atkins

About the Producer

This family-owned estate was established in 2010 by Mark and Sarah Driver, with the first vineyards being planted in April 2012. Rathfinny’s estate vineyard now extends to over 93 hectares in the South Downs, just three miles from the Channel. Lying on a southfacing slope, their estate vineyard is predominantly planted with Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Meunier as well as small plantings of Pinot Blanc and Pinot Gris. The site benefits from a semicontinental maritime climate and free-draining chalk soils, providing the ideal conditions to ripen grapes. Rathfinny uses only estate-grown fruit for their four traditional-method sparkling wines: Classic Cuvée, Blanc de Blancs, Blanc de Noirs and Rosé, as well as their still white wine. Each of their wines is produced and labelled as a vintage wine.

Vineyard and Winery

Situated just south of the village of Alfriston in East Sussex, and just three miles from the English Channel, Rathfinny's vines are set out on an ideal south-facing slope, protected from the worst of the prevailing south westerlies by a natural ridge that runs along the southern edge of the Estate. The soils are silty clay loam over chalk and free-draining like the soils found in Champagne, part of the Paris Basin. Rathfinny currently has 91 hectares of vineyards, with vines planted in 2.2 metre rows at a density of 4,500 vines per hectare.

The grapes were hand harvested, whole bunch pressed and vinified with as little intervention as possible, to preserve the purest expression of vintage and place. The base wine was fermented in stainless steel at 16°C with commercial yeasts, followed by malolactic fermentation. After bottling, the wine spent 36 months ageing on its lees to develop autolytic complexity, before being released in February 2022.