A Brave Idea - Monty's Pet Nat Episode 2

The Monty's Pet Nat story continues! This week, Monty visits Albury Organic Vineyard in Surrey to pitch an idea to owner Nick Wenman. Monty hopes Nick can help him with a risky venture into English winemaking!

You can view the video on the Monty's Pet Nat facebook page. Remember to 'like and share' this page - when it reaches 200 likes we will give away a bottle of Monty's Pet Nat! You can also tweet about the wine @alburyvineyard @MontyWaldin using #MontysPetNat #naturalwine.

Monty's Pet Nat is the UK's first natural wine, and has been produced by Monty Waldin and Albury Organic Vineyard. To find out more about what it's all about, visit www.alburyvineyard.com/montys-pet-nat.

Tours and Wine Tasting

This year, Albury Organic Vineyard is opening for tours and wine tasting! Throughout 2015 we are offering a number of general tour and tasting sessions costing £10 per person, £5 of which is redeemable against wine purchases. All tours start at 11am and last apoximately 1 1/2 hours.

What's Included?

• A tour of the vineyard with either vineyard owner Nick Wenman or vineyard manager Alex Valsecchi
• An explanation and insight into our belief in organic and biodynamic viticulture
• Tastings of our current releases including our award winning wines, and a sprit produced from our grapes by Silent Pool Distillery

Although we do not currently have a restaurant at the vineyard, it is a beautiful setting and you are welcome to bring a picnic lunch to eat whilst sitting within the vines and enjoying the views.

Booking is essential and available dates for 2015 are as follows:-


Saturday 30th May (English Wine Week)
Tuesday 2nd June
Saturday 20th June
Tuesday 7th July
Saturday 11th July
Tuesday 4th August
Saturday 15th August
Tuesday 1st September
Saturday 19th September

You can book online here.

Alternatively, if you would like to organise a private tour or something to celebrate a special occasion, please contact us directly by emailing info@alburyvineyard.com.

Let the story unfold! - Monty's Pet Nat Episode 1

Watch Episode 1 now!

Let the story unfold! In this first Episode of Monty's Pet Nat film series, winemaker Monty Waldin explores English Wine's new 'coming of age' when he visits award winning Hattingley Valley Vineyard in Hampshire. It proves to be an inspiring visit.

You can view the video on the Monty's Pet Nat facebook page. Remember to 'like and share' this page - when it reaches 200 likes we will give away a bottle of Monty's Pet Nat! You can also tweet about the wine @alburyvineyard @MontyWaldin using #MontysPetNat #naturalwine.

Monty's Pet Nat is the UK's first natural wine, and has been produced by Monty Waldin and Albury Organic Vineyard. To find out more about what it's all about, visit www.alburyvineyard.com/montys-pet-nat.

The Story of Monty's Pet Nat - Trailer Video!

History in the making! Get a flavour of how the UK's first 'Pet Nat' sparkling wine was created by Monty Waldin and Albury Organic Vineyard. Filmed over a year, this series of 13 short films tells the unique story. English Winemaking at its best!

Albury Vineyard has teamed up with Monty Waldin, an expert in biodynamic wine, to produce Monty's Pet Nat, the UK's first petillant naturel. Monty's Pet Nat is a natural wine made by completing the first fermentation in the bottle. It is a lively, fresh sparkling wine with a cloudy sediment which adds to its character. It has a ripe pear, zesty and citrus nose, and is dry on the palate with notes of fresh lemons, and a hint of mandarin in the finish.

We will be uploading videos onto Monty’s Pet Nat Facebook page every week and the trailer is available to watch now! If you are interested in the story of Monty’s Pet Nat, here’s what you can do:-

• ‘Like’ Monty’s Pet Nat Facebook page and watch the videos as they are posted. We will give away a bottle of Monty’s Pet Nat once the page has 200 likes, so please ‘like and share’ the page to be in with a chance of winning.

• Sign up to our newsletter at alburyvineyard.com if you would like to be updated with not only releases of the videos, but the release of the wine as well. Albury Vineyard will release Monty's Pet Nat at the RAW wine fair on 17th/18th May 2015 and we only have 600 bottles available for sale! It will be available to buy from Les Caves de Pyrene, or from the vineyard if you are a wine club member.

• You can also follow us on twitter @aburyvineyard. Please use #MontysPetNat and #naturalwine to spread the word about Monty’s Pet Nat!

What's the story of Monty's Pet Nat?

Monty Waldin had always wanted to make an English wine, but only if he could find the best quality biodynamic grapes. When he met Nick Wenman, owner of Albury Vineyard and advocate of biodynamics, Monty made it his mission to convince Nick to part with some of his Chardonnay grapes in order to make a natural wine. It's been a risky process, and neither Nick nor Monty were quite sure how the wine would turn out because, when making pet nat, nothing is added to control how the wine ferments. Monty's Pet Nat contains only fermenting grape juice with only minimal SO2 - the yeast which fermented the grape sugar into wine were the wild yeasts present in Albury vineyard. As Monty says:

"This is what a pétillant naturel should be about – letting nature have a free hand to create a beautiful, unique and groundbreaking English bubbly: savoury, off-dry, lightly fizzy and mouthwateringly drinkable."

Watch the story unfold...

Monty's Pet Nat is one of few wines to have its own series of videos! Our 13-part series of short video clips, produced by Ant Palmer at Seablue Media, tells the story of how Monty's Pet Nat has been made. Each clip, lasting a few minutes, is light-hearted and entertaining, and the series gives viewers an insight into how natural wine can be produced in the UK. Start following the story here, and remember to ‘like and share’ to be in with a chance of winning a bottle of Monty’s Pet Nat!

Silent Pool Rosé 2014

Last week we tasted our Silent Pool Rosé 2014, which will be available at the beginning of English Wine Week on 22nd May when we will also be releasing Albury Estate Premier Cuvée (our first quality bubbly).

Ulrich Hoffmann (the winemaker) has once again done an excellent job and produced what is probably our best still rosé wine so far. Made from Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier grapes it has a salmon colour. On the nose it has alluring aromas of strawberry, light cherry and peach. It is elegant and fresh with summer fruit flavours with balanced acidity and a long finish. It is made from biodynamic fruit and certified organic by Demeter.

Details of stockists are available on our website alburyvineyard.com

When Wine Tastes Best

According to the Biodynamic Calendar today was a Fruit Day, which is a great day for tasting wine.

There are four different classifications of days (Fruit, Flower, Leaf and Root), defined according to the position of the moon in relation to the twelve constellations. Each constellation is associated with four elements, earth, air, fire and water and each of these elements effects a different part of the vine. The best days to drink wine are Fruit and Flower days and you should avoid Leaf and Root days.

The Easter weekend isn't good for drinking wine until the Monday evening but the good news is that National No Housework Day on 7th April and St George's Day on the 23rd are both Flower Days.

Whether you believe this or not it's interesting to know that both Tesco and Marks and Spencer now only hold tastings for wine critics on Fruit and Flower days! If you want to know more buy a copy of When Wine Tastes Best at Floris Books.