Langham Culver Classic Cuvée

Region

Dorset, England

Producer:

Langham Wine Estate

Grapes:

Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Pinot Meunier

Wine Description:

A red fruit dominant cuvée with white peach and baked apple notes, this wine offers a round palate suited to all occasions, particularly in the autumn & winter months. The Culver drinks equally well on its own, or particularly with charcuterie & cheeses. Perfect now or age for up to 5 years.

Winemaking for Culver The fruit is pressed oxidatively in a three tonne pneumatic press then the juice left to settle overnight - the first of many characteristic steps in our low-intervention method. The juice is then racked into a combination of stainless steel and old, predominately French oak (minimum three years old, ex Champagne, Burgundy, Bordeaux). Alcoholic fermentation occurs spontaneously, followed by full malolactic fermentation and prolonged ageing with regular batonage. The wines are blended and bottled without fining or filtration. Less sugar is added at tirage, leading to a lower bottle pressure of around 4.5 bar.

"Culver Classic Cuvee Culver is our Pinot Noir dominant blend, named after the cretaceous chalk strata our vines are planted into. It shows the power and richness of its two red varieties, with an opulence and depth that helps it to pair wonderfully with food. Culver is a non-vintage wine built on the variety and complexity of over 130 single vintage base wines aged in stainless steel and old oak, with the addition of reserve wines from concrete tank solera. The blend is 75% Pinot Noir, 14% Chardonnay and 11% Meunier, based on the 2021 vintage, with 26% of the blend coming from reserve wine. Partnering Corallian (Culver's Chardonnay dominant partner) and made with the same low intervention winemaking, from our Dorset fruit, Culver highlights the generous nature of red grapes, in contrast to Corallian's fresh, linear Chardonnay profile."

Tasting Note:

When blending Culver, we target richness and breadth. On the nose, the wine is a delicate balance of cherry, almond blossom, and greengage, contrasted by a vibrant palate which starts with gala apple and papaya, then moves towards a gentler, bruised apple character. The creamy mid-palate makes way for a long, zippy orange sherbet finish.

Producer Description

Langham Wine Estate is one of the most exciting names in English wine, with Jancis Robinson describing their distinctive style as ‘à la Selosse’ and the IWSC naming them ‘Sparkling Wine Producer of the Year’ in 2020. Head winemaker Tommy Grimshaw is fast making a name for himself as one of England’s best young talents, crafting low-intervention, traditional method sparkling wines from a single site in rural Dorset.

Langham began as a small vineyard planted by John Langham at his Dorset family home. It remained a hobby until 2009 when his son Justin started making wine in earnest. After studying viticulture at Plumpton, Justin planted the first block of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Pinot Meunier at nearby Crawthorne farm, where they are based today. Now joined by a small but dynamic team, Langham remains independent and family-run.

The 34-hectare vineyard is south-facing, with clay and flint soils over Kimmeridgian and Portlandian limestone derived from the Corallian strata, similar to Dorset’s Jurassic coastline. The team is meticulous in the vineyard, working tirelessly to reduce chemical intervention, trialling cover crops, and improving canopy management to increase airflow and naturally reduce disease pressure.

Langham’s grapes are hand-harvested and carefully sorted in the vineyard and winery. High-quality fruit facilitates Tommy’s low-intervention approach in the cellar. Base wines are made using indigenous yeasts, with extended ageing and regular bâtonnage in a mixture of stainless steel, concrete and used French barriques (ex-Burgundy, ex-Bordeaux and ex-Champagne). Oxidative techniques and expressive base wines are key to Langham’s style, which relies on blending to create complexity rather than extended lees-ageing in bottle. Minimal use of sulphur and low dosage ensures optimal site expression.

Langham’s two signature cuvées, ‘Corallian’ and ‘Culver’, have distinct identities. ‘Corallian’, named after the coral-rich limestone rock strata 300 metres below the surface of the estate, is their Chardonnay-led blend. It has a delicate nuttiness from partial barrel ageing and a reserve parcel kept under flor. ‘Culver’, named after Culver chalk, is Pinot Noir-dominant, offering a more opulent style with a savoury, spicy character. The Rosé is vinous and gastronomic with notes of pepper and blood orange. Akin to grower Champagne, Langham’s flagship Blanc de Blancs is complex and refined, with notes of lemon, stone fruits, salted almonds and a long, mineral finish.