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gil
Joined: 08 Jun 2005
Posts: 12153
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 Posted: Sat Dec 01, 07 8:50 pm Post subject: Southern Uplands Winery |
 
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SOUTHERN UPLANDS WINERY The Wine List : Available from July, 2008
Price : £8.25 per bottle; 'Mixed 6' £50 Both prices include Downsizer discount.
Bramble
A full-bodied velvety red, made from ripe hedgerow blackberries growing in the foothills of the Southern Uplands. Serve with game, red meats or cheeses.
Elderberry
A red, probably quite dry, and made with elderberries growing round this part of the region. Serve with game, red meats or cheeses.
Elderberry and Bramble
Another red, combining the softness of brambles with the structure and bite of elderberry. Serve with game, red meats or cheeses.
Sloe
A full, dry red, made from wild sloes harvested after the first frosts, from bushes growing on the banks of Southern Uplands rivers and burns. Serve with game, red meats or cheeses.
Damson
A fruity spicy red, made from a mixture of Merryweather (for sweetness) and Farleigh (for flavour) damsons, grown on our smallholding without the use of artificial fertilisers, pesticides or herbicides. Serve with game, red meats or cheeses.
Rhubarb
A fruity, dry rosé, made from rhubarb growing on remote Soil Association-certified organic hill farms in the Southern Uplands. Serve cool, with poultry, oily fish, rhubarb crumble, or on its own.
Rowan
A dry golden white, with a subtle sweetness, almost like a fino sherry when young, made with rowan berries grown on our smallholding or locally wild-harvested in the Southern Uplands. Serve cool as an aperitif, or with game, lamb, pork or poultry.
Crab-apple
A complex, robust, dry golden white, made with crab-apples from a Soil Association-certified organic estate in the Southern Uplands. Serve cool, with game or pork.
Nettle
A substantial yet dry golden white, with a fresh green citrus taste, made from the topmost, tender young leaves of nettles picked in spring and early summer on our smallholding. No sting ! Serve cool, with game (especially good with rabbit or pheasant) and poultry.
Quince
A fragrant, golden white, made from quinces growing wild in the Southern Uplands. Serve cool or at room temperature, with game, red meats or cheeses
Whitebeam
A dry white with a hint of apricot and tropical fruit, made from the fruit of the whitebeam tree when bletted by winter frosts, harvested from forests in the Southern Uplands. Serve cool, with poultry, oriental dishes, desserts or blue cheeses
Scots Gale [bog myrtle]
Spicy, dry aromatic white, bit gingery, bit balsamic, made from the topmost leaves of the bog myrtle bushes that grow deep in the forestry plantations of The Machars in Galloway. Good with seafood, oriental food, cheese.
Contact : Gil Hardstone, Southern Uplands Winery, Milton, Tundergarth, Lockerbie, Dumfries and Galloway, DG11 2QQ. Telephone (01576) 710656, for a mail order form
Email : southernuplands@btinternet.com or better still hardstone59@hotmail.com
or PM me
Delivery
a) in NW England/Scotland up to and including Central Belt, delivery by myself, delivery charge £6.50
b) mail order for collection at various Downsizer meets.
c) by courier, at cost, which will likely be about £10-11; ask for current prices
Cheques made payable to Southern Uplands Winery, please.
Last edited by gil on Fri Mar 13, 09 12:27 pm; edited 9 times in total |
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gil
Joined: 08 Jun 2005
Posts: 12153
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| Posted: Sat Dec 01, 07 8:51 pm Post subject: |
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And here's some info about how it's grown and made :
Making Wine at Southern Uplands Winery : our philosophy
Intensity
At Southern Uplands Winery, we’re passionate about making wine (some might say obsessed). Our wines have an intensity of flavour derived from the way we make them, including generous quantities of fresh ingredients : fruit, flowers and leaves. The end result is a unique range of wines exhibiting strong yet subtle and distinctive flavours. The entire wine-making process, from harvest through to maturing, has been designed to preserve the maximum natural taste and aroma of ingredients traditional to the rural landscape and culture of the Southern Uplands of Scotland.
Integrity
We ferment on the fruit itself, and to a natural conclusion (the way wines should be made), rather than adding fruit essences or syrups to a generic wine-strength alcohol base. To retain maximum taste, we allow our wines to clear naturally in their own time, and by racking during maturation. This method is generally more highly regarded than fining or filtering, which can also remove delicate flavours and aromas.
We suggest that you merely cool (5-10C) our whites before drinking, as chilling impairs their flavour and bouquet. Because our wines are ‘live’, they continue to age and improve in the bottle, with the fruitiness of the young wine becoming increasingly complex as it matures.
Purity
Our vinification process minimises or avoids the use of chemical additives – not just sulphites. Winemakers are not obliged to tell you what they put in their products, because there is no legal requirement to state the contents of a wine on its label. With larger-scale production, and a need for process controllability and product consistency, what’s in the average glass of red (or white) doesn’t bear thinking about. We use fresh lemons and pots of tea in preference to citric acid crystals or tannin powder, although where necessary, we use an enzyme to break down fruit pectin and release even more flavour. We don’t think our wines need colourants or anything else added to improve them. Red-skinned berries such as Rowan produce a paler wine because their flesh is golden, but exhibit just as robust a flavour as some red wines.
At Southern Uplands, we don’t want to put sulphites in our wine. We use sodium metabisulphite (also sold as Campden tablets) as a steriliser for glass vessels that won’t stand boiling water, and then rinse thoroughly with clean water. Occasionally, a tiny amount (less than half a teaspoon) is added to a batch of soft or very ripe fruit, to kill off any wild yeasts or bacteria that might taint the flavour of the wine. It is then allowed to evaporate off before fermentation begins. So if you are extremely sensitive to sulphites, you may wish to go easy on our Bramble and Whitebeam. We don’t use sulphites to arrest fermentation, or as a preservative.
It takes time, patience and hard work to create good wine. We think it’s worth it.
Local, seasonal and sustainable
All Southern Uplands wines are made with fruit, flowers and leaves that are
- home-grown on our small-holding, in accordance with Soil Association standards, though not certified organic
- sustainably harvested or picked wild on a nearby Soil Association-certified estate
- sustainably wild-harvested from local, uncultivated areas
We’ve chosen to make our wines using plants that grow well in the smallholding’s rich, fertile silt loam soil but rather hostile microclimate, and in the hills round about. Anything that survives the fierce frosts and the short growing season has to be hardy, but is all the tastier for it. We harvest our ingredients in season and at their best, from April to November.
This area is so rich in plants and trees that we don’t want or need to use fruit from non-local sources. From year to year the Southern Uplands Winery range may vary : some years there may not be many sloes because spring frosts caught the blossom, although there might be a bumper crop of something else instead; sometimes this year’s berries will be sweeter than last because of weather conditions.
We are also growing and planting more native trees and bushes on the smallholding. Some of these will be planted out in the wild when they are large enough, to maintain and add to the local landscape.
Organic methods
Even though we are too small for it to be economic for the winery to be organically certified, we don’t use artificial fertilisers, pesticides or herbicides on the smallholding. Sometimes, though, the weeding can be hard going. Out of a determination to take a positive view of weeds came our very splendid Nettle wine (and a few others that, though perfectly drinkable, haven’t quite made the grade). However, we can recommend the young glossy leaves and stems of ground elder (Bishop Weed) as a spring vegetable and in soups.
Growing and producing organically is about much more than just what you don’t use. For us, it all starts with looking after the soil and its drainage, minerals, pH, organic matter and micro-organisms; feeding it with home-produced composts; and growing crops and varieties appropriate to the local geography and climate. The smallholding supports a wide variety of wildlife, plants, trees and crops, thereby contributing to local biodiversity.
Organic practice extends all the way through our wine-making activities (official organic standards for wine production will come into force on 1st January, 2009), to recycling, and minimising product packaging. We’d like to use UK-produced bottles or re-use existing ones, but there isn’t yet a UK facility for recycling green glass back into wine bottles, and regulations do not permit re-using bottles. Instead, ours are shipped from France, which is the nearest source.
Unique
At Southern Uplands Winery, we take our growing, harvesting and wine-making very seriously indeed, and hope that you enjoy tasting and drinking our wines as much as we enjoy crafting (and drinking) them. It’s a unique experience, well worth savouring. |
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Mrs Fiddlesticks
Joined: 02 Nov 2004
Posts: 10460
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| Posted: Sat Dec 01, 07 8:59 pm Post subject: |
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brilliant! Well done, mate!
Price list? per bottle or case?
Could you do a taster case of one of each perhaps? |
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Chez
Joined: 13 Aug 2006
Posts: 12750
Location: Quantock Hills, Somerset
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| Posted: Sat Dec 01, 07 9:04 pm Post subject: |
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They sound fantastic - and a price list would be great! |
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Rob R
Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 15180
Location: York
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| Posted: Sat Dec 01, 07 9:08 pm Post subject: |
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You forgot to add Endorsed by Rob R  |
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gil
Joined: 08 Jun 2005
Posts: 12153
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| Posted: Sat Dec 01, 07 9:09 pm Post subject: |
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Some reviews by Downsizers
WHITEBEAM
Jonnyboy : Whitebeam - crisp and fresh, a nice tingle on the tongue, reminds me a little of very ripe melon. very drinkable but not too keen on the nose.
Cab : Whitebeam. Wow, not too full bodied but substantial, medium, legs on it say its strong. Went down well with roast chicken dinner last night. Fruity, but not overwhelmingly so, a table wine rather than a social wine.
Excellent. And I'm not just saying that, if I didn't think it there would be constructive criticism. If I was to go looking for fault I'd say that it could do with just a little tannin, the flavour is good, the body is there, the aroma is excellent, but it lacks just a tiny little bit on bite. But that would be very picky; if I'd homebrewed it I'd be delighted.
NL : Whitebeam : Pleasantly sweet for a white, but not overly so - most quaffable. Not as good as the Sloe though.
Jema : Tried the Whitebeam a few days back Snowball was positive about it, but too sweet for my taste.
NETTLE
Jocorless : We've tried the Nettle - We found it tasted better really really cold as it got warmer it became too astringent for our tastes - I don't really like very dry wines and it had that edge that really dry Champagne has - However I did like it and it went well with the Plum and Ginger stuffed Poussin we had for our meal but its definitely a wine that needs to be sipped and enjoyed not glugged like I usually do
Nick : Nettle. Wife says it tastes like nettles smell. I found it smoky, possibly oaky. Was chilled and was very pleasant. I have no idea of it's alcohol content but felt quite light to me, no dramatically noticeable affects after about a half bottle. I like, as a point of
reference, French whites, like Chablis, pouilly fume/fussee, and muscadet sur lie. Sat well on my palate.
Went well with Top Gear Polar Challenge. I'd buy it again, for sure.
Snowball : On the other hand, we both loved the Nettle. Does need to be chilled though.
SLOE
NL : The Sloe however,.... buy it. Buy lots of it. Slightly sparkling when first opened, with a lovely light, fruity taste that worryingly
doesn't even hint that it's alchoholic. After sitting round for 3 days the sparkle's gone, but the taste is even better.
Cab : Sloe wine. Good for a sloe wine. Sharp, pink, perhaps too sharp, but if you don't want sharp then don't get sloe wine. I liked it,
but it could do with a wee bit more body
Treacodactyl : Sloe: Having said we like sweeter wines the sloe was rather good. It might be a little light for some but we found it well
balanced and pleasantly dry. One we'd buy again and I wonder if it would be good lightly chilled on a warm day.
RHUBARB
Jocorless : Apparantly the Rhubarb is delicious with smelly French cheese - I wouldn't know because the buggers drunk it all whilst I
was out visiting my sick mother in hospital - Not that I'm bitter or anything
DAMSON
Jonnyboy : Damson. Lovely deep blush colour, again a hit of alcohol in the nose but otherwise not a huge bouquet at all, but it's saving itself... Sweet damson fruit hit, fading to tartness quite quickly with a fragrant orangy tang to it, then back to gorgeous
damson sweetness. Really summery taste, for some reason it made me thing of drinking good sangria on holiday. No tannin hit to it, really smooth.
Bloody gorgeous!
QUINCE
NL : Quince : shall we say 'familiar' look (Look up your SlackBladder), but lovely fruity taste and aroma. Very little bitterness. A nice
little tipple; should make a good desert wine, altough it's nowhere near as sweet as grape-based ones.
Treacodactyl : Quince: Our favourite. I wouldn't say it's that sweet and again I think it's well balanced with some sharpness at the
end, a decent amount of fruity flavour although I wouldn't say no to a bit more. You say drink within a year of purchase but I would
think it might age quite well and become even better after a year.
CRABAPPLE
Jonnyboy : Crabapple was lovely, especially crisp and when chilled. I used a scant glass to deglaze a pan that had oven baked pork
chops with garlic in it, and ended up with a fantastic gravy.
BRAMBLE
Jonnyboy : We opened a bottle of Southern Uplands 'Bramble' wine last night and tried a glass each at room temperature.
Initial nose is good, nice warm berry fruit aroma with a hit of alcohol. even before drinking you get the impression that this isn't
a lightweight wine, especially by the way it coats the glass - more resemblant of a sherry or liquer.
First taste confirms the alcohol content you get a lovely bramble fruit base with a warmth from the alcohol that really gives me the impression that this stuff could be pushing 15% or more.
The bramble fruit taste isn't complex, but that's not intended as a criticism, it's a clean simple taste.
This isn't a gluggable party wine, I couldn't see it being drunk alongside a main course as it could stand up on it's own as a digestif.
I'm going to enjoy a couple more glasses tonight with some fruit and good cheese.
Room temperature (as written on the bottle) is best for this wine. I put a small amount in the fridge and tried it today, the delicate fruit
flavours are lost when it's chilled.
Overall very impressed. I hope that this review goes some way to doing it justice. But we were very impressed. well done Gil
OVERALL
Jamanda : I can now vouch for the extreme efficiency of many of Gil's wines. I can't quite remember all of them for some reason, but
we certainly had nettle, which was lovely - tasted of chlorophyll, rowan sherry mmmmm, raspberry - yes I can definitely remember the raspberry - that was my favourite. There were others - Sean (who has a stronger constitution than me) will be on to sing their praises later.
I can also report that the "morning after", while pretty grim, was nothing like as bad as it would have been on regular wine.
[gil says : that was after 7 bottles between 3 of us]
edited by gil to get the text to run together
Last edited by gil on Sat Dec 01, 07 9:24 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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gil
Joined: 08 Jun 2005
Posts: 12153
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| Posted: Sat Dec 01, 07 9:13 pm Post subject: |
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Prices now edited into original post |
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gil
Joined: 08 Jun 2005
Posts: 12153
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| Posted: Sat Dec 01, 07 9:14 pm Post subject: |
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| Rob R wrote: |
| You forgot to add Endorsed by Rob R |
Have you finished that building yet ? Or did you already open the Sloe ? |
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Rob R
Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 15180
Location: York
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| Posted: Sat Dec 01, 07 9:16 pm Post subject: |
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| gil wrote: |
| Rob R wrote: |
| You forgot to add Endorsed by Rob R |
Have you finished that building yet ? Or did you already open the Sloe ? |
No (awaiting a crane) & no (thought it is damn tempting) I was just going on the other goodies.  |
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gil
Joined: 08 Jun 2005
Posts: 12153
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| Posted: Sat Dec 01, 07 9:19 pm Post subject: |
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Rob R's tried my beers (which aren't for sale)
Just to say : in 2007, Rosewood Sloe Wine (the Downsizer limited edition) will be available from Southern Uplands (or from Rob, even). I spent a great day there a few weeks back, and picked enough sloes to make 36 bottles. |
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Jamanda
Joined: 22 Oct 2006
Posts: 16554
Location: North Devon
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| Posted: Sun Dec 02, 07 2:13 am Post subject: |
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Gil's wine is great. Gil - I would love some of your raspberry wine if you could get some to the Aber meet. |
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tahir
Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 37768
Location: Essex
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| Posted: Sun Dec 02, 07 8:19 am Post subject: |
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Good luck Gil, sell loads and have fun doing it |
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Nick
Joined: 02 Nov 2004
Posts: 16772
Location: Hereford
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| Posted: Sun Dec 02, 07 8:26 am Post subject: Re: Southern Uplands Winery - gil gets going |
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| gil wrote: |
SOUTHERN UPLANDS WINERY The Wine List : Available from July, 2007
Delivery
a) via Nick as and when he makes a Scottish trip (probably not this side of Xmas) |
Bloody cheek!
(I shall be coming to Scotland, by car, before the end of January. Please feel free to use and abuse the Downsizer Delivery Vehicle.) |
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Jonnyboy
Joined: 29 Oct 2004
Posts: 22648
Location: location, location
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| Posted: Sun Dec 02, 07 9:10 am Post subject: |
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Proof if anyone needed it that the entire downsizer staff room are more than often, drunk on duty. |
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Nick
Joined: 02 Nov 2004
Posts: 16772
Location: Hereford
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| Posted: Sun Dec 02, 07 9:11 am Post subject: |
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We have duties?  |
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