Lyme Bay Pinot Noir, English Red Wine

Description

Elegant English Pinot Noir from Lyme Bay Winery

Lyme Bay Pinot Noir is a superb English red wine produced by the award-winning Lyme Bay Winery in Devon. It is made from carefully selected Pinot Noir grapes grown in some of England’s finest vineyards in Essex and the Crouch Valley, England’s wine-growing hotspot.

While England is internationally renowned for sparkling wine, improvements in vineyard management, warmer growing seasons and meticulous winemaking have also allowed still red wines like this Lyme Bay Pinot Noir to flourish. Elegant, fruit-driven and beautifully balanced, it offers a fresh interpretation of one of the world’s greatest grape varieties.

This award-winning English wine is not made every year, but when it is, it is a great home-grown rival to Burgundy or New Zealand Pinot Noir. If you are looking to buy English Pinot Noir, this is a great choice. Whether you’re discovering English red wine for the first time or already appreciate premium British wines, Lyme Bay Pinot Noir delivers impressive quality, finesse and food-friendly versatility.

Available online from Fareham Wine Cellar with UK delivery or collection from our Fareham shop.

The Best Pinot Noir Vineyards In Essex

Whilst Lyme Bay previously owned vineyards, they now operate as a leading producer focusing on sourcing fruit from specific, top-tier sites, rather like a negociant in Champagne. In total they deal with 14 different growers.

For this premium English Pinot Noir, the grapes are sourced from five growers in Essex with whom they have long-term contracts:

• Crouch Ridge Estate (Essex)
• Tudwick Hall (Essex)
• Riverview (Essex)
• Crows Lane (Essex)
• Martins Lane (Essex)

Lyme Bay Pinot Noir Winemaking Process

• 100% Pinot Noir was hand-harvested between 30th October and 11th November from Dijon and Spätburgunder still wine clones
• Grapes sourced from vineyards near the River Crouch – unique in the UK for their ability to ripen Pinot Noir
• The grapes for Lyme Bay Pinot Noir undergo small-batch fermentations with 10% whole-bunch fruit
• Manual pigéage (punch downs) up to 3 times a day to gently maximise the extraction of colour, flavour, and structure
• Transferred to barrel for 100% malolactic fermentation
• Aged for 8 months in barrel, including 32% in new French oak
• Blended and left to settle for several weeks before bottling
• No fining and only a light filtration to retain the delicate nuances of fruit and oak

Lyme Bay Winery, Evolution From Cider & Mead to English Wine

Founded in 1993 by Nigel Howard, the Lyme Bay Winery has become one of Devon’s premier wineries. It is nestled just outside of Axminster in the heart of Devon’s beautiful Axe Valley, just a few miles from the Jurassic Coast. Over the decades, the estate has evolved from a producer of cider, fruit wine, and mead into a prestigious English winery. While they still craft those original favourites (they are the largest mead and fruit wine maker in the UK) and English Gins and rums, they have become renowned for their excellent range of English red, white, rosé, and sparkling wines.

Change From Grower to Negociant

Lyme Bay Winery originally established its own vineyards in Devon and Dorset, planting more than 26,000 vines between 2009 and 2010. While those vineyards have since been sold, the winery has evolved its approach, choosing instead to source fruit exclusively from a carefully selected network of independent growers across Southern England.

Believing that exceptional wines are created through the diversity of England’s vineyards and terroirs, Lyme Bay partners with experienced growers who cultivate the grape varieties best suited to their local climate and soils. This collaborative approach allows the winery to select perfectly ripened fruit from some of the country’s finest vineyard sites.

Today, Lyme Bay works with vineyards in Essex, Kent, Herefordshire, Devon and Oxfordshire, enabling its winemaking team to craft distinctive, high-quality English wines that showcase the character and potential of England’s leading wine-growing regions.

Sourcing Burgundian Clones Of Pinot Noir & Chardonnay

Lyme Bay Winery’s reputation for producing outstanding still Pinot Noir and Chardonnay owes much to the vision of Managing Director and former winemaker James Lambert. Rather than relying solely on clones traditionally favoured for sparkling wine production, Lambert chose Burgundian Pinot Noir and Chardonnay clones selected for their suitability to premium still wines.

These carefully chosen clones produce grapes with expressive aromatics, refined fruit character and reliable ripening for Pinot Noir, while the Chardonnay clones contribute greater richness, texture and flavour concentration. This thoughtful vineyard strategy has helped establish Lyme Bay as one of England’s leading producers of high-quality still wines.

At the beginning of 2025, Clem Yates MW took over as Head Winemaker, bringing further expertise and continuing Lyme Bay Winery’s commitment to crafting exceptional English wines.