Kent 'garagiste' sparkler chosen for House of Commons

Herbert Hall Traditional Method Brut will sit alongside successful English still wines in the House of Commons bars and restaurants. It will be the only English sparkling wine available.

Herbert Hall is a four-hectare gravel and clay vineyard at Marden in Kent. Described by owner Nick Hall as a ‘garagiste' operation it produces between 15,000 and 20,000 bottles of traditional method sparkling wine from Chardonnay, Pinot Meunier and Pinot Noir.

The two wines, a brut and a brut rosé, have been highly praised by critics: sparkling wine expert and Decanter World Wine Awards regional chair for Champagne Tom Stevenson described it as ‘masterful’, while sparkling wine writer Michael Edwards described it as ‘a scented apple orchard in a glass’.

Herbert Hall is already sold by some of London’s top restaurants and retailers, including Bibendum, Chez Bruce, J Sheekey, Le Gavroche, Scott's, Simpson's in the Strand, Tate Britain and Harrods.

The wines retail for around £25.

‘I have always believed that it is possible to make excellent English sparkling wine but I am both surprised and delighted that we have achieved this level of recognition with our very first vintage,’ Hall said.

Member of Parliament Helen Grant MP, in whose constituency Herbert Hall is made, said, ‘Nick’s wine is a fantastic product, and I am incredibly proud that wine from my constituency will be represented in the House of Commons as the ‘Best of British’ produce.’

Herbert Hall’s first vintage was in 2009. Nick Hall trained at Plumpton College before converting his family hop farm to vines in 2007.