Welcome to the inaugural Wine & Plant Pairing event at Ventnor Botanic Garden with me, Helena Nicklin, joined by Chris Kidd, the garden’s curator and paired canapés by chef Michael Jackson. Here’s a reminder of what we're tasting and where to find more information about the producers. Do subscribe if you’d like to hear about more events and get some wine recommendations and drinks wisdom into your inbox once a week!
Welcome drink: England
Hambledon Vineyard, English Cuvée, Hampshire NV NEW! (Coming early Oct 2026 for circa £30 in Waitrose, Sainsbury’s and more)
Served on the lawn at the start of our tour, we’re tasting the brand new Hambledon English Cuvée! A blend of all three ‘Champagne’ grapes: 54% Chardonnay, 38% Pinot Noir, and 8% Meunier, with 5% barrel fermentation and 1% reserve wines, this is an easy-drinking, yet complex and creamy sparkling with a characteristic, brioche-like, biscuity note. Note the embossed floral pattern featuring ox-eye daisies, cornflowers, dandelions, willowherb and wild marjoram, all drawn from the cover crops that grow between the vines to enrich soil health and biodiversity across the estate.
Hambledon Vineyard is located in Hambledon in Hampshire, the home of cricket and cited as the birthplace of English wine! Founded in 1952 by Major-General Sir Guy Salisbury-Jones, Hambledon is one of the producers that put England on the map for fine wine. See more at hambledonvineyard.co.uk
Served with mushroom and truffle crostini.
Mediterranean Zone: Provence
Château Galoupet, Cru Classé Organic Rosé 2023, £57 (£46 mix 6) Majestic
Served amongst the rosemary and thyme, the rockrose and olive trees of the garden’s Mediterranean zone, we taste the flagship cuvée from Château Galoupet; one of only 18 official Cru Classé estates (the most premium) in Provence. This rosé vintage is wonderfully textural with subtly exotic notes of mango, wild strawberry and a slick of salinity and spice. It will age beautifully too for another couple of years.
Biodiversity and sustainability are at the heart of what Galoupet does. The current owners have restored this 18th-century property, its vineyards, and its lands to set an example for organic viticulture and regenerative agriculture in the industry. As much of the land here houses forest as it does vines and the Cru Classé ‘terroir’ for winemaking means the resulting wines are truly exceptional and ageworthy. See more at chateaugaloupet.com
Served with peach and goat's cheese crostini.
Citrus Grove: Portugal
Florão Branco, Quinta da Fonte Souto, £15 VINVM, Ocado
This elegant white is made from Arinto and Verdelho grapes grown near Portalegre on the slopes of the São Mamede range, the highest point in the Alentejano region. It’s cooler here, which helps preserve the acidity and aromatics of this very pretty, citrusy wine with its subtle, tropical flavours.
Quinta da Fonte Souto has a unique terroir with its own microclimate and diverse soil composition, which sets it apart from most of Alentejo. The entire 207-hectare estate sits inside the Serra de São Mamede Natural Park, a protected conservation area and here, eco-friendly winemaking is practised with minimal intervention. Symington Family Estates was also the first wine producer in Portugal to become a Certified B Corporation. See more at symington.com
Served with cucumber bites with dill and cream cheese.
Mediterranean Zone: Portugal
Altano Rewilding Edition Douro Red Wine, £11.25 Tesco
Owned by the Symington Family of Port fame and made with a blend of local Portuguese grapes Touriga Franca, Tinta Roriz and Tinta Barroca (which you’ll find in the famous Port fortified wines), this is a silky, elegant red that has substance and flavour. Think violet and bramble fruit with dark chocolate. It can even take a slight chill.
Find this wine by the distinctive viper’s-bugloss and the cork oak trees further into the Mediterranean zone. Proud to be B Corp and using minimum intervention viticulture, proceeds from every bottle of Altano Rewilding red wine goes towards Rewilding Portugal’s pioneering conservation work. See more at symington.com
Served with mini dark chocolate brownies with fresh raspberries.
Asian Zone: China
Saicho Sparkling Jasmine Tea, £19.99 Saichodrinks.com
Among the bamboo, we’ll taste an elegant alcohol (or hot tea!) alternative in the form of a sparkling Jasmine tea. Made with green tea grown in the mountains of Fuding in Fujian Province, China, this is intensely aromatic with notes of Blossom, pear and a subtle woodiness, sitting alongside the more usual green aromas and flavours.
Founders Charlie and Natalie created Saicho as a point where wine, tea, food and culture meet, redefining how it can be experienced in the modern world. They incorporate several sustainability and ethical practices into Saicho’s production and packaging, including sourcing single-origin tea leaves directly by working closely with small-scale tea farms and local growers and using recycled materials. Impressively, they also collaborate with educational foundations to promote sustainability awareness for future generations. See more at saichodrinks.com
Served with smoked salmon blinis.
New Zealand Zone
Yealands Reserve Sauvignon Blanc 2025, £12.50 Tesco
Amongst the Olearia, Phormium and the tree ferns all native to New Zealand, we’ll taste this multi-award-winning, quintessentially Marlborough Reserve Sauvignon: a particularly fresh and citrusy, minerally white with lashings of passion fruit and cut grass, made by a fantastic female winemaker: Natalie Christensen. This reserve wine is a step up from the straight blend as it uses higher-grade fruit from their specific coastal Seaview Vineyard site.
Located near Blenheim in the Awatere Valley, Yealands was carbon neutral and sustainable from day one and today works hard to create nature positive - and now also carbon positive - beautifully biodiverse wines where the process actively removes carbon from the atmosphere. See more at yealands.co.nz
Served with smashed avocado with fresh basil and mint on cucumber rings.
South American Zone: Chile
Veramonte Pinot Noir, £16.75 Amazon & Ocado
The aptly named Chilean Wine Palm is where you’ll find your glass of this organic and sustainably made Chilean Pinot Noir, surrounded by lantern trees and hardy Mitique shrubs. A wonderfully easy-drinking, medium-bodied red, this is all about dark cherry spice, some crunchy raspberry and a little earthiness.
You’ll find Veramonte’s Pinot Noir vineyards in the cooler, Casablanca Valley region of Chile surrounded by 2,500 hectares of native forests. The estate is fully committed to organic agriculture, ensuring all of its vineyards are certified organic to promote biodiversity and soil health. See more at winesoftheworld.ie
Served with prosciutto and fig crostini.
South African Zone
Graham Beck Sparkling Pinot Noir 2019, £25 (£20 mix 6) Majestic
We’ll taste our final glass - a traditional method sparkling wine - amongst the Agapanthus, the Red Hot Pokers, Proteas and Birds of Paradise in the South African zone. Graham Beck are the kings of what’s known over there as the Cap Classique method (like Champagne) and this vintage wine is made with just under 90% Pinot Noir and the rest, Chardonnay. Think red berries on fresh, flakey pastry with a dollop of cream. It’s complex and classy yet so easy-drinking and unpretentious.
Graham and Rhona Beck are very proud of their impressive sustainability credentials and have a pioneering programme that works alongside winemaking to nurture, protect, and conserve the land, reducing and recycling water as well as using sunlight for power. They have also set up a successful philanthropic trust to support their workforce and the wider community through education, skills development, sport and recreation as well as health and welfare. See more at grahambeck.com
Served with prosciutto, melon and strawberry bites.