Limited release of English red Pinot Noir made available

Being lovers of all things food and drink, THE PIGs were never going to ignore some lonesome, abandoned pinot noir grapes discovered in a near-deserted vineyard in West Sussex in 2020. On the contrary. The team were galvanised to make great use of this fruit from this small south-facing clay vineyard; to stumble across high quality Pinot Noir from a site, with no owner, was an opportunity not to be missed.

In Summer 2022, founder Robin Hutson led the group’s Head Sommeliers to this project with Ben Smith, the wine maker at Itasca contract winery in Hampshire.

The 2020 vintage was responsible for relatively low yields, yet very high-quality fruit. The resulting wine from this vineyard discovery was aged in Burgundy oak and unfined and unfiltered, enhancing texture and complexity. The resulting single-barrel wine of supremely small production is a total one off. It exhibits an elegant and pure nose – a basket of ripe wild berries underlaid by a savoury, subtle earthy backdrop with quenching acidity adds verve. Each of the front bottle numbers have been hand-written by the team.

There are just 250 bottles of the ‘Abandoned Pinot Noir’, available exclusively at The Pigs at £75 per bottle.