WINE
Good vintage Octavian collaborates with Master of Wine Charles Curtis
Idyllic Kingscote estate in West Sussex on sale for £7m
Octavian (octavian.co.uk), the world’s number one fine wine storage facility – located 100ft underground in a retired Second World War munitions mine in Corsham – is providing exclusive guides to allow budding wine connoisseurs or established collectors to expand their wine knowledge and collections. In collaboration with prominent Master of Wine, Charles Curtis (former head of wine for Christie’s, and trained at the Cordon Bleu Paris), Octavian is releasing a series of exclusive ‘wine cards’, which are packed with guidance on what makes a wine collectible for investment purposes. There’s also a guide to the exceptional vintages across the spectrum and comments by region on the best wines to collect to yield the best chance of a financial return. Vincent O’Brien, managing director of Octavian, said: “Here at Octavian we don’t pretend to be wine experts, we leave that to Curtis. However, we are extremely specialised in knowing how to handle and store fine wine in the best-possible conditions, as well as offering extensive security and an all-risk insurance policy. This partnership with Curtis means our customers who are thinking of expanding their collection know what to look out for, as well as understanding the value of their wine and why it’s important to store it correctly to reach its full potential.”
An English wine estate set in the beautiful West Sussex countryside is on sale with a guide price of £6.75 million. The 61.51-hectare Kingscote English wine estate features an idyllic farmhouse and 24 hectares of vineyards. “We are not asking for small money,” Chris Spofforth, head of Savills’ rural agency for the south-east of England, told Decanter. “Last year there weren’t that many buyers around but we’ve seen a significant upturn in buyer interest this year, and we’ve had a bit more to offer,” Kingscote is on the Sussex Weald, south of London, and is an example of an English wine estate that is “ready to go”, according to the magazine. It has a commercial winery and vineyards planted to the trio of ‘Champagne’ grapes – Pinot Meunier, Pinot Noir and Chardonnay – plus Bacchus, Pinot Blanc and Regent. The estate includes a five-bedroom, Grade II-listed farmhouse with incredible views; an orchard; a holiday cottage; a barn capable of hosting wedding parties; and fishing lakes. The current owner has more than doubled the vineyard area since arriving in 2017, but is believed to want to prioritise vineyards elsewhere. Over the past decade, English sparkling wine has grown in stature. In 2018, Cherie Spriggs, head winemaker at nearby Nyetimber estate in West Sussex, became the first winemaker outside Champagne to win the prestigious International Wine Challenge trophy for Sparkling Winemaker of the Year.
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