Three new wines from Offbeat

By Mathew Lyons

Published: 22 July, 2020

New Wiltshire-based sustainable winery Offbeat wines has released three wines, following the sell-out success of its first issue.

Offbeat was established earlier this year by Daniel Ham, formerly head winemaker at Dorset winery Langham Estate, in a biodynamic vineyard outside Salisbury.

Two of the three wines released are pet nats. One of these, Wild Juice Chase 2019 is 100% Triomphe d’Alsace sourced from a small plot of 35-year-old vines grown on clay over chalk in Hampshire’s Test Valley.

The other, Mind Over Matter 2019 is a field blend of Siegerrebe and Solaris whose grapes were part foot-trod before being racked into an amphora.

The third release, Skinny Dip 2018, is an English amber wine made from Solaris grapes.

Both Mind Over Matter and Skinny Dip were sourced from Kathy Archer’s organic vineyard outside Ottery Saint Mary in Devon.

All three wines are vegan and have been neither fined nor filtered. The bottles are lightweight and packaged in cardboard and recycled paper tape with labels made from 100% recycled material.

Offbeat uses a traditional Coquard basket press imported from Champagne.

Offbeat is only releasing 2,000 bottles across the three styles, but plans to expand overall production to 10,000. Future releases will include skin-contact whites and traditional method sparkling wines, as well as an early drinking red.

The winery has partnered with Wines Under the Bonnet for distribution.

Ham said: “With their focus on natural wines from smaller producers, Wines Under the Bonnet was a natural fit for Offbeat and we are proud to become part of their family alongside other producers that we really respect and can learn from.”