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Friday Read: The Heretics aim to disrupt English still wine

Maxwell’s may well be a familiar name to many in the trade – a career which has spanned working for Ellis Wines, Hattingley Valley (rising to export director at the Hampshire producer) as well as a stint as chair of the Wine GB export committee.

His passion for English wine has seen him travel the world promoting the country’s produce. He also held a long-held belief there was room for disruption and innovation in the top strata of English still wine.

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Hunter on the other hand comes from the world of design. He has 30 years’ experience as a designer at some of London’s top agencies, now steering his own ship as the head honcho at his own firm, Noisy Design. The company has a number of clients in the English wine universe including Sugrue South Downs – Hunter having designed the producer’s Rosé Ex Machina sparkler.

A number of life events saw Maxwell take the plunge into the exciting, albeit stressful, pursuit of creating a wine brand. An unexpected cancer diagnosis for his cousin, as well as a divorce, inspired him take to the plunge, believing life is too short not to pursue one’s passions. For Maxwell it was clear from the beginning who he would partner with for the venture: “There was no one that I'd rather do it with than Jim – whatever happened, Jim was always going to do the design.”

Maxwell has been a strong believer in English still wines particularly those emanating from Essex’s Crouch Valley: “It's just different totally levels of ripeness there – you're talking 12 to 13% abv, if not higher, in natural alcohol, which is unusual for most of the country.”

He continued: “We thought, apart from Danbury Ridge, there hadn't been many brands that have led with the still wine project to start with, particularly from the Crouch Valley. Missing Gate had some fruit, so we committed to 10 tonnes in our first year – seven tonnes of Chardonnay, three of Pinot Noir.”

This harvest was used to produce their inaugural wine – the Blowhorn Pinot Noir Rosé 2023. Spending five months in barrel in total, the resulting wine is a light rosé – inspired by Château d'Esclans’ Les Clans – with notes of strawberry and a refreshing finish. The wine also happens to be a favourite of Jeremy Clarkson.

Their Cantillon rosé is another barrel-fermented expression (including the use of second fill 500l puncheon), though in a darker style produced from grapes drawn from Hollands Farm. Inspired by Bandol rosés, by contrast, the deep coloured wine is round on the palate with distinct red fruit.

All The Heretics’ wines are stored in black glass bottles with bright yellow wax seals (all four and half thousand bottles sold to date having been hand-waxed by Maxwell in his kitchen with the occasional assistance of his children), making for a standout brand identity. Each vintage of their wines will have a fresh label as well as a unique name. Three of the current wines bear photographs produced by Hunter’s son Louix Hunter, with the Cantillon rosé bearing a collage produced by young designer Leah Cantillon (hence the name).

The pair wish to use the labels as an opportunity to promote young artists: “They are always designed by creatives aged 25 and under, just to give them a bit of a platform and to keep it interesting for us. We launched a project this year with the Arts Institute at Bournemouth University. That's gone out to all of their creatives in all disciplines. We're now talking to three or four different creatives that we have submitted work to us.”

Also on show were two Chardonnays – both 2023 vintages using grapes from Missing Gate. The Cut, a 100%-barrel fermented expression and Deluxe Seven, fermented in 56% tank and 44% in barrel. The former a rounder, delicious wine with notes of apple, while was the latter created with purity and precision in mind taking inspiration from Chablis. Both demonstrated the intriguing potential of cool climate Chardonnays from the Crouch Valley.

The Heretics only received their AWRS licence in February and since then have been onboarding interested buyers. They have just launched with Selfridges (with The Cut) and are now stocked in seven Michelin-starred eateries including Wales’ two-star Ynyshir, with Marco Pierre White another notable fan.

The pair are still seeking to gain a foothold in independent retail, with the hope their story and unique brand design can intrigue people and get liquid on lips. The goal is to one day produce 50 tonnes per year – roughly amounting to 45,000 bottles. The wines are certainly deserving of excitement, though it remains to be seen whether The Heretics can establish themselves as English premium still wine’s top player.

• English wine
• Rosé
• Crouch Valley
• The Heretics
• Ynyshir
• Gareth Maxwell
• Jimmy Hunter