It is exceedingly rare that winemakers launch new wines with the attribute “technical,” yet that is exactly what Jacob Leadley and Zoë Driver, the winemakers at Black Chalk have done. The wines are a Blanc de Blancs called Paragon and a Blanc de Noirs called Inversion. Both spent 26 months on lees, were disgorged in July 2023, and are the first “premium tier” releases from this relatively young winery in Hampshire. 2020 was the year their “state-of-the-art winery” was built, enabling them to craft these two Vintage wines released in April 2024. By “technical” they mean a focus down to separately vinified clones, the use of particular yeasts, some oak, avoidance of malolactic fermentation, and no fining—not apparently any more or less technical than any other traditional-method sparkling wine. So, why their unusual emphasis? “I think the main reason is that the focus we have had in the winery has been to ensure Hampshire displays itself in the final wines as purely as it possibly can,” says Leadley, owner-winemaker of Black Chalk. “We need to figure out how to do that because we are still at the very early stages of English winemaking. So, we look at it in a very in a precise way, down to the level of clonal detail: we split everything out in the winery, press everything individually, and spend a lot of time at the blending table putting things together to show this purity of fruit.” Anne Krebiehl MW, Vinous.com  (Sept 2024)