Why it matters
The producer
Langham Wine Estate farms 34 hectares of chalk on the rural Dorset hills near Crawthorne, a few miles outside Dorchester, and makes nothing but traditional-method sparkling wine from Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Pinot Meunier. The estate is family-run and independent, founded in 2009 when Justin Langham planted the first commercial blocks. Tommy Grimshaw, the head winemaker, has become one of the more closely watched young winemakers working in English sparkling wine.
In 2020, Langham entered the full range at the International Wine and Spirit Competition and came away with Sparkling Wine Producer of the Year from a field of more than 700 entries. The Blanc de Blancs 2015 took the gold medal. Every other bottle in the range took silver. The Champagne houses were in that field.
Place and vineyards
Where the wines begin
Dorset sits at the southwestern edge of England's chalk belt, the geological formation that runs from the North Downs in Kent through Hampshire and into the Dorset hills. Chalk drains freely, retains heat through the day, and reflects light upward through the vine canopy. Those conditions push grapes toward high natural acidity with moderate sugar, which is exactly what traditional-method sparkling wine requires: the second fermentation in bottle and the extended lees ageing need acid as a backbone, and the mousse needs a firm line to feel clean rather than soft.
The Crawthorne site sits far enough inland to avoid the dampest coastal air, but the chalk keeps the vines rooted in cool, free-draining ground. The result in the glass is wines with a tight acid line, a mineral quality on the finish, and a mousse with enough density to carry the lees character without heaviness.
In the cellar
Vineyards and cellar
Fermentation uses indigenous yeasts rather than commercial cultures. Indigenous yeasts work more slowly and unpredictably than inoculated cultures, but they tend to carry the micro-flora of the specific site into the wine, adding complexity that commercial yeasts smooth out. The base wines age in a combination of stainless steel, concrete, and used French oak barrels, with regular batonnage throughout. Batonnage stirs the spent yeast cells back through the wine, adding a lactic, creamy texture without oak flavour. Used French oak, unlike new oak, adds no tannin or vanilla character; it provides a micro-oxidative environment that rounds the mid-palate without marking the wine.
Dosage is kept very low. The Blanc de Blancs sits at 1.5g/L, which falls at the extra brut end of the scale and leaves the chalk mineral character exposed rather than sweetened. Sulphur use is minimal throughout, meaning the wines are not protected by high addition at bottling and must be made clean enough to carry that vulnerability without defect.
Wines to know
The range in view
Three named cuvees carry the range.
Blanc de Blancs NV is 100% Chardonnay, blended from a current vintage base with reserve wine held from prior harvests. The current release combines 56% from the 2021 vintage with 44% reserve. Dosage is 1.5g/L. The wine is dry and mineral, with perfumed aromas alongside savoury notes that reflect the chalk and the lees contact. The palate is not lean or austere; the lactic texture from batonnage gives it a velvety quality that sits alongside the acidity rather than fighting it.
A useful way in
A bottle to begin with
Start with the Blanc de Blancs NV. It is 100% Chardonnay from the Crawthorne chalk, dosed at 1.5g/L, and it gives the clearest account of what this estate does: chalk mineral character on the finish, savoury lees complexity on the nose, a lactic texture from batonnage in the mid-palate, and a firm acid line that holds it all upright. The gold medal at the 2020 IWSC came from this cuvee, the 2015 vintage specifically. The current NV release carries the same philosophy. Nothing here is smoothed over or sweetened into accessibility. It is a dry, mineral English sparkling wine from a chalk site that has worked out what it is.