Why it matters
The producer
Rathfinny Wine Estate began in 2010, when Mark and Sarah Driver established the estate on a working arable farm near Alfriston. It is now one continuous vineyard of 385,000 vines across 93 hectares, with Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier planted for bottle-fermented sparkling wine. That single-site scale matters in the finished bottles: rather than assembling fruit from several addresses, Rathfinny’s Blanc de Blancs and Blanc de Noirs draw their fruit from one chalky South Downs slope.
Rathfinny’s estate story is unusually direct: a former cereal farm was replanted as vineyard, then developed into a substantial single-site sparkling-wine estate. The Drivers planted the first vines in 2012 and released their first Sussex Sparkling wine in 2018. In 2023, Rathfinny achieved B Corp status; alongside the vineyard’s 385,000 vines, it marks an estate built as a long-term farming operation whose output is dry, bottle-aged sparkling wine rather than arable crops.
Place and vineyards
Where the wines begin
Alfriston sits in East Sussex, on the South Downs and three miles from the English Channel. Rathfinny plants its south-facing land mainly to the three grapes associated with traditional sparkling wine: Chardonnay supplies citrus, acidity and a leaner line through the palate; Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier bring fruit, body and structure. The coastal position and southern exposure frame a sparkling-wine programme in which ripeness must still carry enough acidity for mousse and bottle ageing.
The vineyard runs across a south-facing chalk-soil slope. Chalk is the physical thread between the ground and Rathfinny’s dry sparkling style: it supports grapes intended for wines where citrus fruit, acidity and a chalky finish can sit alongside lees-derived texture. With all 93 hectares contained in one site, the estate can follow the same slope from hand harvest through pressing and into its vintage-labelled bottles.
In the cellar
Vineyards and cellar
Harvest takes three to four weeks and brings about 200 local pickers into the vineyard, with all fruit picked by hand. That approach feeds whole-bunch pressing, a gentle first cellar step for sparkling-wine base wines, before fermentation, maturation on lees and further ageing in bottle. The resulting mousse and lees texture are balanced by low dosage, so sweetness does not cover the Chardonnay citrus or the Pinot-led fruit.
Rathfinny makes its sparkling wines by the traditional method, with the second fermentation taking place in bottle. Lees contact builds texture and savoury depth after fermentation, while low dosage leaves the finish dry. In this cellar framework, Chardonnay can hold a bright acidic line and Pinot Noir can show broader fruit and weight without turning either wine sweet.
Wines to know
The range in view
The range is most clearly understood through two vintage bottles. The 2019 Blanc de Blancs is Chardonnay-based, with 36 months on lees documented for that release; it is the brighter, citrus-led side of Rathfinny, shaped by lively acidity, fine mousse and creamy lees texture. Its dry finish keeps the fruit in a firm, refreshing frame.
The 2020 Blanc de Noirs moves toward Pinot Noir-led character. It remains a traditional-method sparkling wine with low dosage and lees ageing, but the grape emphasis shifts the palate toward more fruit, body and structural weight than the Chardonnay-based bottling. Together, the two wines show how the same chalk slope can produce a citrus-and-mousse expression and a more Pinot-driven, broader-bodied expression.
A useful way in
A bottle to begin with
Rathfinny 2019 Blanc de Blancs is the first bottle to open. It is a Chardonnay-based, vintage Sussex sparkling wine, aged for 36 months on lees and finished with low dosage. Citrus fruit, fine mousse and bright acidity give it a direct opening; lees ageing then broadens the texture before a dry, chalk-influenced finish. It puts the estate’s south-facing chalk slope, traditional-method cellar work and preference for dry sparkling wine in one glass.