Nyetimber Queen’s Jubilee Limited Edition Classic Cuvee Multi Vintage, (£37.50, nyetimber.com) Depending on whether you’re royalist or republican, the upcoming long weekend is either a four-day feast of pomp and circumstance, or a small but welcome compensation for putting up with all the fundamentally undemocratic parasitism. But for beverage producers, it’s also a marketing opportunity. Sure, UK drinks brands are lining up to make the most of the patriotic pound, with a host of special releases, events, promotions and more. The English wine scene, which for the most part has a very Bake Off/Waitrose/Middle English vibe to its marketing, is inevitably at the forefront of making the most of the regal moment and the expected boom in domestic tourism that will engulf it. accompanied. Gusbourne Estate in Kent, for example, is throwing a very British celebration, inviting guests to its pretty Boot Hill garden from May 30 to June 2 for a sparkling Platinum Jubilee afternoon tea for £100 for two, while rivals Nyetimber opted for a specially labeled Platinum Jubilee bottling of its excellent Classic cuvée.
Luscombe Damascene Sparkling Rose (£21.30, 12 x 270ml, luscombe.co.uk) Other English wine contributions to the Platinum celebrations include Langham Wine Estate’s Jubilee Extravaganza, a “sumptuous Classic English Buffet-style banquet and Dorset Fayre” held at the grounds of this excellent Dorset sparkling producer on June 5; while The Royal Collection has its own Platinum Jubilee Special Edition English sparkling wine (£39, royalcollectionshop.co.uk). Another very British drink, gin, is also on board, with special bottlings like Cotswold’s Distillery, whose limited-edition Platinum Jubilee Gin (which I haven’t tasted) is made with very seasonal ingredients like strawberries. and raspberry. , as well as pink pepper. For Devon fruit drink producer (and Royal Warrant holder) Luscombe, it’s all about helping the Kirstie Allsopp: the company is giving away free ‘street party boxes’, complete with streamers and plastic cups. paper, to anyone who buys two or more boxes. of fruit drinks – such as the delicious, delicately flowered Rose Bubbly – on its website and enters the code JUBILEE.
Taylor’s Platinum Jubilee Very Very Old Tawny Port, Portugal NV (£290, bbr.com) Events like the Jubilee are a bit like Manchester United or the Olympics in the sheer, ridiculous lineup of ‘official partners’ willing to join us. Inevitably in these times of Covid there is an official hygiene partner, as well as an array of chic and medium chic food brands and retailers, from M&S and Waitrose to Fortnm & Mason, plus the inevitable McDonald’s , which appears to be the official fast food outlet for any event known to man or woman. For wine, big names include two French brands, Moët & Chandon and the delicate Provence rosé of Whispering Angel from Château d’Esclans, which comes in elegant and incisive form in the Jubilee Edition 2021 vintage that I tried. (£20, Waitrose, Sainsbury’s, Majestic). By far the best of the Jubilee-marking drinks I’ve tried however is Taylor’s very very rare and very very special (as it should be because it’s very very expensive) Tawny Port. A blend of Ports that have aged in cask “since the Queen came to the throne”, it is full of life and of endless smooth complexity.
Follow David Williams on Twitter @Daveydaibach
