Vivid and Strong Flavours
On this page you’ll find information about our wines as well as other local producers. Have a look at the reviews and tasting notes to get an understanding of just what wine you’re buying. From touches of pear and elderflower, to hints of cherry and marzipan, it’s amazing to see the different experessions found in these stunning selection of wines.
“We know we make beautiful wine, but don’t just take our word for it – see what the critics have to say!”

THE GLASSES WE USE EFFECT THE TASTE OF THE WINE, HERE’S A VIDEO SHOWING THE RECENT TASTING SESSION WE HAD AT PENN CROFT’S CELLAR DOOR!
CLICK HEREPenn Croft Bacchus 2022
“Lively lime and elderflower nose is quite assertive. Lovely concentration and depth on the palate with nice dense citrus fruit, a touch of pear, and very fine green hints adding a Sauvignon-like character. Great concentration here.”
91/100
– Jamie Goode on WineAnorak
Penn Croft Village Bacchus 2022
“Fresh, vivid and pure with lovely lemon and elderflower fruitiness, showing a nice smooth texture with the sweet fruit backed up by nice acidity. Lovely delicacy, with a slight chalkiness to the fruit, finishing fine and zesty.”
89/100
– Jamie Goode on WineAnorak
Penn Croft Pinot Blanc 2022
“There’s some generosity here with a creamy, smooth undercurrent to the citrus and table grape fruit. Has a hint of cherry and marzipan, too. Lovely expression of this variety, especially impressive because of the tough vintage.”
90/100
– Jamie Goode on WineAnorak
Thorrington Mill Bacchus 2022
“Youthful, zesty nose with lime and a touch of talcum powder. The palate is bright and nicely textured with bright citrus fruit and good acidity, with a rounded quality and a nice tapering finish.”
91/100
– Jamie Goode on WineAnorak
Thorrington Mill Rosé 2022
“Nice pink colour. Juicy and bright with lime and cherry as well as some cranberry notes. Sweet fruit here with a slight sappiness, and good acidity. Nicely textured with some depth to it. Good weight of flavour here. ”
90/100
– Jamie Goode on WineAnorak
Wraxall Bacchus 2022
“Great concentration and depth of fruit here with some lime, pear and a hint of melon. There’s a slight spicy savoury twist to the fruit, which has a lovely intensity and a linear, acidic finish. Is there some oak influence here? If there is, it is very subtle, but there’s some depth to this wine. ”
91/100
– Jamie Goode on WineAnorak
Wraxall Rosé 2022
“Nice pink colour. Lively aromatics with some elderflower and cranberry as well as spicy citrus. The palate has delicacy with nice strawberry and citrus fruit, with fine spices and a tapering finish with some wet stone minerality. ”
91/100
– Jamie Goode on WineAnorak
Missing Gate Pinot Blanc 2020
White Wine of the Year & Debut Release of the Year
Essex fruit made at Itasca wines.
“No doubt the finest Pinot Blanc ever produced in this country, and probably one of the most exciting whites, full stop. An inviting, involving set of flavours, the richness of toasted oat and white pepper spice from barrel work sitting just perfectly with the fruit, which combines the ripeness of fleshy white peach and pear with pale tropicals with a terrific energy and length. Some real drama on the palate here – how often can we say that about Pinot Blanc? One of the most exciting finds this year.”
“The second top spot for fruit from Missing Gate this year. What a find this is; not cheap, but this is a big moment for English white wines, showing that Chardonnay may not have the entire top end locked down. This is the Pinot Blanc I’ve been waiting for from England, beautifully realised by winemaker Ben Smith at Itasca Wines.”
– Tom Hewsons England 2022 Special Report for Tim Atkin MW
Penn Croft Bacchus 2021
Fruit grown in Essex, 25% barrel ferment in fourth-fill neutral oak, 10% malo.
“Exuberant orange and grapefruit citrus on the nose, helter-skeltering into the palate. A smidge of smokiness, a smidge of shucked sunflower seeds, a lick of rock salt. Ben Smith seems to be a bit of a Bacchus Whisperer. I’m liking the dimension that his subtle barrel play brings to the wines. This 25% neutral-barrel ferment, in particular, seems have added not only a welcome curve to a variety that can often be waspish and one-dimensional, but a fine, tingling, white-rock minerality and white-pepper spice. There is something almost Grüner Veltliner-ish about this wine! I’m impressed.” – Tamlyn Currin, featured on jancisrobinson.com
“There’s a gentle creaminess under the green-tinged fruit here, cucumber and lime with classic Bacchus white pear and blossom notes. More substance, intensity and shape than most 2021s, the light lining of peppery spice and fruit intensity pushing this into the top band of Bacchus wines available at the moment.” – Tom Hewsons England 2022 Special Report for Tim Atkin MW
Missing Gate Sauvignon Blanc 2021
Fruit grown at Missing Gate Vineyard in Crouch Valley, Essex. 100% fermented in fourth-fill 228-litre barrels and 500-litre puncheon, 40% malo.
“Quite a pungent passion-fruit nose. This is the second English Sauvignon Blanc I’ve ever tasted, and it’s pretty damn good! Not catty, not too tropical, not too brash, although it’s confidently varietally true and strikes a great balance between Sauvignon’s green grassiness and cheerfully loud citrus fruit. Beautifully dry (in the way that too many NZ SBs are not) and gracefully refreshing. The wine is perfectly integrated. Good job!” – Tamlyn Currin, featured on jancisrobinson.com
Wraxall Bacchus 2021
100% Bacchus grown in Somerset, one of the oldest vineyards in the South-West. Whole-bunch pressed on slow cycle, 80% tank fermented, 20% barrel fermentation in neutral oak, aged on lees in tank.
“Fragrant, nutty nose. Grapefruit and greengage, fresh peapod, fennel frond and fennel seeds, a nip of fresh green chilli, an almost imperceptible note of cardamom. ‘Greener’ and grippier than the Thorrington Mill Bacchus tasted alongside – not as much ripe fruit, and shorter on the end. But it has some upfront complexity and there’s an unusual crack of spiciness, which is very attractive. Kind of begging for a fresh podded-pea and goat’s cheese salad.” – Tamlyn Currin, featured on jancisrobinson.com
Wraxall Rosé 2021
‘Early Pinot Noir’ is Pinot Précoce aka Früburgunder. Grapes grown in Somerset. Whole-bunch pressed on slow cycle, 100% tank fermented, aged on lees in tank.
“Simple, clean, strawberry-fruited rosé with good acidity.” – Tamlyn Currin, featured on janisrobinson.com
Thorrington Mill Bacchus
A vineyard ‘in the heart of the Essex marshes’, northern Essex. The vines were planted by Mark and Polly Baines in 2018 on their family farm. 10% barrel fermented in neutral oak.
“Mango and gooseberry nose. Cheerfully bright fruit, mouth-watering, and without the overt, harshly pungent herbaceousness that often dogs English Bacchus. The acidity is just right – ripe, not swingeing. That bit of barrel fermentation has brought out a lovely, subtle roundness. I completely agree with the back label, which describes notes of grapefruit and crushed ginger. There is also a nick of green coriander seed heading into the pert finish. Very well done!” – Tamyln Currin, featured on jancisrobinson.com
Thorrington Mill Rosé
A vineyard ‘in the heart of the Essex marshes’, northern Essex. The vines were planted by Mark and Polly Baines in 2018 on their family farm. 5% barrel ferment in neutral oak and 5% malo.
“It smells like a n other rosé but this unassuming little wine is simply gorgeous! Dry with an astonishingly fragrant white-pepperiness that fills the mouth and dances speckled stipples through the crisp cranberry and ripe-cherry-tomato, pink-grapefruit tingling palate. Superb. Begging for pile of garlic-butter-drenched, red-chilli-freckled, fresh-lemon-soused grilled prawns.” – Tamlyn Currin, featured on jancisrobinson.com
Missing Gate Pinot Blanc 2020
Declared White Wine of the Year in Tom Hewson’s England 2022 report.
“This wine certainly doesn’t disappoint and is another excellent and structured English wine from Ben Smith of Itasca. He’s a name we are going to be talking about more and more this year.
The nose is bright and perfumed, a fusion of flinty, smoky minerality with fragrant citrus zests, piquant tropical bursts and waves of peach.
The palate further pleases, beginning with racy acidity, tangy lemon and lime freshness, and bursts of tingling minerality. It’s got a freshness akin to an invigorating volcanic white wine. But the real surprises are the softer, creamier waves of peach and light buttery notes that really elevate this.”
– John Mobbs, featured on greatbritishwine.com
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