Taurus Wines

English Beers, Wines,

Ciders and

Spirits

Second Edition

Hepworth & Co Brewers Ltd was founded by Andy Hepworth (a bit of a legend among beer aficionados) in 2001. His aim was to keep alive the long brewing tradition of the town of Horsham, West Sussex, after its last brewery had been sold off the year before. In the years since, Hepworth & Co has produced cask and bottled ales of distinction and was awarded Sussex Drink Producer of the Year in January 2008, 2010 and 2014. The brewery also became Supreme Champion in 2012 for craft ale.

Quite some accolades, but no wonder as the company uses traditional methods and sources all its ingredients from the finest Sussex producers, such as organic barley from the Goodwood estate and hops from Bodiam.

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Sussex 3.5% (12x500ml) £24.99

Using barley and hops grown only in Sussex, this is a traditional pale ale with a hoppy character. A true Sussex Ale – this is Hepworth’s first beer to carry the Warranty of Origin, guaranteeing its local sourcing of ingredients.

Pullman 4.2% (12x500ml) £25.99 Named after the renowned railway carriage, this Pullman is also first class. It’s made with malt from Sussex and Admiral and Golding hops, giving a crisp bitterness and clean flavour.

Iron Horse 4.8% (12x500ml) £26.99

A premium bitter with a dense flavour and subtle sweetness from the complex grist of roasted malts and hops. It’s named after Richard Trevithick’s first steam-powered engine on rails.

Blonde Organic Lager 5% (12x330ml) £17.99

Blonde is a truly international ensemble made with English barley, Admiral hops and German yeast. Its crisp, fresh flavour and 5% abv makes it a perfect accompaniment to all kinds of food.

Ale and lager: The difference is the weather.

Ale is a British drink, the name being derived from the Saxon word ‘ol’. The ‘top’ fermenting yeast used to brew ale finds a natural home in the British Isles due to the temperate, mild climate, making it ‘active’ all year round at around room temperature. Consequently, ale can be brewed weekly in our lovely British climate, no matter what the season.

Ale uses a lot of malt to generate enough sugar for fermentation, so it is usually brewed with quite a lot of hops. This helps preserve the beer, with the bitter hop flavours off-setting the sweeter malt flavours. The proportion of hops to malt used in the brewing process is largely responsible for the final flavour of ale: for example, ale brewed with a high proportion of roasted malts gives a rich, flavourful beer.

In Bavaria, the home of lager, they have hotter summers and colder winters, due to being in the centre of the European landmass. Fermenting beer in summer allowed the fermentations to get too hot, which affects the yeast and stops it working. Consequently, beer was brewed in the winter months, and then stored in cool cellars during the summer months (‘laage’ is the old German word for ‘store’). As the beer was kept cooler, it required fewer hops to preserve it. This meant that lighter roasted malts were used to balance the less aggressive and finer flavour from using a smaller proportion of hops.

Lager and ale is a question of weather, therefore, and not the by-products of the cultural differences that characterise the Anglo-German relationships over the years. Our wonderful overcast and humid climate creates a more happy-go-lucky environment for brewing yeast and a hearty final flavour.

Thanks to: Andy Hepworth of Hepworth & Co Brewers Ltd

Local Beers

Saxon Lager 4% (12x500ml) £15.99

Craft brewed from local ingredients in the lands of the South Saxons (that’s Sussex to us). A crisp, pure lager with a slight citrus note that balances the malted barley.

Shere Drop 4.2% (12x500ml) £27.99

The brewery’s flagship beer is pale in colour with a subtle hint of grapefruit and lemon in the aroma. The wonderful hoppy bitterness is complemented by a balanced malt flavour. The beer has a long finish, which is moderately dry.

Surrey Hills Brewery started brewing in 2005 on a derelict farm high in the Surrey Hills between East Clandon and Shere. The first beer, Shere Drop, was well received locally and won several awards in its first year of existence. Within three years, the brewery had reached full capacity at the farm, which prompted the relocation to the beautiful Denbies Wine Estate near Dorking. The move gave Ross and the gang the opportunity to install higher-quality brewing equipment, giving greater control over the process, whilst also increasing capacity.

Since brewing first started, Shere Drop has won just about every award going, from Best Bitter at various local beer festivals to CAMRA’s Gold Award for best bitter in London and the South East. Book yourself in for a tour of the brewery for a chance to learn all about the process and enjoy all of the Surrey Hills Brewery’s beers fresh from the barrel.

We are happy to offer the full range of Surrey Hills Brewery beers by the barrel, just let us know in advance which one you’d like. The brewery has Shere Drop and Ranmore Ale available all year round, as well as a tasty seasonal brew.

The Hogs Back Brewery is Surrey’s largest independent brewery, producing 200 brewer’s barrels (about 57,600 pints) a week. It all started at 6am on August 4th, 1992 when the first 10 barrels were brewed and subsequently sold to local pubs around the village of Tongham, where the brewery is based. Those first 3,000 pints were a sell-out success and the brewery has gone from strength to strength ever since.

Now, the 18th-century farm barns that house the brewery, and that provide its beautifully rustic back drop, are a hive of

activity. The fermenting room has recently been re-equipped, while extra storage and a shop refit has brought the brewery bang up to date. The brewing stays traditional, however, with Hogs Back Brewery’s very own malt mill on site. The mill’s automatic malt transfer system can be programmed for each brew – a real innovation in traditional brewing.

Even though we think the Hogs Back Brewery is worth a visit for the multi-award-winning beers alone, you’ll also love the updated and extended shop as well as the Hogs Back steam lorry and a specially commissioned motor bike that has a working beer-barrel as a side car.

T.E.A. (Traditional English Ale) 4.2% (12x500ml) £27.99

The ‘signature’ brew of the Hogs Back Brewery is called a bitter, yet it is much more than that – deep amber in colour, this is a classic hoppy and floral drink – the Traditional English Ale (hence T.E.A.). The Hogs Back Brewery sells lots, as do we.

Hazy Hog Cider 5% (12x500ml) £27.99

A traditional cloudy cider with a hint of farmyard aroma about it and a refreshing mellow taste. Extra apple juice, from orchards down in Somerset where this cider is made, is added after fermentation to give it a boost of sweetness and that cloudy appearance. A real summer sipper.

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Bohemia Czech Pilsner 5% (12x330ml) £21.49

In the 16th century, in the town of Plzen in Bohemia, what we call lager beer was born. The rest is history, but sadly many so-called Pilsners bear no resemblance to that original. Our Bohemia Pilsner is different; a flavoursome but refined creation, true to the old style of brewing.

Paleface A.P.A 5.2% (12x500ml) £29.99

A generation ago it seemed that many local beers in the US would disappear under the weight of the megabrands. Happily, however, craft breweries in the US have flourished, producing strongly hopped IPA-style beers. Firebird’s American Pale Ale is inspired by this revolution and uses the malt, yeast and distinctive hops of these pioneers.

Heritage 4% (12x500ml) £26.99

Bill King’s great, great grandfather first brewed XX in 1854 and it became his brewery’s most important beer and went on to become King and Barnes’ Sussex Bitter. Today’s brew is a traditional Sussex bitter made with floor malt and English hops. It’s fresh, full and hoppy.

Hip Hop 4% (12x500ml) £26.99

A blonde beer, clean and crisp, loaded with a floral hop aroma. The pale malt flavour is overtaken by a pleasing dry and bitter finish. Great served straight from the fridge.

Sundowner 4.2% (12x500ml) £26.99

Sundowner, noun: “an alcoholic drink taken at sunset” (OED). And this is truly a great golden beer for a summer’s eve. The nose has tropical fruit and citrus notes with a smooth maltiness in the background. It has a balanced dry and bitter finish with a floral hop aroma.

Nestling in the rolling foothills of the South Downs between Petworth and Midhurst, Langham Brewery is a traditional 10

barrel steam-powered craft microbrewery. The brewery was established eight years ago and is located in a stunning 18th-century granary barn on the Cowdray estate. Owners James Berrow and Lesley Foulkes are ably assisted by Saulo Parreira, their excellent chief brewer and their friendly team. Their hard work has certainly paid off and Langham has become one of the leading local breweries winning over 15 major awards. Visitors are always welcome and on a tour you can meet the individually named fermenters (Fatima, Fiona, Freda and Fanny) and the brew plant, Martha the Mashtun and Cathy the Copper.

What really sets Langham apart from bigger brewers is its use of the highest-quality ingredients (such as leafy hops and floor-malted barley) and traditional craft brewing methods, which together produce consistently delicious ales. In the spirit of maintaining good old English traditions the brewery also plays host each year to the Langham Conker Championship. The 6th annual Bonkers4Conkers day took place in 2013 and brought conker and steam-aholics from all over the South of England to the brewery for a day of fierce competition, music and ale.

Firebird are one of the newest and most exciting breweries in the South East. With several well-established regular brews already under their belts, founders and master brewers Bill King and Richard Peters, are crafting beers from around the world; so watch out for their Pilsner, Weissbier, Double Bock and Belgian Pale Ale along with the ever-popular Heritage XX and Paleface A.P.A. ales.

Pop along to the brickworks to visit the brewery and shop – where you can enjoy a beer sitting in the brewery itself, or perhaps drop into Sussex Charmer’s dairy shop and cafe next door for a cup of tea and some delicious local cheese on toast.

GOSPEL GREENTRADITIONAL METHOD

SUSSEX CYDER

If you fancy a bit of regional produce you’ll love Gospel Green cyder. James and Cathy Lane from Haslemere make a maximum of 9,500 bottles a year of this unique style of English cyder.

Unusually for cyder, this is made by the same fermentation method as Champagne and bottled in full-strength Champagne bottles. The apples are pressed in a 150-year-old press and fermented for six months. Then the freshly fermented cyder receives a ‘liqueur de tirage’ – a small amount of cane sugar and Champagne yeast – and is then bottled for at least ten months. A second fermentation occurs inside the bottle: the carbon dioxide is trapped inside the bottle, dissolves into the cyder and produces the fizz. As in Champagne, the yeast sediment from the fermentation is removed from the bottle by riddling and the cyder is topped up with a dosage of cyder and cane sugar to make a brut-style of sparkling cyder: a unique method of production for Britain.

The cyder itself is not like others and very different to ‘cider’. With an alcohol level of 8.5% and a minimum fermentation time of 16 months (six in tank and 10 in bottle), this has a wine-like body and quality with an intense apple flavour and a crisp acidity. There’s also a lasting depth of flavour; unsurprising for something produced by the Champagne method, but not usual for cider. James Lane also points out a difference made by using culinary apples grown in the South East, which he believes have less tannin than the West Country cider apple varieties and give a much more wine-like flavour. The result is a drink that is delicious and unique.

Cornish Orchards cider is produced at Westnorth Manor Farm in Duloe, Cornwall. Part of the Duchy of Cornwall’s estate since the early 1950s, Westnorth was farmed in a traditional mixed way: pigs, cattle, potatoes and corn, with a few chickens running around the farm buildings and a small apple orchard for both eating and cider-making. The orchard was actually grubbed up in favour of cattle, but not for long!

Working with the Cornish Orchards Project, as well as the environmentally minded Duchy of Cornwall, the orchard was replanted in 1993. Westnorth Manor Farm now has over 15 acres of apple trees (around 1,300 trees) for cider production, planted with nine varieties of wonderful old English apples: Ellison’s Orange, Beauty of Bath, Cornish Longstem, Tommy Knight and Colloggett Pippin amongst them. The changed habitat of the farm, which also included planting new woodland areas and hedges alongside the orchards, led to the farm being awarded The Duke of Cornwall’s Habitat Award Scheme in 1996. The cattle are still there, too, and apparently enjoy the occasional apple from any surplus crop.

The first crop to produce enough apples to make cider was in 1999 and Westnorth Manor Farm now takes all the fruit that it can source in Cornwall, as well as a few select apple farmers further afield in the West Country. Both the ciders produced by the farm and the other produce (juices and cordials) have been highly successful, winning a number of Taste of the West awards.

Farmhouse Still Cider (50cl/1ltr flagons) £2.59/£4.59

A premium still cider, rich in fruity aromas and ripe apple flavour. Deliciously mellow, we like to have this cider lightly chilled with a traditional ploughman’s lunch.

Farmhouse Sparkling Cider (12x500ml) £26.99

A refreshing, lightly sparkling medium-dry cider with a fresh flavour similar to a Golden Delicious apple.

Heritage Sparkling Cider (12x500ml) £26.99

We like the ‘windfall apple’ flavour in this gently sparkling cider. The taste and aroma comes from a complex blend of traditional and organic apples such as Cornish Longstem and Grenadier.

Gospel Green Sussex Cyder 8.5% (75cl) £8.99

We recommend serving this in a Champagne flute as you would a sparkling wine, perhaps with a strong cheddar as an accompaniment.

“A delight. Everything you could want on a summer’s day.” Jilly Goolden, BBC’s Food and Drink. “Sophisticated – a drink to satisfy the most wine-fixated palate.” Jancis Robinson MW, The Financial Times

English CidersOr should that be cyders? There is a difference: cyder is the full-strength drink made from undiluted apple juice, whereas cider is any other variation on that theme. We stock both cyder and cider; the cyder being about as local as you can get – it’s from Haslemere.

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English still wines

Chapel Down Bacchus 2013 (Kent/Sussex) Subject to availability

A classic expression of Bacchus grown in the South East of England. The wine shows grapefruit, gooseberry, passionfruit, floral and mineral characters on the nose with tropical fruits, nettles and crunchy acid on the palate. Perfect for summer drinking.

“Bacchus has rapidly become England’s most exciting white grape variety. This vintage is dry, delightfully aromatic, lightly fruity and supremely

Stopham Estate Pinot Blanc 2013 (Sussex) £19.99

This Pinot Blanc has been fermented very slowly to help develop the flavours fully. A dry white, this has pear on the nose and a hint of pink grapefruit, melon and sweet fennel on the palate. Its a well-balanced wine with a lovely long finish; an easy drinker at only 11.5% abv.

Albury Vineyard Silent Pool Rosé (Surrey) Subject to availability

Bucking the trend for increasingly high alcohol levels, Albury Vineyard keeps Silent Pool, its hugely successful sell-out wine, to under 11% abv. The resulting freshness is now legendary, with most local wine merchants (especially us) selling out within hours of it coming into stock. It’s also organic and suitable for vegetarians. Sign up for our newsletter to make sure you’re first in line for next year’s vintage.Chapel Down “Nectar” Dessert Wine (Kent) Subject to availability

This is something a little bit special made from the aromatic grape varieties Schönburger, Bacchus, Reichensteiner and Seigerrebe that were allowed to hang on the vine longer to accumulate high sugar levels.

Look forward to marmalade, dried apricot, stone-fruit, clementine and floral characters on the nose and the palate, along with some complexity from a portion of Botrytised grapes. Sweet without being heavy or cloying, this is ideal with cheeses and desserts.

Ridgeview Fitzrovia Rosé NV (Sussex) £26.99

The colour of cooked prawns with lovely creamy bubbles and aromas of honey and brioche which will become more noticeable with aging. Refreshing and dry with citrus and white tropical fruit flavours. Serve as a refreshing aperitif or it will pair beautifully with smoked salmon dishes or fresh English strawberries.

Albury Estate Sparkling (Surrey) Subject to availability

Famous already for its organic Silent Pool Rosé (which normally sells out within an hour of us having it in), Albury Vineyard has recently entered the sparkling market, too. Its first sparkling wine will be released in time for Christmas 2014, having been bottle-fermented just like Champagne, from grapes picked from the first harvests a few years ago.

Ambriel Classic Cuvée (West Sussex) £29.99

This debut sparkling wine from nearby West Sussex is a super blend of chardonnay, pinot noir and pinot meunier grapes, giving it a wonderful toasted brioche and dried fruit flavour, with an end note of floral freshness. So it’s no wonder that it won a silver medal at the prestigious International Wine Awards in 2013. A real local gem.

Wiston Estate Brut NV (Sussex) £24.99

The beautiful Wiston Estate on the South Downs has been owned by the Goring family since 1743. It was only in 2006, however, that they planted their vineyards on the rich chalky soils of their land producing grapes of the highest quality. This blended sparkling wine is made from Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier grapes in equal quantities, and is an excellent English sparkling wine.

English WinesWe count ourselves extremely lucky to be located in one of England’s – and the world’s – premier wine growing

regions. The South East of England is equal to any terroir in Burgundy; the chalky soil particularly lending itself to fine and sparkling wines. Here’s our pick from the best vineyards from our local area; each one an innovation, an award-winner or just simply delicious.

Somerset Pomona xx% 50cl £10.99 A secret blend of juice and Somerset Cider Brandy which is then matured together in oak barrels for a further two years. Fuller bodied and drier than the Kingston Black with a smooth butterscotch finish. Drink after dinner like a port with a good cheddar cheese.

Kingston Black Apple Aperitif xx% 50cl £9.99 A blend of Cider Brandy and the juice of one of the finest and rarest of vintage cider apples. It has all the sweetness of apples with a depth and quality of flavour which has made Kingston Black a legend in the apple orchards of the West Country.

Based in the south of the county, among 160 acres of apple orchards, The Somerset Cider Brandy Company has been pressing cider for over 150 years, and has been distilling the cider into brandy since 1989. After campaigning for years, the farm now has ‘appellation contrôlée’ status, just like Cognac, making Somerset Cider Brandy a protected name world-wide; a much deserved reward for such a wonderful product.

Started in 2013 by Sarah Thompson and her husband Nathan, Blackdown Artisan Spirits is based in the foothills of Blackdown Hill, among 40 acres of silver birch trees. The sap from these local trees is the key botanical in the company’s award-winning Sussex Dry Gin. It’s a delicate, smooth-tasting gin with woody aromas, leading to juniper, coriander, citrus and of course silver birch top notes. It’s fabulous on it’s own, with Fever Tree tonic or paired with Sussex Bianco Vermouth, which is made with fortified silver birch wine, to make the most perfect Sussex martini.

Blackdown Gin 37.5% £28.99

An award-winning gin, that’s slightly sweet with notes of orris root, bitter orange zest and cinnamon.

Blackdown Bianco Vermouth 14.7% £22.99

Almost golden in its paleness, this vermouth is smooth and spicy with a hint of sweetness.

English SpiritsAs with grapes and hops, England is a fertile growing ground for wheat, barley and rye; the essential distilling crops. Cider brandy, pomona and gin have been made in this country for generations and now whisky, vodka and

vermouth are following in their heady footsteps. We stock spirits from around the world, but are especially proud of what’s grown, and distilled, on our own door step - including gin using Juniper berries from Surrey!

Based at the truly patriotic sounding St George’s Distillery, The English Whisky Co sets out to make really good single malt whisky. It uses English barley, maltings and yeast, and water from the Breckland aquifer. No colours or flavours are added – the barrels do that for them. Each batch is hand made, matured in fine casks and bottled on site. The result: a great whisky to rival any Scottish single malt, and we stock two of our absolute favourites.

Chapter 6 46% 70cl £39.99

A three-year-old, award-winning classic unpeated, non-smoky, whisky. Fresh and fruity on the nose with a hint of vanilla and marzipan. This leads to a full-bodied, woody

taste with citrus hints and a malty, nutty cereal finish.

Chapter 9 46% 70cl £39.99

Another award-winning whisky, this one is the first-ever peated English single malt, and it tastes great. There’s very little smoke on the nose, but a hint of spice, while the palate gets rum and

raisin ice cream with a lovely smooth finish.

For sloe gin and damson vodka that’s been knocking the socks of the country set for years, look no further than The Wiltshire Liqueur Company. Christopher Robinson and Tiffanie Pride started selling their liqueurs in 1993 to country estates and local families and have since branched out to creating a bespoke labelling service – hence why you’ll see our very own Taurus Wines bottles on the shelves of our shop.

The Wiltshire Liqueur Company soon found there was more than just a demand for the sloe gin and damson vodka, and came up with the tangy and delicious blood orange liqueur. Blood oranges grown on the slopes of Mt Etna give the liqueur its fabulous taste – it’s a favourite here at Taurus, especially when added to thick, creamy hot chocolate on winter nights, or shaken over ice with gin and marmalade to make an incredible, and refreshing, Breakfast Martini.

Sloe Gin 25% £24.99Deliberately blended to be drier than other sloe gins, making it a perfect mixer with Champagne (in a Sloepagne cocktail) or tonic, or neat in a hip flask.

Damson Vodka 25% £24.99A deliciously fruity liqueur perfect as an after-dinner tipple or poured over crushed ice and topped up with

ginger beer as lovely long summer cocktail.

Blood Orange Liqueur 25% £24.99Sicilian blood oranges from the slopes of Mt Etna are blended with a fine liqueur to create a zingy drink that’s perfect as a chilled aperitif or cocktail mixer.

Since 1999 The Organic Spirits Company has pioneered purely organic spirits, its first being the hugely popular, and now royal-warranted Juniper Green organic gin and UK5 organic vodka, distilled here in Surrey. The range now also includes a fairtrade golden rum, Papagayo, and smooth Highland Harvest whisky.

Juniper Green Organic Gin37.5% £17.99The world’s first organic gin. As the name suggests, it’s heavy on the juniper, but incredibly smooth. Great with tonic and lime.

UK5 Organic Vodka37.5% £17.99Using only the purest water, and finest grain, this vodka contains no additives. The result: a premium sipping vodka.

Highland Harvest Organic Whisky

46% £34.99A union of three fine single malts and aged for at least nine years in oak. Sweet and smooth.

Papagayo Organic & Fairtrade White Rum

37.5% £19.99Sugar cane from 800 small fairtrade farms makes up this mellow, easy-drinking rum.

Beckett’s is the only gin in the world infused with English juniper berries – in fact berries from Box Hill here in Surrey. Neil Beckett, the eponymous founder, works with Natural England to collect berries from the slopes of Box Hill, while helping to re-establish a juniper colony on Juniper Top, the other side of the hill, where once berries grew in abundance, but sadly no more.The gin itself is distilled in London and uses mint from Kingston as one of its six botanicals. Delicious onits own with a sprig of mint.

Beckett’s London Dry Gin 40% £34.99Zesty and citrusy on the nose, with an almost soft and creamy feel on the palate. The finish is long with a hint of mint. Fabulous as a martini gin.

Taurus WinesWine importer and shop

* Expert advice on fine and party wines* Free Italian crystal glass loan for party orders

* Free local delivery on orders over £200* Next working day nationwide delivery

* Sale or return available* Multi-award-winning wine selection

* Argentinian wine merchant of the year 2013* French wine merchant of the year 2013

* Chilean wine merchant of the year 2010 & 2014* Independent wine merchant of the year 2008

* Havana cigars available

The Old Cart House, Whipley Manor Farm, Bramley, Guildford, Surrey GU5 0LL

Find us three miles south of Bramley on the A281 (Guildford to Horsham Road)

grapes@tauruswines.co.ukwww.tauruswines.co.uk

01483 54 84 84