Sparkling Mead
Sparkling Mead
Produced at the meadery in Haltwhistle, Northumberland.
The finest UK mead.
Sparkling Mead | Traditional Method
Sparkling Mead, produced at our meadery in Haltwhistle is created in the same vain as Champagne. Visit us to buy mead, or read on to discover how Luke and Suzie produce a very different offering to most UK mead. Lively bubbles, heavenly aroma, with a very gentle acidity akin to fine aged Champagne.
Production time is long, in excess of 2 years, following a primary fermentation and a secondary fermentation where bottles age in stillage for years. The process is synonymous with the production of fine Champagne. Yet rather than being made with grapes, Sparkling Mead is produced from honey. Enabling our mead to be very sustainable, in fact continually helping to safeguard and increase bee numbers year on year.
Explore the finest Sparkling Mead in the UK, with the upmost provenance, flavour, history and story
Meadery
In the same way that different grapes give a different wine and vintage, different honey gives a completely different quality of mead. As each season in the UK is different, we are now discovering what makes a vintage UK Mead. The weather gives us good seasons and bad, and this impacts on the quality of honey produced. As we discover what really makes a vintage mead, we are at the forefront of UK mead and honey production.
Traditional method for Mead Production
The meadery at Haltwhistle houses rows upon rows of bottles undergoing the traditional method. The traditional method involves a second fermentation inside the bottle, essentially the same process that is used to create Champagne and sparkling wines. Naturally the yeast has to be removed, via a process called riddling. Riddling involves gently turning the bottles over many weeks until all the yeast is in the next/cap of the bottle.
Following this process disgorging takes place. Disgorging is the processes of removing yeast from the bottle. Yeast removal is obtained by freezing the bottle neck/cap at around -25 degrees celcius. The cap is removed (containing the yeast), and the final cork/ wirehood is put in place.
Producing Sparkling Mead in the traditional method is a labour of love, taking 2-3 years to produce a bottle, with special vintages now ageing for over 5 years.
The decision to make a traditional method Sparkling Mead was to show just what quality product the bees can produce, with every bottle a signature of that particular honey variety and season, naturally slightly changing from year to year.
It’s amazing to think, no grapes at all are used in this process, simply honey, spring water, yeast and time.
Sparkling Mead Varieties
Buy mead on the online shop or below. For now we’ll introduce a little about each variety of the UKs finest mead.
Each variety in essence follows our seasons. Starting with Wildflower produced from Spring Wildflower Honey, Rosé from the Summer wildflower and tree honey, and finally Heather from the end of the season made from the finest Heather honey.
Each variety is completely different, reflecting the honey. Wildflower being the driest, Rosé carrying subtle sweetness with a dry finish, and Heather being a bold deep honey giving the most complex character of them all.
If you’re looking for the one most comparable to a brut Champagne, then Wildflower Sparkling is the way to go, and for something sweeter, the Heather Sparkling. Rosé is brilliant in that it is technically dry, but the Hibiscus flowers really bring out the honey aroma and flavours giving a nice botanical edge to a very special Rosé Sparkling.
Vintage Mead
New for 2023 is our 2016 First Vintage, which is not only the longest aged in the range at 6 years on the lees, but also the sweetest at a demi-sec, with tasting notes of honey roast almonds and a seriously smooth finish that masks the 12% alcohol content perfectly. The vintage is a release from our first 50 bottles ever produced and each bottle is labelled with it’s unique number 1-50.
Reviews
Buy Mead
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Honey Beer | Mighty Buzz
£4.80 -
Heather Sparkling Mead 75cl
£35.00 -
Mead Making Kit
£65.00 -
Rosé Sparkling Mead 75cl
£35.00 -
Sparkling Mead Tasting Trio
£99.00
