We are so pleased to be able to finally release two very special wines - both years in the making - from Nicola & Daniel at Offbeat.
Many Moons is a thrillingly elegant and mineral white, the result of perfect 2020 fruit and four years of age. Magic Number is a detailed, pretty red with complexity, length and substance - they are a testament to the rewards of patience.
These two wines are an important step in their journey: representative of the direction they have been guiding the project towards, in styles they love to drink and have become incredibly accomplished at.
Each is a proper labour of love, the beneficiary of delicate, considered winemaking and a watchful eye in the cellar during their lengthy gestation.
We caught up with Dan to discuss the journey of the wines, where they fit into the project and the story of the new labels - one most of the wines will now feature. Scroll below to read more on the wines, and the story from Dan.
Both wines are available now, we truly hope you enjoy them.
2020 - Many Moons - Pinot Blanc, Chardonnay
MANY MOONS marks significant milestones in their journey. From the exceptional 2020 vintage, it was the first fruit into their winery and through their traditional Coquard press. We can still remember the joy in the winery as they received this Essex fruit.
It was also the first wine into their 1500-litre Stockinger foudre, a vessel perfect for the longer ageing methods they were eager to explore. As Offbeat transitioned from a side project to a full-time endeavour in 2020, Nic & Dan looked to the high-acid, long-aged wines of the Jura, reflecting on the possibilities open to them with similar varieties and growing conditions.
Tasting the foudre over its two years, they loved its direction. Honing its focus, Dan remembered a Pierre Overnoy quote - that a wine is best spending equal time in bottle as in wood - so the wine was bottled and tucked away for two years before release. Time well spent.
A field blend of Pinot Blanc and Chardonnay grown on the blue clay soils of the Crouch Valley, Essex. Slowly pressed through the Coquard, fermented and aged for two years in foudre. The wine was bottled directly from the vessel via gravity, to the lunar calendar and with no additions.
Loading up the Coquard for the first time, October 2020
NV - Magic Number - Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier, Pinot Blanc
MAGIC NUMBER is emblematic of Nic & Dan's journey with red varieties - it's been a road of discovery, learning how best to develop their ideal characteristics with UK fruit. With Magic Number, they had tapped into a vein of possibility they are still following.
The wine is a one-off by nature: a masterful assembly of different barrels, where outliers from certain vinifications find balance in each other. Featuring three Pinots from the 2021 and 2022 vintages: grown by Lucie & Jules at Ham Street (2021 Pinot Noir) and in the Crouch Valley in Essex (2022 Pinots Meunier and Blanc).
The Pinot Noir had a two-month semi-carbonic maceration and aged in oak for 19 months. Essex fruit macerated together semi-carbonically, before pressing off to oak barrels. Roughly an even split of the two years and vineyards, the wine was assembled and bottled by gravity in July 2023, to the lunar calendar and with no additions.
First juice off the Coquard press, October 2020
LUNAR PHASE: A chat with Daniel Ham, July 2024
"It's really exciting for us to be releasing these two wines that show the direction we're aiming towards. Many Moons is a very momentous one, as it signifies so many firsts for us, and also feels like a real achievement, capturing that year. 2020 was one of the best UK vintages in a decade, we were fortunate to begin the journey in the new winery with that fruit."
"But it was also the year Nic & I started drinking more widely, looking at the wines we love from similarly cooler climate regions - particularly the Jura. With the white varieties, there are so many regions that translate and crossover when you compare with the UK. There's a wealth of inspiration that has helped guide us in where we'd like to go. Less so with the reds, there's certainly not as much crossover or variety, and it's been crucial for us to cut our own path a little more in that regard. We've utilised quite a few different methods in trying to find where we can push things, playing with VA, all sorts of different types of macerations and extraction and ageing."
"There were lots of different barrels that went to Magic Number, perhaps wines that weren't topped up, or were stylistic outliers, things that have been brought together to paint a clearer picture. It's really the story of our journey learning how we want to handle red fruit."
"With the two wines really being a marker of where we're at, and where we're going, we wanted to work on new labels for the whole project: something that represents us a little better, looking to simplify the visual so there's a clear theme through everything."
"For a long time we'd been following the work of Man In The Woods - an artist who used to live around Wiltshire, and has been doing six years of these 'Friday Walks' walking 18km into the countryside, having a pint of ale at the end, then catching the bus to that journeys end-point the following week and picking up the walk from there. He's interested in lots of the same things we are: rural history, ancient folk traditions, standing stones and pubs. I really like his connection to nature, his surroundings, and their history. Stonehenge, which is quite nearby, is of mutual importance to us. "
"We asked him if he would do some illustration ideas based on those shared interests and how they overlap with our winemaking. He brought a few round and there was one little one, on this two-inch square piece of paper. Together, we picked it as the one instantly! He asked if we wanted any revisions or a bigger version of the sketch - but it was perfect as it is."
"It's the 12 phases of the moon around the sun: which are crucial to what we do here. Obviously the sun for the vines, and the moon dictates everything we do in the cellar, it just felt very grounded and connected."
"So nearly all the wines going forward will feature this lovely drawing, with their name on the front. Many Moons is named for its long elevage, a wine that has seen many lunar cycles. Magic Number is three Pinots, and I'm a big De La Soul fan, so it felt right to give a nod to three being the magic number."
The original Man In The Woods sketch