Making English wines since 1991
- The Vineyards -
Here is the most important bit: growing superb grapes is crucial to making the best wines. If the grapes are less than perfect, the winemaker has to manipulate the wines to get the right balance and in the process, the character of the wine is lost.
Our vines have been established over a 30 year time-frame on five separate plots of land. Most of these were apple orchards before the vines were planted. The soil types, aspect and micro-climate vary between sites and we have selected particular grape varieties to suit the conditions. This means we can make a broad range of wine styles because we have such a fantastic variety of fruit at harvest.
All the vines are cane pruned and grown to the Soil Association standards. Harvest starts in September and continues to mid-October. All the grapes are picked by hand (thanks to our wonderful picking team).
Click on any of the pictures below to get specific info about each site.
Grape Varieties: Ortega, Bacchus, Faber, Huxelrebe. Planted 1991 Soil: clay Aspect: South facing Altitude: 80m a.s.l.
Grape Varieties: Pinot Noir, Auxerrois Planted 1993 Soil: sandy loam over sandstone Aspect: West facing slope Altitude: 84m
Grape Variety: Pinot Noir Planted 2000 Soil: Sandy clay Aspect: south facing Altitude: 80m
Grape Varieties: Chardonnay, Pinot Meunier, Bacchus, Ortega, Siegerrebe Planted 2007 Soil: sandy silt over sandstone Aspect: flat (v slight north facing) Altitude 61m
Grape Variety: Pinot Noir Planted 2016 Soil: Sandy silt over sandstone Aspect: Very slight north facing Altitude: 75m