News

2011 Harvest Report

A remarkable year: a single late spring frost, then one of the hottest and driest springs ever, followed by the wettest June on records and then more records broken for high temperatures in September and October.
The grapes have remained disease free over the summer and the autumn dry weather helped some great flavours to develop. Yields are sporadic - some varieties were affected by the wet weather during flowering and others remained unaffected. Overall we are about 25% down on 2010 yields.
Acid levels are low so the 2011 wine should end up softer than normal, while sugar levels were good.
A difficult year for growers but this should be a good year for winemakers. The wine flavours are excellent during fermentation.

July 2011

After flowering has finished we are about to count up the damage caused by the rain during the Wimbledon weeks. Judging by eye I think the Pinot Noir at our Rotherfield site has not set a good crop, and neither has the Siegerrebe at Horsmonden. Most other varieties have coped well and should produce a decent yield.

Good news from the Soil Association - we have won two Commendations in their annual Organic Food awards. This is a tough competition to win so getting a Commendation is quite an achievement. Click here for the full results.

Our long-awaited new press arrived from Germany. It took 3 hours to guide the lorry to the farm because the council chose that week to resurface all the lanes. The old press has been taken in part-exchange and I now have a 2 inch thick manual to read and learn before harvest starts.

June 2011

The UKVA wine of the year competition results and awards ceremony take place in July at the House of Lords, but we can let you know about our wines in advance. The 2010 Horsmonden dry white was awatrded a Silver medal, while the 2006 Limney Blanc de blancs won a Bronze.

The results of the SEVA wine of the year competition were announced in a ceremony at Denbies Vineyard on the 7th June. Our wines won a Bronze medal (2006 Limney Blanc de blancs) and a Hoighly commended (2010 Horsmonden dry white).

May 2011

Frost on the 4th May has affected a corner of one of the vineyard plots. This won't kill the vines - they will produce a second flush of green growth. However it may mean that this area will not produce any quality grapes this year.

April 2011

The new press is now on order. We will be using a Europress this harvest, capable of pressing 2 tonnes of grapes without crushing or de-stemming the grapes. All our wines (even the still wines) will now be pressed "whole bunch" in the gentlest possible process.

March 2011

A recent tasting of English sparkling wines in London has judged our 2005 Blanc de blancs in 17th out of the 50-odd wines entered. Judges included Jancis Robinson and several other MW's. The tasting also included a few sparkling wines from outside the UK, many of which did not perform well. Our wine was the highest scoring wine that has not been made from Chardonnay / Pinot Noir.

December 2010

The new solar panels are now installed and generating power for the winery (not much in the dismal December weather). The panels should generate more electricity over a year than we use in the winery. Surplus electricity is being sold back to the grid.