We have 7 acres of vines, planted between 1984 and 1993.
The original 'small' vineyard, of one acre, has an exceptional micro-climate due to the very sheltered site and the close planting of the vines, only 4 feet apart. The site is one of the steepest in England, there are more than 1,250 vines and the spraying and vine-topping has to be done with back-pack equipment. It is one of the few sites in England never to have suffered spring or autumn frost damage.
The vines are trained on the classic Double-Guyot system. The varieties are Madeleine Angevine, Senator, Kernling, Reichensteiner, Schönburger. Individual varietal wines are made when practical, their character and flavour benefit greatly from the Devonian red sandstone soil, which is one of the classic European vineyard soils. Summer and autumn night-time temperatures are relatively cool in this vineyard (partly because the South-South-East facing slope loses the evening sun) and this enables the wines to have fine racy acidity.
The 'large' vineyard, of six acres in the lee of Dunkery, is less sheltered and relatively flat. It's great advantage is that it catches the sunlight all day long, sunlight on the vine-leaves causes the photosynthesis which ripens the grapes. To take advantage of the extremely bright light, the vine hedge rows are set East-West. To increase the leaf-wall even further, the modified-Silvoz training system has been chosen, with 2.5 metres between rows and 1.6 metres between vines. The main vine varieties planted are Kernling, Reichensteiner, Madeleine Angevine, Chardonnay, and the reds Pinot Noir, Dornfelder, Regent and Rondo.
Harvesting takes place from late September through to early November. Summer spraying, against botrytis and powdery and downy mildews, is terminated at least five weeks before harvest, so there is no chance of any spray residue reaching the wine.
Information on our winery and winemaking.