GRAPE BRITAIN: A HISTORY OF WINE IN THE UK
There are more than 700 vineyards in Britain, covering around 2,000 hectares (c. 5,000 acres). Over half of that land is in south-east England. Chardonnay and Pinot Noir are by far the most popular grape varieties planted.
The Romans, who were avid wine-bibbers, introduced vines to England and Wales. In the Middle Ages, English vineyards thrived until the cooler climate of the 1500s vastly reduced grape production, although a few vineyards were still operating in Britain up until the First World War.
A revival began in 1936, when the author and viticulturist George Ordish established vineyards in the south of England. The rise of British wine was gradual and somewhat stuttering until its explosion in the 21st century when at last it managed to slough off its poor reputation, winning multiple prestigious international awards. With global heating, vineyards have spread northwards; Leventhorpe Vineyard near Leeds in Yorkshire is Britain’s most northerly commercial vineyard.
phenomenally, and global warming. Though, of course, warmer doesn’t necessarily mean better. There’s more wind now than we used to get and more freak weather events. And what we need is a cold winter to put the vines to sleep.”
Furthermore, global warming is apparently starting to make it too hot in northern France to produce high quality Champagne grapes.
A landscape gardener by trade, Andrew had bought this swathe of south-facing hillside for his business but then thought “let’s find out if you can grow grapes on it”. It turned out that the soil didn’t need much improvement – just a little lime to make it less acidic, along with some calcium and boron, and magnesium in the form of Epsom salts.
THREE VINEYARDS AND A VILLA
My second day – which was happily rather sunnier – would see me visit three very different vineyards and a Roman villa.
The Tinwood Estate, near Chichester in West Sussex, is all sleek modern buildings and an air of calm efficiency. The owner, Art, started early, learning his craft in New Zealand and planting his first vines on his 21st birthday. Nowadays he harvests 120,000 Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier vines. This, I discovered, is the classic trio for sparkling wines, whose combinations you’ll find in many a bottle. Committed to conservation, Art showed me his hives and owl-house. The bees help fertilise the vines and also make merry on specially sown buckwheat, red clover and dwarf sunflowers, while the pair of
tawny owls serve as a natural deterrent to grape-eating rodents.
It’s not long before our conversation turns to 2018 – a year about which every wine-grower I spoke to waxed lyrical. “It was the vintage of a generation,” Art told me. “We had to build a new wine store to house the harvest.”
At the exquisite Bignor Roman Villa
– discovered by a farmer in 1811 when he struck a large stone while ploughing – I learned about the wine-bibbing habits of very much earlier generations. “It’s widely believed that the Romans were the ones to introduce wine to Britain,” co-owner Lisa Tupper informed me. “There is no evidence of a massive wine industry in Britain, so it was more likely produced and consumed locally as a sign of becoming Romanised. It was normally diluted, usually one-part wine to two-parts hot or sea water. Consuming undiluted wine was deemed to be an uncouth and barbaric habit.”
I confess I was very happy to be uncouth and barbaric at Court Garden vineyard when the Corneys invited me to a post-tour tasting session. Having the growers on hand while you sip the delicious fruits of their labours added something to the experience, too (though I was careful not to imbibe too much while cycling).
When I rolled into Breaky Bottom
– hidden in a valley over a mile from the nearest road – I found owner Peter Hall in an old low-roofed shed attaching foil capsules to his latest vintage by hand. Adorned with silver locks and beard, Peter is the grandfather of South Downs wines, having planted his first vines here in 1974.
Renowned wine critic Oz Clarke opined that there was “no more beautiful vineyard in Britain” and at just six acres, it’s the smallest commercial vineyard in the region.
Inviting me into his charming cottage for a cup of tea, Peter told me about starting life here as a young tenant farmer. “The place hadn’t been lived in for 50 years… there was no electricity or running water… the windows were broken and it was full of cow dung.” He began making still wines from Seyval Blanc and Müller-Thurgau grapes, but in 1995 he created his first sparkling brut and hasn’t looked back. His wines are now among the most garlanded in England.
BEDS AMONG VINES
I’m lucky enough to live a few miles up the road from Breaky Bottom, so I pedalled home to my bed. On other nights, my weary body found rest in most agreeable surroundings. At the Old Store Guest House in Halnaker, opposite the Tinwood Estate, my hosts Patrick and Heather could not have been friendlier, nor my bed more comfortable. And I spent my last night on a vineyard. The Flint Barns on the Rathfinny Estate proved the perfect spot for immersing myself in the local terroir.
Vines spread out in every direction, while rain showers and bursts of bright sunshine swept up the valley in hot pursuit of one another the whole time I was there.
Rathfinny provided me with an insight into large-scale wine production. Over an extensive tour, I was surprised to find that it takes 180 people a full three weeks to harvest the estate’s 700,000 vines. Three-and-a-half years later, their state-of-the-art winery will have turned those grapes into 1.2 million bottles of top-quality sparkling wine.
As I tucked into a tasty lunch at Rathfinny’s appropriately sparkling restaurant, I mulled over my cycle tour and what I had learnt about viticulture. The greatest discovery was this: global warming and the dedication and expertise of local winemakers is causing a seismic shift in that world. Champagne may yet be considered the king of sparkling wines, but it won’t be long before that crown passes across the Channel to rest on the South Downs.
“IT TAKES
180 PEOPLE THREE WEEKS TO HARVEST THE ESTATE’S 700,000 VINES”