Antipodean trips inspired Ryan’s vision for venture into vineyards
PATIENCE and precision are two vital attributes in the wine making business. The patience waiting for the vines to be ready.
The precision of knowing exactly when to pick them for the best flavour and biggest yield possible.
And Ryan Davies, the young owner of Llanerch Vineyard, has carried both attributes to every part of his business.
With the latest expansion of the beautiful Vale of Glamorgan vineyard he needed both. In spades.
When Ryan purchased the business in 2010 the vineyard wasn’t the thriving business it is today.
Llanerch is Wales’ second oldest and largest commercial vineyard.
The warm summer has meant a bumper crop is expected this year. Ryan says the vineyards in Wales are talking about doubling and even tripling crops on the previous year.
The vineyard was established in 1980 but before Ryan stepped in it had been closed for two years as the previous owners searched for a buyer.
The then 24-year-old was looking for a site to set up an extreme sports venture. He wasn’t planning on entering an industry that doesn’t have a strong history in the UK. There are less than 20 vineyards in the whole of Wales.
With the family home in Pendoylan they knew a number of the farmers and were looking for a parcel of land to use to create their venue. They wanted to be just off the M4.
Ryan was originally looking at Llanerch purely as an access way.
However, when they visited the vineyard he had his eureka moment.
While on a trip travelling the world Ryan had worked at a few vineyards. In New Zealand he spent time in the wine-rich Marlborough region, plus the famous Margaret River province in Australia.
With Llanerch he saw the potential for a Antipodean-inspired vineyard business.
“They really utilise their vineyards as tourists attractions,” explained Ryan. “We thought this would be a great place to open a restaurant and eventually do weddings and events, with vineyard tours etc.
“We put an offer in in 2010 and in October 2010 with no experience in hospitality at all or vineyards or weddings or anything like that we became the proud owners of Llanerch Vineyard.”
Since then the business has grown steadily over the past eight years. Ryan is not someone to rush change. The expansion has been slow and steady.
At first the restaurant did lunches until there was demand for evening meals.
In 2012 he noticed the restaurant was constantly full so he built an extension to accommodate more covers.
He didn’t rush head first into weddings side of the business.
He also wants to ensure weddings do not takeover the whole venue.
“I felt that if you call a restaurant and they say ‘sorry we have a wedding on today’, you don’t get that ongoing trade,” Ryan said.
The first year, with a rented marquee, he had just two weddings, and they were for friends. They were a success.
That winter they purchased the marquee and the next year they hosted 36. The following year, 2016, it was approximately 70.
“That is a comfortable number,”