Last of the summer wine! Vineyard that defies the cold in Yorkshire
BY ’ECK, it’s not what you’d expect to see in the rolling hills of Yorkshire.
Nestled among the heather in the region where Foggy and Compo got up to their tricks, acres of grape vines make up Britain’s most northerly commercial vineyard.
Despite the county’s chilly climate, Ryedale Vineyards – in Weston, at the foot of the Yorkshire Wolds – produces nine wines and a cider.
The seller is among more than 500 vineyards now established in the UK, and a million more vines are due to be planted in England and Wales this year.
Ryedale owner John Fletcher planted his first six acres in 2006, adding a second site nearby in 2008 before producing his first wine in 2010. He plans to add another 4,000 vines this year.
‘We are the most northerly commercial producer on this scale,’ he said. ‘Monks going back thousands of years have tried to make wine further up the country – but nothing like the scale we’ve accomplished.
‘Until recently, there were very few vineyards north of Watford but they are popping up across the country now. At our vineyard we cannot make it quick enough – people buy it as soon as we put it on sale.’
Mr Fletcher grows two main types of grape – both European varieties – rondo, for making red wine, and ortega, for white.
He uses these to produce six red, still white and rose wines, with names such as Yorkshire’s Lass and Shepherd’s Delight, which cost £10 a bottle. The other three are sparkling varieties priced at £20.
The firm has scooped 25 awards including from the International Wine Challenge and UK Vineyard Association. But as you would expect in the part of the country where TV’s Last Of The Summer Wine was filmed, the rain can be a challenge
‘One hazard is wet weather but as the climate improves, we can assume that we can grow wine again like we did in Roman times,’ he said. The amount of Brit- ish countryside planted with vines has nearly tripled since 2000, with vineyards now covering more than 5,000 acres. It makes wine production one of the fastest growing agricultural sectors in the UK.
Although most vineyards are in southern England, where some have attracted the interest of French producers, 19 sites are in Yorkshire and Lancashire. However most of Ryedale’s Yorkshire competitors are small and do not operate on a commercial level.
The slight increase in Britain’s average temperature in recent years has helped wine production. English wines are now becoming popular overseas, and were exported to a record 27 countries in 2016. Earlier this year, Waitrose became the first supermarket to take English wine to China.
Industry body English Wine Producers said the number of new vines planted this year will be ‘the largest ever in a single year in the UK’. A spokesman said the plants will ‘yield another two million bottles, adding £50million to the industry’. In 2015, around five million bottles were produced.
Britain’s oldest commercial vineyard is Hambledon in Hampshire, which was planted in 1952.