This was very exciting for us as really it was our first visit to a Welsh vineyard. Kerry Vale is very close to the border, literally a stone's throw from Offa's Dyke so has a foot in both countries more or less but
Llaethlliw is really Welsh, as its name suggests! The name actually means the colour of milk and as we have found on each visit, there is more history to discover as well as good wine.
So first the history ...the stream at the bottom of the fields on the estate does run a milky colour so as well as giving the estate its name, it is also believed that the title of Dylan Thomas's famous - and wonderful - play, Under Milk Wood, may have an origin from this name.
The estate and original farm of Llaethlliw has been here since the 18th century and one of the owners of the estate in 1864, had a schooner built in nearby New Quay and named it Llaethlliw. This is a painting the owners have of this schooner and so they decided to use this as a basis of their logo which you will see later - a splendid idea!
And the final bit of interesting history, is that the last duel fought in Wales was between a son of one of the owners of the estate - who didn't fight fairly and so had to disappear, to America it is thought! You can read the whole story on the website:
Llaethlliw Estate
And so to the modern era....Siwsan and Richard Evans bought the farm and land here in 2008 and after an idea from Richard, decided to plant vines - so many British vineyards seem to have appeared almost by accident! The original vines planted in 2009 were 6,500 - as you may have read in the Walton Brook entry, this was just before the Germans had a bad accident as they left Wales on the way to Leicestershire. The crurrent vines cover about 6 acres and the grapes are Solaris, Orion, Rondo and Regent.
As you can see from this early picture, the planting doesn't only mean investment in plants, but also in wood and wire - and a lot of it!
The first harvest was 2014 and again much has been learned. The decision was made by the family that they would be an organic grower which then enables their wine to be marketed as Quality Wine. Their experience in achieving this has been very good. Siwsan and Richard have a son, Jac who gave us a lot of interesting information. He has worked very hard and has been to Plumpton College to achieve a degree in viticulture so has many ideas to take the vineyard forward.
Again their experience of Solaris has been alarming! Its growth such that at one point it had grown across to the next row! It sounds like very hard work to keep the Solaris vines in order but it has the benefit of being an early ripener.
This year a tasting and presentation cabin has been built and opened so that visitors can now also have a presentation on a screen in there in comfortable surroundings.
The next step will be to open their own winery for which works have started. At the moment their wine is bottled at Halfpenny Green Vineyard near Worcester, the same one used by Kerry Vale too. Plans are also underway for a shop and café.
So much has already been achieved in a short time and this year, just recently, their first red wine has been released! It has been aged in oak for a short while so we were eagerly awaiting the tasting!
First we tried the Solaris...very good too. Interesting that we had only a few days before tried this at Walton Brook too. Both had that grapefruity taste, dry but not too dry.
..then the rosé..a blend of Orion and Regent.. a very pleasant and fruity rosé but not too sweet...
...and so to the red! An oaked Rondo....and it didn't disappoint. It is a really good flavour and quite full bodied, not at all the sweet fruity drink that some English reds have. We were very impressed.
We had had another really interesting visit - thank you Siwsan and Jac. We look forward to another visit very soon. And they also have plans to expand into a further 15 acres with 10,000 vines - wonder which varieties they will choose?
And as an added bonus, Llaethlliw is very near to the sea - only a couple of miles out of Aberaeron so the day can be completed by a walk on the seafront
- memories once more of the
Coastal Path walk!
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