This was an exciting few days ahead of us now as we set off on our first real roadtrip in Sassy.....our little red 4/4 Morgan....
We were headed to our daughter and family in Kent for a surprise early birthday on Sunday so had decided to build a little holiday around it.....and of course Sassy and vineyards had to be included!
Several vineyards on the route weren't open at times we were passing so we had to be selective and our first stop was at
Mumfords. This is a small but very well established vineyard just outside Bath and you do have to book a time. Apparently visiting vineyards for hen parties has become more and more popular - and we saw others over the course of the next few days. Tony Cox at Mumfords told us that they very often have hen party requests.
The vineyard here covers around 4 acres with about 5,500 vines and with 3 varieties: Madeline Angevine, Reichensteiner and Triomphe. It's good to see vines in their full Spring growth after several months of bare winter vines.
The name of the vineyard comes from the historical name of the field and it's thought it may have derived from Montfort as Simon de Montfort owned land here in the 13th century. The picture on the label is based on a Roman coin found in the field as they were preparing the vineyard. The vineyard is very close to 2 Roman roads heading into, and out of, Bath.
Tony made the tasting really interesting. As an ex-chemist for a major pharmaceutical company, his real interest is actually the wine making which he loves! And the winery which he and his wife acquired and established is very impressive - and has been used now since the late '90's. The vines were planted in 1985 so the vineyard is very well-established. Its wines have been enjoyed by the Queen on a visit to Bath in 2002 and aboard HMS Trafalgar at a dinner to celebrate the ship's centenary in 2005.
Tony has been involved with English wine making for some time and has interesting information about harvest yields over the years which directly conform to the weather patterns - it's maybe looking like 2014 will be a good wine. Tony prefers to keep the wine in vats for 2 years before bottling and it seems to work!
We tried the Madeline Angevine which was very smooth and refreshing and then sampled the 2010 Triomphe red - and even enjoyed a sneak preview/taste from the vat of the 2014, it tasted like it will be a good one too!
We bought a few bottles to take with us, a bit of a problem when roadtripping in Sassy in that we have to limit what we take with us - or maybe that is really just as well! Tony does provide wine by direct mail - and his helper in the vineyards may be taking a trip to mid Wales soon so it may help with a future order!
Thank you for your time and such good information, Tony and hope your hip continues to improve.
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