Bolney Wine Estate, near Crawley, Sussex - 1st July, 2016

Having spent a wonderful afternoon and evening in and around Avebury and had a good night's sleep at a super B & B at Beckhampton, off we set. This morning with Sassy's hood up - it had been a wet evening yesterday and not looking too promising this morning and we had a long way to go! It was a good and interesting journey through Marlborough, around Andover and via Farnham and Guildford. Some old steps retraced and new ones found. We don't do motorways in Sassy. It's also interesting to inspect the state of the roads in little Sassy - some of them are really little more that tracks in truth, especially through towns where drains are often very poorly set in the roads!
And so we found our way to the Bolney estate!

A very impressive driveway led to a very new winery and visitor centre which has a balcony overlooking the vines. The vineyard has been here since 1976 (and possibly much longer according to some historical evidence) making it one of the oldest in the UK. The original 3 acres of vines were all white grapes and the main interest was to produce white and sparkling wines - many of which have won awards, more again this year. The Blanc de Blancs won a silver I believe...

The most popular white is the Bacchus, we have now heard at many of our visits that Bacchus is the leading English grape in popularity of sales. However, the Pinot Noir grape has also been introduced so red wines are now produced with much credit. The original 3 acres has grown into 39 acres! They also produce a red sparkling - might be worth a try?
One of the problems with our visits is that we don't always have time to take the tours and guided tastings as these tend to be an hour or more but we do seem to be beginning to recognise the grapes now. After a coffee in the very pleasant café overlooking the vines, some of which were quite young ones,

....we decided which to buy...I believe they grow 6 white varieties and 4 red. Today we took with us a bottle of Bacchus, a sparkling Blanc de Blancs and a couple of Pinot Noir,

some of which would be gifts for our hosts, leaving room for further purchases on this roadtrip! I'm afraid to date we haven't yet tasted the red so I will give you our thoughts after that.
And so onwards and eastwards into Kent....

Mumfords Vineyard, Bath - 30th June, 2016

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.

Trevibban Mill near Padstow, Cornwall - 20th May, 2016

So we found ourselves visiting our friends in Cornwall once more - and a lovely time we spent with them too. Hikmet had made a magnificent cross stitch picture for us of a scene from our coastal walk at Nefyn on the Llŷn peninsula.

I have very much been enjoying the rosé wine from Polgoon which we visited last year - at the moment it remains my very favourite English or Welsh wine...

We popped into Camel Valley vineyard on our way down to our friends; we knew how to find it from our visit last year...and purchased some sparkling to celebrate recent birthdays!

On our way home, we decided to try the vineyard near Padstow which we had read about recently having won an award for its red! A visit seemed to be a must....and we also took the opportunity to see Padstow, a pretty working harbour town - but busy even so early in the season!

It is a very pretty location at Trevibban and the vines were planted here in 2008, followed by apple and other fruit tress planted in 2011. The vineyard now produces several wines and ciders all from its own land and using its own winery. Interestingly the vines here are all covered with envirofleece which not only helps to keep bugs away, it apparently is also deterrent to the sheep grazing here throughout the year and which used to help themselves to the vines! The reds are below the winery.....

.....and the whites above....

Many of the wines are award winning and the whole vineyard is organic, being approved and certified by the Soil Association. The winery and visitor centre also has a restaurant, Appleton's at the vineyard, run by a well-renowned chef formerly working with Jamie Oliver at Fifteen.

We tried one of the white wines, Merope which was very pleasant with an elderflower taste

and then the red, Black Ewe Red 2014 that we had read about and tasty it is too, if quite expensive.

The red won a silver award this year in the International Wine Challenge. We shall enjoy the bottle later in the year - maybe a Christmas toast to Trevibban! British wines won 120 medals at the International event this year - brilliant!

Interestingly, Liz, the owner, told us that they now work with a vineyard in Bradford-on-Avon which has grown white varieties for a number of years but was about to sell up. Trevibban Mill now takes all the grapes from them to make into wines here at their winery which gives them both a win-win relationship.

Ancre Hill Estates, Monmouth - 5th May, 2016

Having enjoyed our Sugar Loaf visit, it was on to the next - not far away just outside Monmouth. Memories of Offa's Dyke path walk last year flooding back! Through private gates and up to the Cellar Door with lovely views around the Wye Valley.

We had to wait a while for Richard to open up but he was very welcoming and informative. We sampled the Chardonnay - really very crisp and refreshing. We are getting a taste for whites now - and English whites are really good. Then it was a Rosé which again was very flavoursome - and the case was on special offer! Then the 2 reds! Almost spoilt for choice here - Richard sees no reason why our reds can't be really good to compete with any others. The Triomphe from the Triomphe d'Alsace wine is a really light and fruity wine benefitting from being a little cool and ideal to compete with a rosé for lunch. The Pinot Noir is a little heavier but also very fruity. Currently only 4 grapes are grown, Pinot Noir, Albarino, Triomphe and Chardonnay. In addition to the still wines, 2 sparkling wines are produced -a white and a rosé which I understand have won several awards -some tastings even beating Champagne....

The estate here was first planted in 2006 on the suitably south facing slopes with a following planting in 2007 and so the first vintage produced was 2008. The winery opened in 2015 so currently the wines are registered as organic wines but subsequent years now they have their own winery, their wines are going to achieve the bio-dynamic label.

Bio-dynamism was first introduced as a concept and a way of growing, by Rudolf Steiner in 1924 for general farming and it is now becoming popular in other horticultural interests, including viticulture. To be able to achieve it, the producers pay strict attention to the additives - or in this case, into not adding anything but letting the grapes do their own work using careful measures.

With new land being acquired, the vineyard will soon be up to 12 hectares and luckily Richard's son offers a helping hand having also acquired his skills at college.

So we then wended our way home, stopping for coffee once more at the Hunter's Moon at Llangattock - one of our favourite places! And at home, we enjoyed our first barbecue of the year - accompanied by a bottle of Ancre Hill Rosé -a perfect day!

Sugar Loaf Vineyards, Abergavenny - 5th May, 2016

So Spring has arrived, or is it indeed summer? Brilliant sun forecast and arrived so we took the opportunity for a run out in Sassy now she's all sparkly with new paintwork - and shiny steel wheels!

A suitable route for the day was decided, so we started at Sugar Loaf Vineyard, not too far away from us at Abergavenny. And how lovely it is there!

The owners are celebrating their 20th year here this year. They have 5 acres of vines with 7 varieties of grape.

The vineyards are so beautifully set with Sugar Loaf looking over them - and Skirrid not too far away.

And so far this is the only vineyard we've seen with sheep grazing!

There is a cafe here so we enjoyed a coffee - Chris also partook of a glass of the Madeleine Angevine - and it was lovely. They also produce a blended white, Abergavenny and a rosé.

A dry but refreshing white. We also purchased a bottle of red - from the Regent grape and which is always in short supply. The wine is made and bottled at Three Choirs. A really lovely spot with good products - haven't sampled the red yet so will keep you posted on that but can definitely recommend the Madeleine!

Also, whilst sitting in the hot sun, saw a grey wagtail sitting in the stream!

It wasn't exactly this one - I was too slow with the camera! But it looked like this!!

RHS Wisley Vineyard, Surrey - 26th April, 2016

All goes to show that you can often miss things! We have visited the Royal Horticultural Garden at Wisley since 1990 and although we no longer live close by we do try to visit when we are in the south East with our children. We had seen the now huge orchard planted but had missed the fact that in 2004, over 700 vines, Phoenix and Orion, were planted!

The first wine was produced in 2006 and then in 2007, just over 750 bottles were produced. I am not sure how much is produced in more recent years. The grapes are all sent to Plumpton College in Sussex for production and bottling - the wine course here is second to none I understand and now very popular!

We purchased a bottle of the new vintage - haven't sampled it yet - it is advertised as a light, refreshing white, to enjoy in the garden! Sounds good to me!

Hope they'll introduce a red variety soon!!

Sassy, our red Morgan, is waiting patiently for her next trip out - hoping it may be later this week as we have a promise of sunshine......keep a look-out for the next one...

Pant Du Vineyard and Orchard, Caernarfon - 16th April, 2016

Whilst we were disappointed to have missed the 2 vineyards on Anglesey on our walk, we knew that we would visit Pant Du on our way home. Well we were virtually driving past the door! Sitting on the glacial south facing slopes in the Snowdon foothills of the Nantlle valley, Craig cum Silyn overlooking the vines, this must be one of the most picturesque vineyard sites ever!

Only a short distance also from the magnificent hills of Yr Eifl (if you've read my Walking for Velindre blog, you will know those hills already!) means that this vineyard is also quite close to the sea.

What a location! We were welcomed by Richard Huws, the owner, and his wife and although we were a bit early for opening time, they gave us a lovely coffee in their splendid cafe, with their new coffee machine! Very nice too.

The vineyard was planted in 2007 and now has 8 grape varieties, the first wine bottled in 2010. The red wine was initially made with the Regent grape but they have discovered that the Rondo grape is more successful here. Currently they use Three Choirs vineyard as their winery. Unfortunately for us, we were only able to have a taste from the VERY LAST bottle of their red wine but it was really good. It again is a fruity wine, quite like a Beaujolais but with a little tannin. We brought home some white wine....still awaiting a tasting session!

As well as the vines, Richard was telling us about the apple trees he grows too. Many now are from the old variety which was almost extinct, from the variety that grew on Bardsey Island. This variety is proving more successful than some of the earlier cider varieties her had tried and it is great that it is a local old variety which is being rejuvenated! So they also make cider and an award winning apple juice.
And in addition, they also have produced since 2013, their own spring water.
As well as having innovated all the new products here, Richard is also a film cameraman and has 2 proudly won BAFTA awards in his display cabinet.

Well done to them at Pant Du - it is a fantastic venture and with many great products! Looking forward to their next red wine!
And another visit maybe - it is so beautiful!