I have a confession. It’s been two years since I wrote my last blog post here. I’m fixing that today.

Spring’s a busy time for us so I’ll just try to update you on everything that’s been going on in the last couple of months.

Bottling

This is always a frantic time for us at the winery. The logistics have to all come together with bottles, screw caps, crown caps, boxes, etc. We also had to contend this year with making sure we had PPE and social distancing in place for the bottling team. They did a brilliant job and we bottled all our wines - three sparkling blends, a still Chardonnay, Pinot Gris and our signature Bacchus as well as a small batch Bacchus Fumé. We expect to release them for sale in mid June.

Vines Are Still Growing

Even in lockdown the vines continue to grow. Bud burst was in early April and since then the vines have shot up due to the extended period of amazing hot weather. We did some work in the vineyard repairing the ruts from harvest which was very wet. Tractor driving is much safer now it’s not sliding around in the mud! Of course the grass is also relentless and we have been out mowing to keep that tamed too.

We avoided the late Spring frosts this year. Our vineyard has a warmer microclimate which meant that the frosts in early May this year didn’t reach our vines. We’re now past the frost risk for this year and are looking forward to the summer ahead.

One thing we love about this time of year is the amazing colours and hues that are constantly changing from day to day in the vineyard as it transforms itself from a sea of woody trunks into a vast sea of green shoots. Each varietal is different with Meunier showing slightly furry silvery leaves and the Pinot Noir to the left with pink growing tips. There is a real sense of excitement and renewal as the vineyard comes back to life.

Disgorging our sparkling wine

We have now released some of our first sparkling wine - our Blanc de Noirs.

This started back in January when we disgorged the wine which had been sitting in bottle on ‘lees’ for the last two years. This process removes the yeast sediment leaving the wine crystal clear and sparkling and it’s the time when we replace the crown cap (beer bottle cap) with the cork and wire closure that you have the joy of opening.

We’re over the moon with the quality of the wine which is made from 100% Pinot Noir grapes and shows real structure, is lively and vibrant with aromas of citrus and brioche and flavours of blackberry and blackcurrant.

Our new branding

Something we started back in late 2019 was to find a design agency to work with to harmonise the labelling and branding across our still and sparkling wines. We worked with a london agency called Nude Brand Design who have been brilliant and we are incredibly excited about the labels which are at the printers now. It won’t be long before we will be able to share with you the new designs which we think you will love. Watch this space for updates.

Business Continuity

We know many many businesses have struggled through the last few months. We have also seen our on-trade (restaurants, wine bars, pubs) literally come to a stop. We decided to change our opening hours and open up every day 7 days a week in order to make sure our local community can get access to our wines and that has been surprisingly successful. Unfortunately our tours and tastings have also had to be put on hold but we held our first online video session recently with Chris and David answering questions and tasting our lovely Blanc de Noirs. We will be following this up with a completely online virtual tour and tasting event for English Wine Week. Look out for more details coming soon on our social media and newsletter.

Events

Many of you have been disappointed, as we have, by the cancellation of our dinners so far this year. We are hopeful that we can run at least one dinner night later in the year and we have been making a new outdoor area for visitors to help with social distancing. We are still working out the logistics to ensure our guests can enjoy an evening here safely.

We have also been unable to hold our festival of wine this year. Last year, over 200 people visited us and were able to try wines from 5 local vineyards, relax in the centre of the vineyard with a pizza, wine and live music and ice cream. We hope to bring the event back in 2021!

A bottle of Bacchus in the warm spring sunshine

Thank You

We have been incredibly grateful to the many of you who have come to the vineyard and supported us and to all those who have ordered online. We have been all over Sussex and beyond delivering wine to you and hope you have all had great pleasure from the wines. We look forward to seeing you again as the Summer arrives.

Chris and David

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