' Burnt out ends of smokey days ...' TS Eliot - Preludes
It is Autumn and there is the smell of woodsmoke in the air. It is also grape harvest time.
The largest vineyard in England is Denbies on the outskirts of Dorking. ( http://www.denbies.co.uk ) No-one really believed that we could grow wine in England that is equal to French Champagne but Denbies proved it could be done. Today there are vineyards planted all the way down the North Downs, a ridge of chalk hillside that runs from Dorking to Guildford. It is now accepted that we can grow the right kind of grapes in this area to produce good sparkling wine in the Surrey Hills.
I have been encouraged to see these vineyards spring up one by one. The first of many was Albury who started a small award winning biodynamic organic vineyard. ( http://www.alburyvineyard.com ) That means planting when the moon is full and harvesting at the right time of the lunar calendar. No chemicals. Natural pesticides, fungicides and fertilisers.
Another was Greyfriars vineyard which is located on 'the Hogs Back' on the outskirts of Guildford. ( https://www.greyfriarsvineyard.co.uk ) This year they were awarded a Gold Medal by the highest authority in wine making, the International Wine Board, for their 'Oaked Blanc de Blancs.'
I am curious to see how this year's crop will fair since we had a late frost in May which may have damaged some of the vines. Late frosts are a potential nightmare for any vineyard owner. To try and reduce the damage to the tender new shoots on the vine candles are lit beneath the plants to warm the air and keep them free of frost in the coldest early hours of the morning.
Last year I helped Greyfriars bring in the harvest and process the grapes for vintage 2016. Below are a few of my photos and memories of what I learnt about Champagne making.
Pinot Noir grapes are the key grape variety used. First prepare the Oak barrels by filling with water and allowing the wood to swell overnight. This produces a cloud of fruit flies that swarm out of the empty barrel as it fills with water. (Hester, a lass from New Zealand who I worked with last year advised that in the Southern hemisphere it is important to first check the barrel for poisonous spiders before placing a hand inside!)
Gather in the grapes which will take days or weeks depending on how large the vineyard is and how large the team of pickers is.
Strip the grapes from their stalks and press the grapes in a huge cold compressor. Below, the discarded stems are gathered and taken back out to the vineyard to fertilise the vines.
Greyfriars has spent a huge amount of money on a new state of the art winery with its own natural chalk cellar dug into the side of the chalk downs. This allows the sparkling wine to be mixed and fermented on site and stored in in exactly the same way that Champagne is made in France using oak barrels.
The wine is stored in the wine cave for a few years once the initial fermentation and mixing has been done in the vast laboratory of different sized huge metal vats. (Do not bring yeast products into the distillery. No bread or jars of Marmite or you will ruin the fermentation process!)
Ventilate the wine cave well and monitor gas levels. Never enter a previously closed wine cave before letting in lots of fresh air and letting out all the gases which can kill you.
Enjoy the wine with friends. Above, lunch in the shed.
Cricketer Jimmy Anderson signing cricket bats.
The most recent addition to the vineyard boom is at Chilworth Manor. ( http://www.chilworthmanorvineyard.com ) I visited in May and had a tour of the vineyard and wine tasting in the walled garden with Graham Ridley the owner and wine expert, Stephen Skelton.
A nice addition to this vineyard is the Hotel Alpaca in the field opposite the vineyard.
In addition to all the winemaking in the area other beverages have started being produced. The most successful one I am aware of is Silent Pool Gin distillery. ( http://silentpooldistillers.com ) It all started with an old run down barn which was nothing exceptional but it did have one huge point in its favour, a large area of solid cement floor. This old barn sat on a piece of the Duke of Northumberland's Albury Estate, overlooking the famous Silent Pool. A young student saw the potential in the site and decided to rent it and build a distillery inside. The huge concrete floor was needed to carry the heavy weight of all the distillery equipment.
The Duke is now paid his land rent in bottles of Gin and Silent Pool Gin has gone on to become a bestseller !