English Wine: A Quick Guide

The very first vines were planted at Three Choirs Vineyard in 1974. There was just half an acre of vines, and it was more as an experiment than any serious intention to become English winemakers. Thomas Shaw, managing director of Three Choirs Vineyard, said: “At the start, with only half an acre, Three Choirs produced hardly any bottles of wine. It was just a bit of fun!” We weren’t the earliest English vineyard, but we were certainly in the first five. And that first experiment with vines at Three Choirs was a success, so we started planting more. Once we got to five acres of vines, we had to think more seriously about how to sell the wine. Thomas continued: “In those early days, there was lot of interest in English vineyards from organisations like the WI and University of Third Age. Coachloads of older people were going to vineyards wanting to drink a bit of wine. That market has changed and we don’t have those visitors any more.” Those early grapes were Germanic in origin, which is what best suited the climate at the time. Historically, the English climate has always been closer to that of Germany than France – colder, wetter and with longer winters. By the early 1990s, there were 75 acres of vines here and the winemaking had got a lot more serious! At this point, the big outlet for selling our wine was the supermarkets. We’ve sold to nearly all the supermarkets at different times, including Sainsbury’s, Asda, Tesco, Morrisons and Waitrose. There are also small independent wine merchants who specialise in English wine. Now most high street wine merchants will have an English wine section. These sections are always quite small, because English vineyards are still not huge producers, despite climate change. Three Choirs Vineyard was the third biggest English vineyard in the 90s. Now it is in the top 20. Some of the other vineyards have done a lot of planting in the last 20 or 30 years. Thomas added: “We’ve stayed the same size since the 90s. It’s all the land we own, and I feel it’s the right quantity to be producing – matching our sales to production. “We have seen some of the bigger vineyards taking vines out in recent years because they’re overproducing.” Where is the best place in England to grow vines and produce wine? There’s no straightforward answer! Thomas said: “It depends what you want to produce as to where is the best place to grow vines. You have to consider what your conditions are best for. Everywhere is different. You have to look at your land, take advice and grow the best fruit you can. “Producers of sparkling English wine want to sell for £35 or £40 a bottle, but it’s hard to get that sort of money for a bottle of wine.” English wine has always been predominantly grown in the south of the country because the north has always been too cold and too wet. There is also a South West/ South East split, because the climates between the two regions do differ.

Thinking of coming along to Three Choirs Vineyard for a wine tasting day and not sure what to expect? There is no need to feel nervous. What you can expect is a fun and relaxing day. Thomas Shaw, managing director of Three Choirs Vineyard, said: “A lot of people are intimidated by the thought of going to a vineyard wine tasting. Pompous talk of wine scares people. They’re worried that they need to know a lot about wine and scared of making a fool themselves or asking a silly question. “But we’re here to make it friendly, relaxed and enjoyable. If you know nothing, it doesn’t matter, nobody is going to make you feel uncomfortable.” In the UK, we don’t have a culture of visiting vineyards. But in parts of Europe, Australia and California, visiting a vineyard and tasting the wines is as normal as going to the pub! Here at Three Choirs Vineyard, we offer both guided and self-guided wine tasting sessions. Self-guided sessions include either lunch and a vineyard walk or just a vineyard walk. The guided tour includes a visit to the winery and lunch. For a self-guided session, you do everything at your own pace, with a pamphlet for information. A guided tour is led by a member of staff who will show visitors the winery operation and talk them through the wines. Thomas continued: “There are different experiences depending on what you think you would like. Have a look on the website to see what’s currently on offer and what you feel suits you best.” You can explore the different options on our wine tasting packages page . For a self-guided tour, you can do it as a pair or in a group of up to six friends. For a guided tour, you will join a slightly larger group, but we always keep numbers low, so you have plenty of opportunity to chat to the staff member leading the session. On a wine tasting day, you will taste five wines of 50ml each, which adds up to about a large glass of wine in total. The wines will be selected by the guide or member of staff on duty, but the selection will usually include a red, a rose, a sparkling wine and two whites. Thomas said: “If you don’t like one of the wines, don’t drink it! You might not like all five and that’s OK. When we give you five wines to taste, we want them to be different, so it is possible there will be one you don’t like as much as the others.” You may have seen wine tasting on TV, where someone sniffs the wine, swills it around their mouth and then spits it out. We don’t encourage that here! It can be off-putting and intimidating for others wine tasting with you. We want everyone to enjoy their wine when they come to a wine tasting session, which means drinking it as normal. If you are visiting for wine tasting, do allow time for a walk in the vineyard. We have 75 acres of vines and there is lots of wildlife to see, whatever time of year you visit. We encourage visitors to stick to the trails because we have active rabbits on the vineyard who dig holes in the ground which can be an accident risk! If you are planning to do wine tasting, have lunch, visit the winery and have a walk, we would recommend allowing three to four hours for your visit. You can book a table for lunch or supper in our restaurant here . For a special occasion, a nice, relaxing way to visit is to do wine tasting in the late afternoon, have supper in the restaurant, stay overnight and have breakfast the next morning. You can check availability and book accommodation here . And if you’re visiting for someone else’s celebration, but you don’t like wine at all, you can just have a G&T or something else while your partner, friend or family member is enjoying the wine. Thomas concluded: “There’s something for everyone here. There’s no pressure to like wine or to be interested in it. It’s about relaxing and enjoying yourself in our peaceful vineyard.”

A varietal is a wine made completely or predominantly from a single grape variety. The word varietal is used uniquely for wine. There are a huge number of grape varieties grown all over the world, with some only grown in certain areas – from the northern hemisphere in Canada through to the sunshine of California, the temperate climate of Germany or the traditional wine making regions of France and Italy, down to the southern hemisphere and Australia and New Zealand. When the wine industry in the UK began, vineyards like Three Choirs Vineyard started out with German grape varieties, because we share a similar climate. These varieties include Schonburger, Reichensteiner and Siegerrebe, which have all grown successfully in England. Thomas Shaw, managing director of Three Choirs Vineyard, said: “The problem with German grape varieties is that German wine had a bad reputation. Things like Liebfraumilch and Black Tower were pretty poor quality wines. The Germans did produce some good wine, but they never exported it!” Over the years, the English wine industry has moved away from German varieties to trying to grow more traditional grape varieties like Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. These are seen as more desirable than a lot of the German varieties, but will grow in slightly cooler climates like ours. Thomas continued: “That’s where the English wine industry is now. A lot of what is produced in England is sparkling and is made from traditional French grape varieties and in the traditional French style.” Here at Three Choirs Vineyard, we currently grow Seyval Blanc – a hybrid which has been designed to grow in cooler climates and to be relatively disease resistant. We’ve also got Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and some of the old German varieties like Schonburger and Reichensteiner. The vineyard has been on a rolling replacement programme over the last 10 years. We have 75 acres of vines and over the last decade we have replaced 50 acres of vines – mainly replacing German varieties with traditional grapes. In recent years, there has been a big push, particularly from the New World (countries like USA and Australia) to produce wines from one grape variety like Chardonnay or Pinot Noir. But the classic way of making wine in Europe (the Old World) was to have blends of two or three grape varieties to create your wine. At Three Choirs, we make both single variety wines and blended wines. And visitors to the vineyard can try both. Contrary to the view of many, Thomas believes the best wines in the world today are blended wines. He concluded: “All the grape varieties have different characteristics, which will vary from year to year depending on growing conditions of that year. If you’re making a single variety Chardonnay and it’s not a very good year, you’re not going to make a good wine. “That’s the beauty of the blend – if it’s not a good year for one, it will probably be a good year for another, so you can tweak your recipe.”

Spring in the vineyard here at Three Choirs Vineyard is an exciting time of year, as we look forward to the bud burst on the vines. It is a relatively quiet season on the vineyard. All the work of the winter has been completed. The pruning must be finished before the vines start to show signs of life, and everything around the vines is tidy, to help reduce disease later in the year. As we move into spring, we hope the pollinators, like bees and insects, have wintered well and will be ready to start their work pollinating around the vineyard. Bud burst can happen any time from mid-April to mid-May and is the time when the vines, which have been dormant through the winter, first begin to produce new shoots. These shoots will become leaves or flowers. During the bud burst phase, the vines are quite susceptible to frost damage. Thomas Shaw, managing director of Three Choirs Vineyard, said: “It’s lovely to see the trees coming into bud in early spring, but we don’t want the vines to be doing that in March. “We don’t like spring to be too early, because we worry about the vines coming into bud and then being damaged by a late frost. “We prefer cold, sunny, dry winters to keep the vines dormant until the risk of frost has passed.” The bud burst is gradual, because all varieties of grape are different. Some varieties come into bud earlier than others, while some are more resistant if there is a late frost. As the buds burst and the leaves start to appear, that’s when we will get a hint of what we might expect in the harvest. The number of buds will indicate the number of potential fruit at harvest. With the excitement of the summer yet to start, spring at Three Choirs is a time to reflect on the beauty of the vineyard. Thomas concluded: “For me, spring is the time I like the most. It is the prettiest time of year. The vines are neat and tidy and there is a little ribbon of bright green new growth across the vineyard from the end of April and into May. “You see it all, full of new hope. Let’s hope it looks like it’s going to be another good year, with everything growing beautifully!” As the vineyard awakens for another promising season, spring is the perfect moment to experience its beauty firsthand. Why not join us for a relaxing break in one of our Vineyard Lodges and see the bud burst for yourself, or settle into our brasserie for a delicious Sunday roast while enjoying the beautiful views across the vineyard under the gentle warmth of the spring sunshine. We’d love to welcome you - come and enjoy the season with us.

People often assume a vineyard is dormant in winter, but here at Three Choirs Vineyard it’s actually the beginning of the year and a very important time.