GuytheGrape

For many people, the reasons for planting in a particular spot are - it comes with a nice house, - close to good schools - a decent pub just down the road. Other reason - it's in a tourist area and you'll make as much money selling souvenirs in the shop as you do from the vineyard. But, if you are looking to make world beating ultra fine wine then site selection is imperative, if you are only looking for something that is going to give a consistent crop then you have more choice. Despite climate change, our charming climate is still marginal for grape growing . For those deniers I would look at the way peoples harvests have crept forward from as late as November to as early as 1st October in the last 20 years.  If you are going for the highest possible quality I would say you have to have all of the following - Top tips for site selection - South Facing Well Drained Low Altitude Right Soil If you don't have all four t...

Yup - that's one of the most frequent motivations you hear along with "livin the dream". Fine, a great ambition but, are you really sure that's enough -  can you answer these questions - - Do you like being outside year round in all weathers? - Are you happy repeating the a task 2000 times? - Can you stand repeating the same task 2000 times because you got it wrong the first time? - Are you prepared to work all year for nothing if frost hits your crop? - How are your back/shoulders/wrists and joints in general? For me - - By being outside all year round you see things that you would never otherwise see, changing seasons, animals and birds that come to treat you as part of the landscape. - Doing a simple task that requires a little thought each time can lull you into a zen like state and you find your mind wandering in the same way that it can when you do along walk. - A frost or hail storm is part of the risk of plant...

More and more people are thinking about planting vines in the UK and there are plenty of people who will take your money and give you advice on planting the right types of vine and how they should be sprayed but, I'm not sure that it's easy to find out about what it's actually like doing it day to day, how do you start, how much or little work is needed and what sort of results can you expect and most importantly, will you enjoy it? We planted a hectare of Chardonnay Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier in 2007 and are expecting our first harvest this year although we have been thinking about how to do it on and off since the early 1990's.

After a year or so we have finally completed our barn conversion which has spectacular views over the vineyard as well as the levels to Exmoor, Blackdown Hills, and The Quantocks. It was probably built in the eighteenth century for animals on the ground floor and storage for apples on the first floor. We tried to retain as much of the character as possible although it was in a pretty poor state of repair. There are two double bedrooms on the ground floor and a large lving area, kitchen and bathroom up stairs. The reverse arrangement is to take advantage of the views. If you are interested in coming for a stay please get in touch - laura@higherplot.co.uk

So much of this year has been spent trying to keep the vines in check - they are obviously very happy in their new home. It is sometimes difficult to know how well they are doing but having visited a couple of other sites there can be little doubt that we will be producing some healthy fruit next year as long as the weather stays good. We have a few bunches this year and we'll keep some of the riper ones as an experiment to see what sort of problems we may encounter. They are just starting veraison ( changing colour and accumulating sugar) and we may be make a few litres of wine from them- strictly for our own consumption.

Our first bunch of grapes. As we go around and about the area lots of people seem interested in what we are doing. If you have any questions or would like to have a quick look around then why not leave us a message on laura@higherplot.co.uk

In May 2008 we planted 2700 Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier vines which we will make into sparkling wine. Our first real harvest will be in 2010 and the first wines should be ready a year and a half later. This year we hope to put up our trellising and also to plant 500 more vines to fill in a small gap at the side of the field. We are going for more Pinot Meunier and a tiny amount of Bachus to make a little still wine. Why Aller Hill? - most importantly it is south facing so that you get the maximum benefit of the sun late in the summer. It is also Calcerous Clay on a Limestone base which happens to be the same as the best white wine producing parts of burgundy. Lots of people speculate about minerals in soils affecting wine taste and quality - what the French call Terroir. I think that the most important thing is actually how the soil drains as this affects whether the vines produce wood or grapes. What we are trying to do is to keep the soil as alive as possible by keeping ...