The Blog

This year, in America, two broods of cicadas have emerged together for the first time since 1803: Brood 19 which appears every 13 years and Brood 13 which pops up every 17 years.  When they appear in the same place at the same time, such as Illinois, the noise was so loud that locals called […]

Join us at the vineyard to while away a few hours on a Thursday evening this summer. Every Thursday from now until mid/late September, we will be firing up the BBQ and opening the bar under the canopy at the winery from 5:30pm -8:30pm. Good vibes, wine, food, friends basking in the summer sunset!

We hope you are looking forward to a last (and possibly only?) hurrah of BBQ’s, picnics and chatting in scent-filled summer gardens and we’d love to be providing the refreshments! We’re both sorry and delighted to say that, thanks to some very strong demand from the trade, the CLASSIC NV has sold out (though you […]

Join us for a very special Slow Table. On Thursday 5th September, we’re teaming up with The Slow Cyclist at the winery to host a celebration of Syrian culture and cuisine. The wonderful Imad Alarnab of Imad’s Syrian Kitchen will be cooking up a fantastic feast to be accompanied by our award-winning wines. And there’s […]

I admired the orange geums and Zam took photographs of a multi-stemmed hazel for reference but the garden that really galvanised me at my first ever visit to the Chelsea Flower Show was in front of a beautiful greenhouse.  Bushy broad beans, thriving salads, neat leeks… I wandered up the path towards a welcoming sales […]

“How are the vines?” I am asked by people with long faces.  And then “how is your house?”  This last question comes up in all wet weather because part of our house is less than 2 metres from a river and everybody assumes we will be flooded. To both these questions Zam smiles broadly and […]

  Dear friends, Well, even for February this has been a bit of a doozie… cold and dreary with plenty of added rain, enlivened only by the birthdays of those in possession of the best zodiac sign of all… I have been marking the endlessly surprising arrival of the start of my seventh decade by […]

We have two broken toasters in the house, both of which have been dud for years.  Actually I never knew one of them when it worked, it having been brought here from his father’s mending pile to join ours, many years ago. The other toaster, given to me over 30 years ago, has done me […]

I have just left Olive at a train station where we missed her train by a minute which means waiting an hour.   She is heading to Wales for 3 days holiday.   She is wearing walking boots found last minute in the cupboard, (owner unknown) with which she is rather pleased while asking “do you think […]

There is no doubt that every hour of sunshine is ever more gratefully received as the tanks and presses are washed and polished in preparation for harvest. Everything gleams, excitement is building, the atmosphere is fantastic. From time to time some idiot repeats a weather rumour: “apparently there might be a frost on Thursday” or […]