Happy with the fruits of our labour

Harvest is finished. Over the course of two weeks, in between the showers, we managed to pick 8.6 tonnes of grapes. We would like to say a big thank you to all those volunteers who came along to help.

Harvest 2019 was much later than it was last year, where the perfect conditions meant we were able to complete picking in September. However, this year’s harvest in late October was not unusual for this country.

As well as waiting for the grapes to ripen, we needed to wait for a dry spell. The heavy rainfall this Autumn was one of the main delays. When there is rain, the grapes plump up reducing sugar levels. But we also could not leave the harvest for too long because the acidity levels in the grapes increases when the temperatures dip at night. We just had to hold our nerve and wait it out.

The vines are now empty of fruit and the grapes are at the winery, where they have been pressed and will left until sometime between March and May when blending and tasting starts.

In the vineyard, the vine leaves are continuing to fall and we will leave the vines alone until the winter pruning starts early next year. What we will start to do is to focus on getting nutrients into the soil to feed the roots. This should ensure our vines get the best support over the winter period. We are literally laying the groundwork for next year’s harvest.

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A winter warmer for the festive season

As the nights draw in, there is nothing like a warming tipple in front of the fire and our limited edition Cotswold Brandy is the perfect drink to have in your hand.

This is the third release of the brandy, which is made exclusively from grapes grown at Poulton Hill Vineyard. And, as with all our wines, you know that the grapes have been carefully nurtured, tended and picked by hand when they are at the premium ripeness.

Cotswold Brandy comes in three sizes. The 10cl bottle would make a wonderful stocking filler, while the 35cl and 50cl bottles would be perfect as a gift or to serve as a digestive after a festive feast.

The brandy has been triple distilled and matured in oak casks. It has a wonderful nose of deep almond and vanilla, hints of wood and notes of spice. The palate is beautifully soft and smooth with a fruity finish.

If you would like to buy our Cotswold Brandy, we offer a click and collect service through our website.

 

Bulari wins Silver in international wine awards

In the run up to the next harvest, we are thrilled to announce we have scooped another international wine award, our fifth medal within four days. Our Bulari White 2016 has won a Silver Medal in the Glass of Bubbly Awards 2019.

Bulari was up against wines from all over the world and was the only English wine to be given an award in the Zingy & Zesty category, which is a major achievement.

This is the second Silver Medal for our Bulari White 2016.

If you would like to try any of our award-winning wines, you can order from our website and we offer a click and collect service from our Cellar Door.

If you would like to be involved with our next vintages, why not help us at harvest time? For more details click here and to register for the harvest alert letter Click here

New wines add to the awards haul at Poulton Hill Vineyard

We are thrilled to announce that we have won four awards in the WineGB West Awards 2019 – three Silver Medals and one Bronze.

This is a fantastic accomplishment for our new wines.

Our Arlington White 2018, our very first medium white wine, has been awarded a Silver Medal and was top in its category alongside a wine from Camel Valley. No Gold Medals or trophies were awarded in this class, making the Silver a very special achievement.

Our Arlington Red NV, another new wine for 2019, was also awarded a Silver Medal and our Special Reserve White 2018 was awarded a Bronze Medal.

Following in the tradition of our previous award-winning sparkling wines, our Bulari Sparkling White 2016 has also won an award, receiving a Silver Medal.

If you would like to buy any of our award-winning wines, we offer a click and collect service if you order from our website.

If you would like to be involved with our next vintages, why not help us at harvest time? For more details click here and to register for the harvest alert letter Click here

Experience our favourite time on the vineyard

Have you ever wanted to be part of a grape harvest but are unable to travel abroad at the right time? Well, there is a vineyard right on your doorstep and we would be delighted if you joined us for harvest in September/October.

Each harvest day starts with the traditional tasting of the previous year’s wine before we head out to begin picking the grapes. You work in pairs either side of a row of vines, offering the opportunity for a friendly chat and a chance to meet new people. We stop for a hearty harvest lunch with a glass of wine to reinvigorate tired hands, and then head back out for the afternoon.

Although the picking can be hard work, it is also lots of fun and a time of celebration. It gives our pickers a real insight into the life of the vineyard and the work that goes into making our wonderful wines.

Because we are dependent on the grapes and the weather, notice can be from a few hours to a few days, so be prepared for The Harvest Alert email. You won’t want to miss this amazing opportunity!

Click here to be added to the harvest list.

Take a look at our new wines

We have just released our new wines from the 2018 harvest and there is something for all tastes.

Following on from the success of our first red wine last year, we have released Arlington Red. The name is taken from Arlington Row in Bibury, the iconic street of cottages that is one of the major lures for visitors to the Cotswolds and is located only a few miles from Poulton Hill Estate.

The wine is deep ruby in appearance and has a beautiful nose of cherry, blackberry and hints of strawberry. The palate is bursting with English red berries and has dark cherry and damson at the forefront with hints of raspberry. The subtle oak and soft tannin make for a wonderfully well-balanced finish.

This year also sees the release of our first ever medium-dry white wine, Arlington White 2018. It has Elderflower and gooseberry coming through the nose, leading to a crisp, fresh flavour with hints of passion fruit, lime and honey on the palate. It is delightful to drink alone or with chicken, fish or Thai cuisine.

The 2018 vintages of our ever-popular Bacchus and our wonderfully fresh and crisp Rosé are both ready and would be a wonderful choice in this lovely summer weather.

Fans of our sparkling wines will be delighted to hear that we have also released the 2016 vintage of Bulari Brut. It is a beautiful pale gold in appearance, and this Bulari has a vibrant nose of freshly cut green apple and pear with citrusy notes of orange peel, lemon and hints of lime zest. The palate is filled with mouth-watering fruits of juicy apple at the forefront, hints of grapefruit and lemon (sherbet) together with a fine mousse creates a wonderfully well-rounded mouthfeel with a crisp, clean finish.

Alongside our wines, our award-winning Sloe de Vie has been released in a limited edition 10cl bottle. This smaller bottle is an ideal gift and can get you ahead of the game when it comes to finding stocking fillers for Christmas.

If you would like to learn more about our new wines, click here. You can buy the wines online and we offer a click and collect service at our Cellar Door.

Building strong roots for successful English wines

The vineyard is looking beautiful. The vines are growing, and buds, flowers and fruits are appearing. However, we don’t have much time to appreciate the beauty. This is a very busy time for us in the vineyard.

We have 15 rows of Pinot Noir vines, which we planted last year. We have not had a first harvest from them yet, but we need to work hard to make sure that we get the vines in the best condition we can.

In the winter pruning sessions, we cut the Pinot Noir vines down to two or three buds. Now we are taking each vine down to one shoot. We need to make sure that the best shoot is selected to ensure that the vine will focus on growing that single cane to make it as strong as possible. The pruning looks brutal, but it really is the best way to secure the vine’s growth. This pruning means that the plant will focus on establishing strong roots and then push up for stronger growth.

The work is back-breaking. The vines in each row are planted 0.9 metres apart. We work down the row, taking off the tree guard and then pruning. Once the pruning is finished, we will leave these vines for a while.

This pruning will ensure each vine will produce wonderful Pinot Noir grapes for our sparkling wines, for years to come.

In the rest of the vineyard we also have a lot of work to do. We are bud-rubbing the canes, which is meticulous but very important work and is all done by hand. Any growth that is hand-space down from the crown of each vine (the bulbous area at the top of each vine) needs to be rubbed off.

Then we start with the first steps in cane selection. Any shoots that are growing out or down from the crown can be removed, as they are growing in the wrong direction and can end up getting caught in the tractor. We do not do final cane selection yet, as we need to have spare canes in case of disease or damage. It really is a waiting game and you need to be patient.

We are always looking ahead. Each vine will be looked at not only in terms of what we need from the plant this year, but also for future years. We look at the height of the crown and if it is too high, we start selecting canes that will allow us to lower the height next year. The canopy needs to be maintained at 1.2 metres high.

Once the plants have grown a little higher, we will bring down the tucking-in wires. We train each plant to grow up and not out.

The final thing that is happening in the vineyard is the spraying of the plants. We need to ensure that they stay free of mildew (both the downy and the powdery kind) as this can ruin entire crops. We also need to get rid of any caterpillars and moths that might be on the vines.

We also feed the vines. We give them seaweed, which has all the wonderful goodness, vitamins and iron that the vines need.

So, the next few weeks are going to be tough physically, but the work we put in now will help our 2019 vintages to be as special as our award-winning wines of previous years.

Poulton Hill white wines win a bronze and a silver medal

We are absolutely delighted that two of our white wines have been awarded medals in the Independent English Wines Awards 2019.

Our Poulton Hill Special Reserve White 2017 won a Silver Medal and our Poulton Hill Phoenix 2017 won a Bronze Medal.

Our awards wall at the Cellar Door is getting very full. If you would like to buy any of our award-winning wines, why not use the click and collect service on the website and see for yourself?

Poulton Hill is in the running for a Food and Farming Award

We are thrilled that Poulton Hill Vineyard is a finalist in the 2019 Western Daily Press Food and Farming Awards.

The vineyard has been shortlisted in the Food and Drink Business of Year category.

The winners will be announced at a special awards evening on Monday, May 13th at The Royal Bath and West Showground.

Poulton Hill Vineyard has been shortlisted for a SoGlos Award

We are thrilled to have been shortlisted as Food/Drink Producer of the Year in the SoGlos Lifestyle Awards 2019.

This is the second year that the luxury online magazine for Gloucestershire has held these awards and there are 22 categories covering everything from Pub of the Year, to Wedding Venue of the Year, Independent Shop of the Year to Hero of the Year.

Please spare five minutes to vote for us at www.soglos.com/awards.

You have until Tuesday, April 30.