Graham Norwood Journalism

Vineyards Maturing Nicely At Last

Sunday Telegraph

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These days David Ealand would be called a 'green-shifter' for quitting London and a legal career to live instead on an old pig farm near Henley. But 'revolutionary' might be better. That is because Ealand made the move back in 1981, since when he has been at the centre of a movement transforming humdrum fields into rich fruit-bearing fields, giving new life to a rural tradition - wine-making.

"I wanted to turn the farm into a vineyard for fun. We planted the first vines in 1982 and had the first harvest in 1984. It's incredibly satisfying to dig the soil, plant a vine, see it bear fruit and then turn it into wine. I was an amateur when I started and taught myself along the way, but it's turned out well" he says.

In reality, Ealand has done rather better than 'well'.

He now has 2.5 acres of vines at Old Luxters Farm in a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in the Hambleden valley. His wines - "rich, luscious and with wonderful length" to quote Harry Cohen in this paper - have won 70 awards. His firm, Chiltern Valley Winery, is the only one of its type to have been awarded a warrant for providing the Royal household with alcohol for seven years on the trot.

The growth of Old Luxters' business has coincided with soaring public interest in all regional produce that avoids incurring 'food miles' from across the world. So there is a large market for the likes of the zesty, clean Pebblebed white from Topsham in Devon, or the lemony Nyetimber Premiere Cru sparkling wine from Kent.

As part of this 'slow food' process, so there has been a resurgence in interest in owning a vineyard, too.

Yet contrary to popular belief, the number of vineyards in the UK has actually fallen from 445 in 1990 to 362 today. But the output of the remaining ones has soared. In 1990 there were 1.8m bottles of white and 127,700 bottles of red produced; in 2006 it was 2.69m and 677,700.

Almost all the UK's vineyards are in southern England - Cornwall, Devon, Hampshire, Kent and East Anglia dominate - although Wales and Yorkshire have a handful and global warming looks set to increase the nation's capacity to grow.

But that explosion in production has not altered what David Ealand calls "the essential, simple common sense" that is all that is needed to produce wine.

In the past two decades he has acted as a consultant to fledgling vineyards across the UK, but he insists the skill is simple and easily learned.

He says: "English soil is perfect as the grape is a temperate fruit so doesn't need constant heat. I make sure the daily tasks of providing light and cutting back leaves are always done. There's a lot of crap spoken about how you need rain in July and a favourite uncle to rub the grapes, but wine-making isn't a mystery. Anyone can do it."

Well, in this case, anyone with £4m.

That's the asking price for Old Luxters Farm (from Knight Frank, 01491 844900, www.knightfrank.co.uk) which includes a five bedroom brick and flint farmhouse with swimming pool and separate cottage, plus the winery itself and a shop, café and a 17th century barn used for conferences and parties.

But while Old Luxters shows that running a vineyard can be big business, for some others it can simply be a hobby. Just ask Neil and Lisa Gilli.

When they bought Thelnetham House near Diss in Norfolk in 1998 they inherited 1,400 vines on the property's grounds. Now the couple, who regard the vineyard as "good fun but nothing serious", produce 4,000 bottles a year. In 2006 their medium dry white won Silver in the East Anglian wine of the year competition.

"We had no experience and thought we'd do it for a year. A decade later we still prune the vines and give them light, and the grapes are pressed and bottled for us. It's very pleasurable, like gardening on a big scale. But it's also very straightforward" explains Neil, who is chief executive of the camping and country wear chain Millets.

The couple, with eight-year-old daughter Eleanor and son George, six, are now selling up (£1.35m through Savills, 0128 473 1100, www.savills.co.uk) but say they will miss the outdoor exercise the vineyard provides.

"Has it made us any money? No. It perhaps breaks even on a good year and costs us a little in other years. But it's nice to have bottles of your own wine in the local shops and on your table" he says.

So is it really that easy? Can you turn from city slicker to viticulturalist just by buying a house with an acre or two of vines at the back? Of course not - but there is a support structure which future buyers of these or other vineyards can tap into.

Firstly the United Kingdom Vineyards Association has six regional bodies covering most wine-growing areas of England and Wales.

Many are run by one-time amateurs who are now amongst the most expert wine growers in the UK. They offer practical help ranging from family harvesting sessions and networking events for the still-undecided, to telephone advice and hands-on help for those who have bought a house and vineyard and go into commercial production.

Secondly there are formal training courses for those who want to be serious players in this burgeoning industry. "Interest has blossomed in recent years. We now have to turn people away" says Chris Foss, head of the wine department at Plumpton College near Brighton.

His institution has cornered the market in training would-be viticulturalists in the UK, from day release courses to full-time BSc degree level, and over 150 pass through each year. "We used to attract older, enthusiastic individualists. Now it's serious business people. We're also seeing a lot of farmers who're turning over large acreages to vines" says Chris.

Then there is a glut of private consultants helping producers who want their help at any stage from picking to labelling. Typically an inexperienced vineyard owner may grow grapes for the first few years and pass them to a firm to press, turn into wine, and bottle. In later years, the vineyard may buy and build its own processing plant.

But this ready supply of help does not mean you should buy a vineyard without giving serious thought to what it entails.

"It's not for the retired or those seeking an easy life" warns Bob Lindo, UKVA chairman and the man who with his family has turned the Camel Valley vineyard near Bodmin into one of the UK's most prestigious wine producers.

"If you have more than an acre of vines, it can be a full-time job. If you have five acres you need to employ people. It's very competitive these days so if you do it at all, do it properly. Some of those who came in a few years ago didn't try too hard and didn't make anything, but if you're successful it can make good returns" Bob says.

Even so, especially in the early years, every owner needs an exit strategy.

"One bad year for weather and crops can wipe you out, particularly early on. So you need to know whether a new generation of your family would take over, or if you'd sell the buildings and land as a going concern, or 'grab up' the vines - literally pull them out of the ground, leaving the fields empty" he says.

In strict property investment terms, owning a vineyard - or at least keeping it as one - is perhaps not the smartest thing to do, especially when you sell up.

"Many potential purchasers are likely to want the land for something else. To them it's just a house with a field. So if you maintain land as a vineyard you are massively reducing your target market" warns Nicola Oddy of buying agency Stacks.

"If you love the idea of buying a property with a vineyard, bear in mind they're a lot of work and not just in the mellow autumn days when you're harvesting. Cold February days are when you prune each vine by hand, and tie them in. It's finger numbing work" she says.

But for real lovers of wine production, like David Ealand, hard work is part of the fun.

"Before this I was a lawyer in London. I've done my high-pressure work, done the commuting, done the travelling around the world opening offices for the firm. That was fun but it was nothing - just nothing - compared to the fun of wine" he says.

"A vineyard allows you to mix creativity and lifestyle. Very few people get that chance. It's to be cherished."

Surely we can all drink to that?

Contact details: UKVA and regional associations on www.englishwineproducers.com; Plumpton College, 01273 890454, www.plumpton.ac.uk; Wine Guild of the United Kingdom, 0207 730 9131, www.wineguilduk.org.

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