Growing grapes in England is not for the fainthearted. Every few years you will have a difficult harvest where the yields and the flavours are not where you want them to be. You are working with the weather and that can be tricky. But then you have a series of years that can be amazing. Some can be what we call a cold vintage, while others are gloriously hot. But, both can be good. The trouble years are caused by frost, by poor flowering due to rain, and a bad summer. We need those three things to be right. 2024 was a mixed year for the English wine producers. Oxney is the furthest east you can be in east Sussex and we came through it without too many issues, while further west many vineyards sadly had a difficult year with some not harvesting anything. So, we were blessed.

Location is everything when you plant a vineyard but so far that has often focused on soil and aspect. But it is becoming an emerging trend that the further east we are the drier the climate. Even one day less of rain during flowering will save the year.

So Oxney did well. We harvested nearly 43 tonnes. A bit less than 2023 which was probably due to smaller bunch weights (some rain drops on those fragile flowers). Interestingly the sugars were low-ish but the maturity and phenolic ripeness were great! We took a chance and let the fruit hang for as long as our nerves could take it and the last day of picking was October 24th, the latest ever picking at Oxney.

My highlight this year was the Pinot Noir in Knut, it has a deep and interesting flavour. We also found pockets of truly interesting aromatics in the Chardonnay in Isak. The Pinot Meunier same in trumps with its savoury profile.

And, now we’re busy cooking in the winery. This year we are pushing the low intervention regime further with a study on approaches to natural ferments and settling. The Chardonnay is fermenting in barrels, our standard approach, and the Pinots in stainless steel to retain the fruit profiles.

In summary: 2024 was a ripe yet cold vintage perfect for sparkling wines.