It's been a busy time at Forty Hall Vineyard. Our vounteers are working hard to keep on top of our rapidly growing vines. We have 10 acres to take care of and each of our 13,500 vines needs to be gently pruned and 'tucked in' within wires that are moved up and down to contain the growth of the foliage.The pruning, raising up and fanning out of the vine's branches allows for good air flow and sunlight to reduce moisture build up which could harbour disease and also encourages good growth. Being certified organic means that we don't use herbicides or pesticides to prohibit disease and kill off weeds, so this maintenance is even more crucial to the success of our crop.
Our volunteers are usually here one morning a week and two Sundays a month but a few have been going that extra vine... Thanks to Glen and Lindsay who came along for an extra session this week.
BOOM Awards
Our commitment to producing certified organic wines was rewarded last month as we we were announced as a finalist in the Best of Organic Alcoholic Drink in the Soil Association BOOM Awards! We enjoyed a lovely evening with fellow organic advocates celebrating the best of organic food and drink in the UK.
Huge congratulations to Forty Hall Vineyard's wine maker Will Davenport of Davenport Vineyards who deservedly took the top prize ih this category for their delicious Pinot Noir.
It's always great to hear feedback from our customers and we were thrilled to receive this lovely message from English wine enthusiast Dr John Hawkins, who chose to serve our wines at his north London school’s event bar. They were keen to improve on their sustainabiity for food and drink sourcing for their event o we fitted the bill nicely:
“… the wines themselves were excellent! For many people there it would have been their first time to ever try any English wine, and people were amazed that these were made from grapes grown just 10 miles away. The feedback went from ever so slightly back handed "I wouldn't have known it was English" (genuinely meant as a compliment though!) to the outright unequivocal "delicious!"
