Local vineyard celebrates with a bottle of red
A VINEYARD in Linton which bottled its first wine 35 years ago is celebrating its anniversary by launching its first bottle of red. The first vines were planted at Chilford Hall as a hobby by the late entrepreneur Sam Alper in 1972 and two years later the
A VINEYARD in Linton which bottled its first wine 35 years ago is celebrating its anniversary by launching its first bottle of red.
The first vines were planted at Chilford Hall as a hobby by the late entrepreneur Sam Alper in 1972 and two years later the vineyard produced its first vintage.
Now, Chilford Hall Vineyard is East Anglia's longest established vineyard and boasts a range of wines including the Granta Valley - their first ever bottle of red.
Chilford Hall winemaker, Mark Barnes, said: "Since the October harvest we have been extremely busy creating new wines for the 2008 vintage, and later this year we will be harvesting our first pinot noir vines that we planted back in 2007."
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The favourable climate in the East of England lends itself to growing vines and in recent years Chilford Hall has picked up a host of awards from the East Anglian Wine Growers Association.
The vineyard has grown to 20 acres and produces a wider variety of different vines each year. It offers a selection of new vintages and styles including dry, medium dry, medium, ros�, sparkling ros�, sparkling white and now a Chilford red. Made from Rondo and Regent grape varieties the Granta Valley is priced at �8.95.
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April marks the beginning of the new visitor season and the vineyard is inviting people to come and tour the facilities and help them to celebrate their 35th birthday.
The vineyard tours are held on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Bank Holiday Monday at 11am and 2.30pm. The Vineleaf Wine Shop and Caf� is open seven days a week from 10am to 5.30pm for wine purchases, refreshments, cakes, teas and coffees.
New wine events are being added to the calendar this year including special winemaker tours throughout July and August every Wednesday at 2.30pm.
For further information about Chilford wines, wine dinners, tours or the vineyard visit www.chilfordhall.co.uk or call 01223 895600.
