SAVOUR & SIP
Perception of English wine is changing. There’s a greater audience
for the region’s fizz. Founded by Paul Edwards, family-run vineyard Saffron Grange – a hop over the border into Essex – is becoming immensely popular across Cambridgeshire for its sophisticated sparkling wines. Planting the first vines in 2008, an intricate plan was drawn up for the sloping acres. “You need to know your site before planting it,” says sales manager Nick Edwards. “When you’ve planted, you can’t go back.” The vineyard officially launched 11 years later, after the wines had been finessed. “We’re a family of perfectionists – so we waited and waited.” Saffron’s five grape varieties (chardonnay, pinot noir, pinot meunier, seyval blanc and pinot gris, plus a host of clones to monitor which are most successful) are geared towards producing bubbly – like the French counterpart, but on a smaller scale. “The joyful thing about being a smaller vineyard is that you can focus on quality,” says Nick. “Back in the 00s, the concept of producing quality wine in this country was just beginning,” Nick recalls. “There weren’t a lot of vineyards in the area, which didn’t make sense because Saffron Walden has this unique climate. The history of champagne is very intertwined with the UK. Christopher Merret invented the reinforced glass bottle. It was the English that would sparkle the champagne, that liked the dryer style. The term brut was created for the British.” In 2018, viticulture climatologist Alistair Nesbitt was among those to suggest
planted in England, due to their robustness. Head winemaker Mark Barnes came aboard in 2006, swapping a career with the RAF for the fields. “Being a winemaker sounds like a glamorous job, but most of the time you’re not making wine, you’re looking after the grapes,” explains Nick, tour leader and finance operator at Chilford. “You’re a farmer really.” Producing over 17,000 bottles from 17,000 vines, the vineyard’s main varieties are bacchus (‘East Anglia’s signature grape, a bit like sauvignon blanc’), müller-thurgau and, most recently, pinot noir. The bulk of the work is attending to grapes, pruning, ‘tucking in’ to ensure the fruits aren’t shaded by leaves – and eventually picking for harvest in October. “They are weeds, but useful weeds,” jokes Nick. Under the instruction of Sam, a health centre in Linton was relocated to the site, reconstructed with fragments of an old London Stock Exchange staircase, billiard tables and a King’s Cross St Pancras fresco to create the winery. Now Mark’s domain, while the winemaker is working with old vines, much has changed. “You’ve got to move with the times,” he urges. “You can’t stay rooted in the past. Perception of English wine is changing. There’s a greater audience, so if you focus on older styles, you’re narrowing that audience.” A BIT OF SPARKLE Chilford Hall introduced sparkling wine to its roster in 2016. Meanwhile, another vineyard had been putting down roots
A MATTER OF TIME Linda Howard (above left) is the managing director at Giffords Hall Vineyard – it’s now over 35 years old, so has plenty of mature plants to make delicious English wine
48 SEPTEMBER 2022 CAMBSEDITION.CO.UK
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