Perfect Pairings

From a beautiful and historic South Devon estate, food and drink alchemy is produced, as HARRY WILD discovers

- HARRY WILD

It is often said that ‘what grows together, goes together’, an old adage that helps take the guesswork out of wine and food pairing.

We’ve all experienced holiday epiphanies when a slither of Spanish Manchego comes alive with a chilled Manzanilla sherry, or a robust Argentinian Malbec with a chargrilled steak.

To taste a true expression of Devon, look no further than the idyllic Sharpham Estate. Halfway between moor and sea, on a meander of the River Dart, the Sharpham manor house has been lived in since 1260.

When Maurice Ash purchased the estate in 1960, he combined his farming acumen and love of food to plant grapevines on south-facing slopes of the River Dart and bought Jersey cows for their milk. With humble beginnings, Ash unknowingly established what would grow into a globally acclaimed producer of wine and cheese.

The terroir of the estate is geographically unique, thanks to the River Dart’s ecological corridor. Borne from raindrops falling onto rugged Dartmoor tors, the River Dart snakes its way through rolling hills, punctuating the undulating landscape as it gushes into the English Channel at Dartmouth. As it flows through the South Hams, it breathes life into the countryside, bringing with it sea breezes, ecological diversity, a habitat for wildlife and rich, fertile soil.

With milk made from Sharpham’s own Jersey cows and high-quality goats’ and ewes’ milk from neighbouring farms, Sharpham Cheese now produces more than 60 tonnes of cheese a year.