The last ten miles of the drive to Brabourne Vineyard in Kent provided views of apple orchards, hop gardens, strawberries and of course vines.
This journey built certain expectations and on arrival, witnessing the beauty of the vines mingled with the backdrop of the Grade II listed Court Lodge my first thought was that this is a small but perfectly formed vineyard.
The two acres of vines are planted on a gently sloping site at the foot of the North Downs and have therefore all the benefits associated with this chalk seam that runs right through to Surrey. Planted in 2014 the vines are predominantly Pinot Noir with 10 rows of Chardonnay. This allows Brabourne vineyard to really focus on the grapes grown on this small plot and the versatility of the Pinot Noir grape gives them plenty of scope to make still and sparkling wines both white and rosé.
Paul and Hester Fenwick and their three children live on the eight acre site of Court Lodge in the village of East Brabourne. Having previously been located in Sweden and then Switzerland they returned to the UK and looked for the perfect place to settle. It is easy to see how this site captured their heart. The couple were looking for a use for the land whilst Paul was working full time. “He would listen to farming today as part of his daily commute, which led to all sorts of suggestions, I think there might have even been snail farming,” said Hester with a laugh. It was vines however that ended up ticking all the boxes and Paul and Hester sought the help of a consultant.
ON COURSE FOR A VINEYARD
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How to Buy a Smallholding in France- Long-time smallholder Lorraine Turnbull looks at the practicalities of moving to rural France
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