Surrey Tipple
Jul 20, 2017 · 5 min read

An interview with High Clandon Estate Vineyard

High Clandon Estate vineyard is situated in in the most tranquil and beautiful of setting in the Surrey hills. As soon as you arrive you are greeted with panoramic views to London, stunning rolling gardens and a butterfly filled wildflower meadow.

But that’s not all, it also happens to boast a further hidden gem within its sprawling grounds: the boutique High Clandon Estate Vineyard. What started as a hobby for Bruce and Sibylla remains a hands-on project today – but despite its intimate scale, they are now picking up international awards and I was keen to find out more……

Firstly many congratulations! I can’t help but read all over social media how the Aurora Cuvée has won three GOLD Medals in some extremely prestigious competitions. You must be absolutely thrilled. What has attributed to this wine being so incredible and how would you describe it?

Well! Winning those prestigious Golds comes absolute care and attention. From a combination of producing perfection in our grapes on our super terroir in the chalky, beautiful Surrey Hills (with the same geology as that of the Champagne region) and then maturing them to make sparkling wine, which almost uniquely in Britain, is matured for over five years on the lees.

You have just won the International Wine Challenge Cellar Door of the Year Trophy for your visitor experience, which is of no surprise as you have a stunning vineyard and spectacular location, But why did you choose this particular spot in England and what you drew you here?

The spot chose itself. It is beautiful. It is sited on the rolling downs of the Surrey Hills which are almost solid chalk and flint and as you know, some of the best wines in the world grow on this chalky terroir – Burgundy, Champagne, Barolo (Piedmont), Brunello (Tuscany) etc…this is why we planted our vineyard here. Then we had the added benefit of our terroir – that mystical combination of earth, aspect, micro-climate and the hills. Thus being on a steepish, south-east facing slope which not only maximizes sunlight’s impact on the earth (maximises ergs!), it also helps the spring frosts to roll down the hill, under the vines and out onto the lower meadow thereby sparing us the loss of buds and bunches which so many vineyards suffered this spring. So the aspect/ terroir makes great wine; and the site is wonderful – views over the rolling Surrey Hills of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and a panorama to the London skyline 25 miles away. Our new Glass Barn has helped to capture this terroir, sky and views to the pleasure of all.

What are the key challenges making wine in Surrey ?

I guess the challenges come from being in England and the marginal nature of our climate for producing lovey ripe berries…but with the right management, we can do it. The ‘management’ of our vines incorporates ‘hand-manicuring’ as we refer to it. Intelligent pruning, removing leaves from all around the bunches in summer to allow the sunlight to’ kiss the grapes’; to permit wind to waft away nasty moulds and keep the berries dry; to reduce the number of bunches in late summer by 1/3rd and thus concentrating fruitful energy into fewer bunches and then finally to hand selection of the bunches at harvest so that only the ripest and best berries go into our Cuvée.

Do you have any traditions or activities centered around harvest that are unique to your vineyard?

Yes we do. We invite our friends to a harvest day , which involves an early start at 7.30am, working alongside our professional team of pickers and ends at lunch time with a fabulous harvest lunch and a lot of delectable wine. It is the best day of the year. Nothing like bringing in a fruitful crop on a lovely autumn day.

What is the next challenge for you?

That’s a lovely, but difficult question. We would like to continue to blow our customers and fans away with our sparkling wine, to continue with our success at producing exquisite aged-vintage-only English sparkling wine and also continue to launch it with the fun and excitement of having a Sculptures in the Vineyard event annually to celebrate our wine alongside the wonderful art produced by artists of the Surrey Hills and further afield in England.

Surrey wines aside, what are your favorites and recommendations?

Besides ours, of course! My favourite French champagne is Bollinger, my favourite other sparkling wine is Graham Beck from South Africa, and favourite spicy red wine is a South African Shiraz called Eagles Nest Shiraz and softer one is an aged French Burgundy (Pinot Noir grape) .

With English wine producers celebrating a record turnover this year, what do you think the future holds for the English wine industry?

It is clear, that England is moving rapidly ahead with making outstanding sparkling wines. We have the cool climate necessary to produce that fruity crispness that is the hallmark and distinguishing aspect of our sparkling wines. So with all the massive planting going on in England, we foresee a doubling in numbers of bottles produced from 5 million over the next 5 years. The challenge is to keep the quality high and to create a unique name to describe an English sparkling wine in an evocative and user-friendly and meaningful way! We cannot use the word champagne, though we make our sparkling wine in the same way (and often beat the French in international competitions!)…so we should have a name that evokes that same sense of luxury, celebration, specialness that champagne evokes. I have decided to call our the Quintessence of England…so let’s have a toast with a glass of Quintessence, especially our High Clandon Quintessence.

And lastly, where is your favourite place to drink a beautiful glass of wine?

On a sunny bank in our wildflower meadow at our farm in the setting sun at dusk…

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