This week is English wine week, as a business we haven’t had much to do with selling any alcohol (only consuming it!) until earlier this year when we launched our local alcohol range which includes local wines, beers, ales, cider, vodka, gin and run.
We also stock Sharpham Wine both their Pinot Noir and Dart valley reserve along with the very popular best selling sharpham cheeses such as Sharpham rustic, Sharpham brie and ticklemore goats cheese – visit our products page for more information on all our local cheeses available perfect paired with great english wine of course!

I got in contact with Sarah at Alder vineyard in January this year as we were interested in stocking their wine and after sampling some I knew we had to stock it. We ended up giving them a price list of our wholesale products and they realised they had actually tried Westcountry Olives and loved them, so they now buy our olives and other local cheeses and products so are a Customer as well as a Supplier which is fantastic.

We arranged a trip to the vineyard to tie in with English wine week as we thought it would be nice to feature and focus on a very up and coming Vineyard overlooked by Dartmoor near Lewdown, Okehampton, with a new winery and restaurant.

We got a very warm welcome from Sarah and her son Tom, Tom then led us up to where the vines are planted to begin our tour.
Sarah and her husband Mike began the vineyard dream in 2005 and the first vines were planted in 2009, the land is actually owned by the grandparents who live in the large farmhouse within the grounds. The grounds are kept exceptionally well, from the vines to the immaculately cut lawns and the very new and modern restaurant with absolutely stunning views it all has such a fresh, vibrant feel to it.

There are currently 5,000 vines with plans for more in the future, they currently have a white – Madeleine Angevine which has fruity overtones of melon, apple and gooseberry and a Rose perfect to accompany chicken and seafood dishes- Rondo Rose 2018 pair with meats such as duck and lamb. They have got vines for a sparkling white planted but the first batch wont be ready until around 2024 all being well, so alot of patience to wait for the first batch.

In between the rows of vines there are rows of Alder trees which are planted to protect the wind from Dartmoor which can become very turbulent, you may think the vineyard is named after the trees (I did!) but this is just coincidence, the grounds are actually originally named Alder so the trees are just a very fitting addition.

Tom explained that the vines have been hit hard twice by the frost in previous years so they now use candles or he liked to refer to them as the french term a “bougie” which sounds much more exciting, there are over 400 bougie’s placed around the vines to help when the cold nights come along and the frost is upon us, they are fueled by palm oil and they don’t create a smoke which is important as the vineyards are located right behind a main road.
There is a whole blog post on their website with some amazing photos and more detail about how the frost effects the vines and what they are doing to protect them as best they can, click here to read their blog

The next harvest should be around September/October 2021, we asked if they employ staff to help with the harvest but they don’t need to as they call upon family and friends to help out in return for some good grub and wine and of course they get plenty of takers – I might even sign up to the next harvest!

As we were walking away from the vines and heading down to where the magic happens we passed a lovely decked seating area that was positioned overlooking the stunning countryside, after joking that it was the Grandparents wine tasting table it actually evolved that a Sky One series called ‘Delicious’ was filmed at the Vineyard around 2015. The decked area was used for a scene with Emilia Fox in it, the series also stars Dawn French but she wasn’t in this particular scene so unfortunately wasn’t there. The main road behind the vineyard had to be closed to stop any noise interfering whilst they were filming.

Tom then showed us where the grapes are turned into wine and bottled, which is part of the new building the building work began before the pandemic started but then the builders had to stop, so Tom and his Dad Mike who had both been builders previously shut themselves away and carried on the build themselves and what an amazing job they have done.

We tried both the Madeleine Angevine and the Rondo Rose, both are exceptionally fresh and crisp wines and they were chilled to perfection! Tom gave us a tip to help with neutralising the pallet which consisted of sniffing your own fore arm then sipping the next wine, I think it helped? Give it a go next time you are wine tasting, make Tom’s tip famous!

It is very much a patient yet rewarding job caring for a vineyard and after visiting you can really see how much love and attention is put into every single vine and bottle, as a small family run business ourselves we know how many hours and how much hard work is put into ensuring that everything runs smoothly.

I highly recommend a visit here if you are a local, or on holiday in the area you won’t be disappointed, enjoy a tour with Tom, some fantastic fresh food using local produce, superb wine and views to die for.
For more information about Alder vineyard to book a tour, lunch or if you just want to find out more visit their website – Alder vineyard

For our full local alcohol range please click here