The day of our first ever grape harvest at Willington Press. The Bacchus grapes have ripened slowly all summer, finally reaching the 20% sugar mark needed for a high-quality still white wine. The usual workforce of two jumped to nine: Farm owners Clive and Lynne, friends Debbie and Mark, colleagues Sam and Tara, and keen volunteer Will, joined Tom and I to pick the grapes. It was a beautiful day for harvest with blue skies and a gentle breeze, with 450kg of grapes housed in two crates by lunchtime. A few hours later they were whisked away to the winery, and within a day they were pressed, beginning their fermentation to produce our first wine.

It's a small beginning but a proud one, with a half-ton of grapes representing two years of planning, cultivation, planting, feeding, spraying, and pruning, plus a few sleepless nights around frosts and fungus. We can now relax slightly as the work is in the hands of expert wine-makers, Halfpenny Green Wine Estate, and we’re looking forward to the first taste of the wine next year.

– Tim, our gardener