Tag Archive for: english wine

The Hencote Hideout

In The Vineyard

As the end of one decade passes the start of a new one brings exciting plans here at Hencote – where everything starts in the vineyard.

The weather in January has been unforgiving at times and our vineyard team has battled the elements as they go through the pre-pruning phase.

Pre-pruning

This process involves trimming the vines back to the arms which will eventually bear the fruit. It’s a tough job, especially when the weather is unfavourable. Lately, we’ve had lots of rain and on occasion strong winds which whip across the vineyard.

Once the pruning is done the tying down begins and this is all done by hand to each one of the 24,000 vines on the estate.

Elsewhere, Gavin, our winemaker will be making the most of the organic waste or ‘grape marc’ as it’s called, from the vineyard and the winery and turning it into compost.

This is then regenerated back into the vineyard come the autumn which helps with the carbon content of the soil and microbial growth. Using the ‘grape marc’ in this way means everything goes full circle and there is no wastage.

The winery

In the winery itself, a close eye is kept on the Amphoras which house our 2019 Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and the Pinot Meunier for the sparkling rose – we cannot wait to launch all these in 2020.

Looking ahead to February we will also be disgorging the next vintage of our Evolution sparkling wine. The disgorging process involves removing the sediment from the wine after fermentation.

So despite the quiet lull around Shropshire after Christmas and New Year things are very busy in the winery and vineyard and with lots to look forward to in the coming months.

The View overlooking The Wrekin

The Amphoras keeping warm inside the winery

The winery tanks

Toast 2020 with Brunch at Hencote

With the new decade on the horizon what better way to spend the first day of 2020 than with family and friends here at Hencote.

We’ll be open New Year’s Day and we’re putting on a special brunch for all our guests and diners.

The brunch will run from 10 am – 12:30 pm and is £25 pp. We’ll have a variety of tea, freshly ground coffee and fruit juice available as well as a choice of a glass of our award-winning Evolution sparkling wine, or to cure the hangover, our very own Bloody Mary.

You can then choose from a delicious selection of dishes including; eggs benedict with crispy bacon and homemade hollandaise sauce or sliced avocado, poached egg, wilted spinach, chilli flakes and toasted brioche.

Whatever you choose our New Year’s Day brunch will be the perfect pick-me-up.

Check out the New Years Day Brunch Menu – for more information E – [email protected] or call 01743 298 444

Members preview night of the Mark I red wine

Last night saw the launch of our inaugural estate red wine, the Mark I. The event was a preview for our wine club members and there was excited anticipation with guests wanting to taste the new vintage.

The evening started with an Evolution sparkling wine reception and bar snacks before general manager Mark Stevens and winemaker Gavin Patterson gave a talk on the vinification process and the ethos behind the wine.

Gavin, who has 30-years experience making wine said: “The wine will have a gentle and slow evolution into its life as it ages through the years – whatever maturation happens will happen inside the bottle.”

Mark said: “When it came to choosing the name for our wine we wanted to connect it to our heritage here in Shropshire in particular to our family who has lived on the estate for over 20-years.

“The wine is the first iteration, the Mark I, and we hope that it will set the benchmark for Hencote as a quality wine producer within the industry.”

If you would like to attend our public launch event of the Mark I on November 29th tickets are £15 for the launch which includes a glass of Evolution sparkling wine, bar snacks and of course a taste of the Mark I itself.

Places are limited, so if you love your red wine make sure you don’t miss out. Have a look at some of the photos from the evening.

End of the harvest

As the estate basks in the early morning autumn sunshine our dedicated vineyard and winery team pick the final few grapes of the harvest.

It’s been a season full of challenges, often dictated by mother nature. But through a late spring frost, inclement summer and reduced daylight we have been able to harvest an abundance of high-quality grapes which are vintage focussed and that will play an integral part in producing the very best Hencote Estate wines.

 

Harvesting is a busy time of the year for all concerned and we are extremely grateful for the support we received from our volunteer pickers. They braved the elements to select only the finest grapes, sorting them by hand in our winery to eventually moving them onto pressing and maturation.

We began harvesting on October 4th, two weeks later than our 2018 vintage and also ended two weeks later. The fruit has benefited from an extended period of hangtime on the vines enabling us to optimise their maturity that has led to the production of healthy grapes.

The climate always plays a part and despite the challenges faced we are very pleased with the purity and elegance of the fruit supported by a fine acid structure. Now we get ready for the winter months and work doesn’t stop just because the harvest has ended.

We are already planning for 2020 where we will have several new wine launches which we are very excited about and cannot wait to share with our guests and diners.

Win two tickets to our new menu launch

It’s a double celebration at Hencote on November 7th as we launch our brand new menus here at The View Restaurant and Bar.

Our dedicated kitchen brigade has designed and created a fantastic selection of dishes ranging from British classics to modern cuisine, all of which celebrate the terroir of our region and incorporate our popular ‘Charcoa grill’ while matching with our wines.

 

The event marks the first anniversary since we opened The View and to celebrate we are giving away two complementary tickets, a bottle of our lifestyle wine and a wine tour and tasting for two people.

If you would like to enter all you need to do is head over to our Facebook page and like and share the competition post that is pinned to the top of our page, as well as tag the person you would love to spend the evening with.

The competition closes Wednesday 6th November at 12pm where we will announce the winner.

Good luck and we look forward to sharing a glass of ‘Hencote Estate Evolution’ English sparkling wine with you!

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*Wine tour valid until March 31st 2020.

*Lifestyle wine can be used for consumption on the night or taken away from our wine shop.

Setting the benchmark for red wine in Shropshire

As we approach the end of the October Harvest there is no time to rest on our laurels. Vinification is a demanding process and after the picking, pressing and eventual bottling of our wine we can enjoy and share the fruits of our labour with others.

November 29th sees the launch of our first Hencote Estate Red from 2018. Winemaker Gavin Patterson and his team have worked tirelessly to produce a wine that is a carefully crafted blend of Pinot Noir, Pinot Noir Précose and Rondo; components of which are representative of the estate and history of the property.

The seamless integration of all three brings a crucial element to the texture and flavour of the wine. Pinot Noir is the backbone, while the Pinot Noir Précose provides flavours of black cherry and additional cranberry notes leading on to the deliciously savoury palate which finishes with gentle persistence.

The Rondo, while only a small percentage of the overall trilogy, still plays a large part and adds the colour component which gives the wine its dark and brooding nature. With twelve months of quiet oak maturation, the result is a wine that will set a high benchmark for red wine produced in the UK that others will be inspired to follow.

 

Deciding on a name for our wine is just as important as the vinification process itself. With this latest addition to our selection of estate wines, we have not only drawn inspiration from our family but from the dedication and passion to produce a wine that is befitting of the area and heritage.

We would like the public to join us as we ‘mark’ the occasion with our launch event which will be hosted by Hencote Estate General Manager Mark Stevens and Winemaker Gavin Patterson.

It has always been the vision of our family to produce a red wine since planting the vineyard, and now all the years of hard work and nurture have led us to this defining moment for the estate and vineyard.

If you would like to find out more about the event as well as book your table you can get in touch with the Hencote team here or email [email protected]