On today’s episode of the English Wine Diaries is Laura Robinson and Mathew Abbey from Burn Valley Vineyard in Norfolk. Laura’s family moved to Crossways Farm in North Creake in October 1989, but it wasn’t until 2016 that they decided to plant vines on their land, harvesting their first crop after the hot summer of 2018. Since then, they have built and expanded a winery and developed a portfolio of still, sparkling and sweet wines and vermouths. Laura, who has a background in ...

Joining me on today’s episode of the English Wine Diaries is award-winning wine expert and social media sensation, Tom Gilbey. The Gilbey name is synonymous with wine and spirits. The Gilbey family were the first English family to buy a vineyard in Bordeaux in 1875 and subsequently became the most prominent wine and spirits merchant in the UK, selling one in every three bottles of wine consumed, and building a portfolio that included Smirnoff Vodka, J&B whisky and their very own Gilb...

Joining me on today’s episode of The English Wine Diaries is Richard Balfour-Lynn, co-founder of Balfour Winery in Kent. Following an education at Westminster School and the City of London Business School, Richard set up his first business at 24 years old – his early business interests ranged from Irish linen and lace to medical diagnostic centres and air conditioning companies, all with varying degrees of success and failure. In his late 20s, he began developing high end residentia...

Joining me on this week's episode of The English Wine Diaries is Johnny Stanford, chef patron of Tern Restaurant in Worthing. Manchester born and bred, Johnny began his career working with Paul Kitching at his acclaimed restaurant Juniper in Altrincham, before heading to Cumbria, then Edinburgh and finally settling in Sussex in 2012. Johnny worked as sous chef at the Michelin starred restaurant Matt Gillan @ The Pass before taking the reins as head chef at Pascere in Brighton and th...

Joining me on today’s episode of The English Wine Diaries is Mary Bridges, head winemaker and vineyard visionary at Gusbourne.Mary grew up near Inverness in Scotland in a farming family, where her love of the land developed from an early age, along with an instinct for the flavour alchemy created by good wine.She started her career in hospitality and quickly became enthused with the wine aspect, so sought to further her passion and knowledge at Plumpton College, all the way down south in Suss...

We're back with series 11 of The English Wine Diaries and kick starting this season is The Mistress of Wine, aka Sam Caporn MW. Not only is Sam one of just 421 Masters of Wine world-wide, (of which there are only 149 women) she was also the recipient of the 2011 Madame Bollinger Medal for Excellence in Tasting and remains one of just 16 women to have received the medal to date. Sam’s wine career started as a trainee manager at Majestic and in the years that followed, she studied a s...

Joining me on the last episode of series 10 of The English Wine Diaries is wine expert and presenter, Tom Surgey. Tom was just 14 when his career in hospitality started, peeling carrots and potatoes in a Sussex pub after school. At the tender age of 20, he found himself working at The Ivy in London, where a hero called Sancho taught him the basics of wine and his passion for the drink really grew. He took his WSET qualifications and, hooked on wine, left the restaurant side of the i...

Joining me on today’s episode of The English Wine Diaries is Michael Kennedy, Chief Executive Officer of Roebuck Estates – who make premium sparkling wine from their multi-vineyard estates in Sussex.Following university, Michael joined the Graduate Management Scheme of Marks and Spencer, and became the first trainee manager to be appointed to an overseas position in Paris. After a period as a buyer, he moved to Mars Confectionery where he worked as a National Sales Manager in the UK.What foll...

Joining me on today’s episode of The English Wine Diaries is David Bailey – the owner of Wraxall Vineyard in Somerset. David and his wife, Lexa Hunt bought Wraxall – thought to be the oldest vineyard in Somerset – in February 2021 having moved into the neighbouring 200-year-old farmhouse a few years earlier. The couple, who have both run and grown businesses within the financial sector, had absolutely no viticultural experience but saw an opportunity, not only to make great wine, bu...

Joining me on this week's episode of The English Wine Diaries is John Wilkins, Commercial Director at Itasca Wines and Penn Croft Vineyards in Hampshire. Itasca Wines is a sustainable full contract winemaking company, which under the lead of award-winning winemaker Ben Smith, delivers a grape to bottle service for a host of top wine brands and premium boutique vineyards across the UK.Ben and the Itasca team also produce wines from grapes grown in their own vineyard, Penn Croft, where the...

Joining me on today’s episode of The English Wine Diaries is none other than Blur bassist, Alex James.Blur formed in 1988 and their nine studio albums have all topped the charts in the UK, generating numerous hit singles along the way including Song 2, Beetlebum and Coffee & TV.Now you may be wondering why a member of one of the most successful and influential bands of the 90s would come on a podcast about English wine but I assure you, there is good reason! Following a hugely succes...

Joining me on today’s episode of The English Wine Diaries is Will Perkins, winemaker for Louis Pommery England, the English project under the Vranken-Pommery portfolio, which has planted 35-hectares of vines on the Pinglestone Estate in Hampshire. Having grown up in Hampshire, just outside Winchester, Will has fond memories of formative years in the county and it was here that his first work in wine began – helping out at Hattingley Valley vineyard during his school holidays. Travel...

Joining me on today’s episode of The English Wine Diaries is winemaker Charlie Holland. Charlie worked his first vintage in Australia some 24 years ago and caught the wine bug. He returned to England and immediately enrolled at the renowned Plumpton College in Sussex. While there he worked part-time at nearby Ridgeview wine estate before heading off to do winemaking stints in California, Germany and New Zealand. In 2009 he took on a full-time winemaking role back home at Ridgev...

Welcome back to Series 10 of The English wine Diaries. Joining me on the first episode of this series are Katie and Umut Yesil from Riverview Crouch Valley Vineyard in Essex. Prior to planting their vineyard in the now famed Crouch Valley, the couple ran a food and drink PR business in London, but following a conversation around the kitchen table with Katie’s father Billy – a third generation arable farmer – they decided to focus their attention on English wine. In 2017 ...

Joining me on today’s episode of The English Wine Diaries is Art Tukker, owner of Tinwood Estate in West Sussex.  The Tukker family farm, which is situated in the hamlet of Halnacker, near Chichester, has a history of growing lettuce but when Art took over in 2006, he had other ideas.  While studying agriculture and farming at university, it dawned on Art that growing vines could be his family’s future and, after spending some time working at vineyards in New Zealand, returned to Sussex...

In this special episode of The English Wine Diaries, brought to you in partnership with Coravin, I am joined by the company's inventor and founder Greg Lambrecht.   Having had a successful career in medical technologies and engineering degrees from MIT, Greg combined his knowledge of medical-grade needles with his passion for wine to develop a unique preservation system that allowed him to pour wine without removing the cork.  The first Coravin wine preservation system, which uses a...

My guest on today’s episode of The English Wine Diaries is Sarah Massey, the esteemed head winemaker at Lyme Bay Winery in Axeminster, in Devon.  Sarah’s interest in winemaking was sparked at an early age and, after completing her Wine Business degree at Plumpton College, she embarked on a remarkable career, working harvests around the world before arriving at Lyme Bay Winery in 2019.  Sarah's leadership, expertise and innovative approach have been instrumental in shaping Lyme Bay’s...

Joining me on this week's episode of The English Wine Diaries is wine educator and winemaker, Jimmy Smith.  Jimmy has worked in the wine industry for over 20 years. Having started his career in wine buying, he founded West London Wine School, one of the UK's leading wine, spirit and beer education facilities, in 2010, and in 2020 started online wine education tool Wine with Jimmy. The school has won multiple awards over the years, including Consumer Educator of the Year at the International...

On this week's episode of The English Wine Diaries is Gail Gardner, Managing Director of Ashling Park Estate in the charming hamlet of West Ashling near Chichester. It was after Gail spent some time living in Switzerland and was seduced by the romantic vineyards there that she convinced her family to plant vines back in Sussex and, in 2018 their English wine adventure began. They planted the traditional champagne varieties of Chardonnay, Pinot noir and Pinot Meunier, as well as some...

On this week's episode of The English Wine Diaries podcast is Tommy Grimshaw, head winemaker at Langham, in Dorset.  Tommy developed a love for English wine after a summer holiday season spent labelling and bottling wine as a teenager. He left school to work a harvest at Sharpham Vineyard – now known as Sandridge Barton – in Devon and there, he progressed to Assistant Winemaker.  He joined Langham in 2019 and worked alongside Daniel Ham with the aim of producing world class sparkling wines...

On today’s episode of The English Wine Diaries podcast is TV chef and author, the icon that is Rosemary Shrager.   In the early to mid-noughties Rosemary rose to small screen fame with guest appearances on cooking shows before landing her own prime-time programme on Channel 5 called Castle Cook. She’s rarely been off our TV screens over the past 20 years appearing on shows such as Ladette to Lady, I’m a Celebrity, The Real Marigold Hotel and Cooking with the Stars to name just a...

Welcome back to series 9 of The English Wine Diaries podcast! Joining me on today's episode is Josh Donaghay-Spire, Head Winemaker and Operations Director at Chapel Down in Kent.  Josh’s career in wine began as a teenager working in a wine bar and, after studying WSET qualifications and later enrolling in Plumpton College, he was able to travel to some of the world’s most renowned wine regions, honing his skills in winemaking.  But he decided the English wine industry was where he wanted to...

Today's guest on The English Wine Diaries is former tech executive and now co-founder of Pelegrims Skincare, Jérôme Moisan   Born and raised in rural Brittany, Jérôme moved to the UK after he met his English wife, Laura, at university and they settled in the town of Maidstone in Kent, where they are surrounded by vineyards stretching along the North Downs.  Having seen the success that companies, such as Caudalie, had achieved in his native France – and with the English wine industry now...

*Apologies for the sound quality at the start of this episode due to some technical difficulties* This week on The English Wine Diaries podcast is last year’s Fortnum & Mason Drink Writer of the Year, Henry Jeffreys.  Henry studied English and Classical Literature at Leeds University before working in the wine trade and later becoming a freelance writer and broadcaster. He was wine critic at The Lady, has appeared in magazines, such as Spectator and BBC Good Food and has featured on...