April 2025 - Lambs & New Life

The clocks have sprung forward, the days are getting longer, and the vineyard is waking up from its winter slumber. And to make things even more exciting, our first lambs of the season have arrived. So far, we’ve welcomed seven lambs, bringing plenty of energy and cuteness overload to the paddocks.

Everything is coming back to life—including the vines. Even though we pruned the Madeleine Angevine vines quite hard this year, buds are starting to appear.  It goes to show how valuable pruning is.

Meanwhile, a small flock of Hebridean sheep are hard at work, roaming through the vineyard as our natural lawnmowers. In spring, they keep the grass in check, and after harvest, they help clean up any leftover grapes while also enriching the soil with natural fertiliser. It’s a sustainable, win-win system that keeps the vineyard thriving.

Vineyard Tours have also started and we have our first Grand Tour on Saturday 19th April at 11am.  Come and see behind the scenes and learn how we make our wine - plus of course a tasting of our wines!

Situated between Sudbury and  Bury St Edmunds, we are easy to find and have plenty of parking.

If you can't make this date, we have tours running from now until November - there's always something to see and learn. 

As part of your tour you will see inside the Barrel Hall where our oak barrels sit full of wine in the ageing process.  These are being regularly "topped up" and we take frequent tastings to ensure the wines are ageing how the Winemaker has planned.  As the wine ages a small amount is lost due to evaporation through the wood and absorption into the barrel, hence the topping up process with wine that has been set aside for this task.

After the topping up stage the outside of the barrels are cleaned to remove any mould that may have occurred due to any wine seeping out.

This year, we have wines maturing in both new and older barrels. By blending them, we can balance the bold characteristics of new oak with the more subtle influence of the older barrels, creating a beautifully refined final wine. 

We were recently asked how long we use the barrels before they are replaced.  For ageing, we are currently using barrels that are 6 years old and which are still giving us lots of flavour.  Once the flavour diminishes,  they will be used for fermenting and macerating future wines.  

Last summer we did re-cooper some barrels.  This involved taking them apart, cleaning them thoroughly and then putting them back together ensuring no leaks.  What a job on a hot day!