A vine time (From Bournemouth Echo)

A vine time

5:13pm Wednesday 8th July 2009 in

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THE last two summers haven’t been kind to wine producers in England.

Our temperamental climate can make it hard enough to grow grapes at the best of times, but the last two washout summers quite literally rained on producers’ parade.

Happily things are looking much better for this summer.

“The vines are looking good,” explains Theresa Steel, as we walk through her Purbeck vineyard.

“I think this year will be an excellent harvest. If it doesn’t produce a good crop we will be disappointed.”

As we walk through the vineyard she points out the flowers on one of the vines, which will eventually give way to grapes.

“I might have to prune this one,” says Theresa.

“There will probably be too many grapes for this vine.”

It’s a happy headache to have and much better than a struggling crop, however left to their own devices the vines would become a victim of their own success.

That won’t happen because Theresa helps nurture the crop at every stage of its development, something that has become de rigeur for English wine producers.

“English wine is getting better,” says Theresa, who bought the vineyard in 2006.

“That’s because vineyard owners are planting more intelligently and looking after their vineyards better.”

Not only are English vineyards getting better but there are now more of them.

In 2004, there were just 761 hectares of vineyards in England, a figure that rose to 992 last year.

“The English wine industry is growing,” says Theresa, who believes attitudes are changing.

“People are surprised when they have English wine, it’s not what they expect. They confuse it with British wine, which was horrible stuff made from imported grapes.

“English wine is dry and fruity.”

As I sip a glass of the Kimmeridge Mist, Theresa tells me what she loves about owning a vineyard.

“It’s very rewarding,” she says.

“They are a nice plants to work with. There are no thorns and it’s quite sociable when you’re pruning or picking the grapes – you can chat to whoever is working on the other side of the vines, which is where the expression “heard it through the grapevine” comes from.”

And there will be much talk through the grapevines here come harvest time in October as the whole village gets involved in picking the grapes.

“We asked some of the villagers to help us with our first harvest in 2006,” explains Theresa.

“They all just turned up and now it’s the same every year – we harvest the grapes and have a big lunch and a party.”

Come October it should be much the same at the Purbeck Vineyards. Let’s hope it is a good year.

If you would like to sample the fruits of the Purbeck Vineyards’ labour, they offer wine tasting and tours from spring through to the harvest.