Celebrate English Wine Week

24th June 2021

Let's All Celebrate English Wine Week

From Saturday, June 19 to Sunday, June 27, 2021, English Wine Week celebrates the growing number of superb wine producers in this country. The Week presents an ideal opportunity to get to know English wines better, as vineyards and retailers highlight the many quality wines available for you to enjoy.

“Imagine a white wine that's mouth-wateringly crisp, with scents of meadow and hedgerow flowers plus flavours that add smooth pear, apple and gooseberry to lemon, lime and more. Or a red with vibrant berry fruit, soft tannins and appetising freshness. These are England in a glass.”

 
To celebrate English Wine week, here are some winery and vineyards 30 minutes away from East Ham, and this weekend might just be an opportunity to have a glass of your favourite wine.

 

Renegade Urban Winery

Renegade London Winery & Bar is an urban winery based in East London which brings winemaking into the city, making small-batch artisanal wines using grapes from around the UK and Continental Europe. The grapes are hand-harvested and vinified in London.​

This urban winery works with small vineyards in the UK, aiming to cherry-pick the best fruit grown by the best people.

The bar at Renegade allows visitors to try the wines on site. It’s a rustic atmosphere, surrounded by the tanks, barrels and other wine-making equipment, and there are a few tables outside, too. Simple platters of cheese are usually available. Renegade welcome volunteers from time to time. It could be fun to learn about the processes from crushing grapes to bottling and labelling.

Arch 12 Gales Gardens, London E2 0EJ
https://www.renegadelondonwine.com/
 

Forty Hall Community Vineyard

Forty Hall Farm is an organic farm nestled in the Forty Hall Estate. The farm is run by Capel Manor College and includes the Forty Hall Community Vineyard, the first commercial-scale vineyard in London since the middle ages. As well as operating as a local food project, the vineyard aims to bring wine production to the heart of the local community and champion quality, sustainability, health, wellbeing and community involvement.
 
Ten acres of vines are planted on a south-facing, gravelly plot from which the aim is to make quality still and sparkling wines. The grapes are grown as naturally as possible, and the vineyard is moving towards biodynamic standards. Wine is made organically by Will Davenport.
Forty Hall is one of a surprising number of vineyards with a stately home nearby.

Enfield EN2 9HA
https://www.fortyhallvineyard.com/
 

Olding Manor Vineyard

The First and Only Vineyard in Lewisham, South East London. Olding Manor grows grapes in a tiny vineyard at St Mildred’s Road Allotments, just off the South Circular in London SE12. They produce organic handcrafted wines.

They have evolved from making wine from imported grape juice, and their next evolution is Wildwood Vineyard on the East Sussex / Kent border.

London SE12 0RF
https://www.winecellardoor.co.uk/vineyard/olding-manor-vineyard/

 
British wine has come a long way in recent years, winning numerous international accolades and tempting even the most discerning drinkers. Believe it or not, there are over 400 vineyards dotted around this green and pleasant land and several varieties stealing top awards.