FAQ....
How do I place an order?
We are happy to sell to you via the "cellar door", or to deliver to you if you live locally, saving on P&P. Please contact us before visiting, we will make sure we are in.
If you live further afield then please place you order via our shop which has secure online payment.
Prices shown include P&P.
What does Zero/Low intervention mean?
In terms of our viticulture it means that we make no intervention with any type of petro-chemical or bio-dynamic additions in any form. We do cut grass, prune and manage the vines canopy. We believe that the less you add to vineyard and in the winery the closer your wine will reflect the true and natural taste of the vine's experience in this wonderful part of West Wales.
Can you explain to me what natural wine is then?
I could but I think the best explanation I have found so far is by Isabelle Legeron, the first woman in France to become a Master of Wine, to quote her,
"natural wine is a continuum, like ripples on a pond. At the epicentre of these ripples, are growers who produce wines absolutely naturally – nothing added and nothing removed. As you move away from this centre, the additions and manipulations begin, making the wine less and less natural, the further out you go. Eventually, the ripples disappear entirely, blending into the waters of the rest of the pond. At this point, the term ‘natural wine’ no longer applies. You have moved into the realm of the conventional.”
Is your 2018 Sparkling wine 'Silver Lining' champagne?
Yes it is! Well not exactly, we have put the 2018 Solaris grape vintage through the 'méthode traditionnelle'. This is the traditional method of making champagne, or in this case champagne style wines. We cannot use the word champagne to describe our sensational bubbly because 'Champagne' is a protected region/name as is 'Proscecco'.
So names in a hat, what protected name should we call our Welsh bubbly?
Your 2018 Sparkling wine is a PGI Quality Welsh Sparkling Wine, what does that mean?
You are on fire! Great question, to avoid any bureaucratic techno-babble; think of Clotted Cream and Cornwall, think of Pork Pies and Melton Mowbray. Now think of Welsh Sparkling wine and our 2018 first release 'Silver Lining'.
Or
"PDO and PGI designations are European Union indicators of quality and authenticity in terms of regional origin or traditional production. The wines that qualify have met certain requirements for their technical analysis and have passed an organoleptic assessment (a formal tasting)".
Do you have accommodation?
Yes we do! We have a traditional barn conversion for guests. You can contact us directly or via Airbnb, we have superhost status.
What is 'Low Intervention' viticulture?
Great. We practice Low Intervention viticulture here. What that means to us is that we have not used any herbicide, pesticide, fungicide or even fertiliser in our vineyards. We cut the grass around the vines and manage the canopy of the vines.
We want our grapes to be of the highest quality having developed in a balanced and natural way. The grape's taste being a true reflection of this year's terroir. Which will then be enhanced and developed through fermentation and the winemaking process especially if that is a through a Natural Winemaking process. Fermenting the grape using the natural yeast on them. With no or minimal intervention until bottling.
Why do you not have an organic certification on your wine bottles?
Alas here we fall foul of the bureaucrats. We follow strict organic practices with our viticulture and our vineyards were certified as organic. As yet we do not have our own micro winery. So following the rules as they stand we are not allowed to take our delicious organic grapes over 4 county lines to be pressed. Unfortunately the nearest winery is over 4 counties away. We have special permission to use it for the next 4 years; although we have our own separate pressing and our own fermentation tanks and there is no chance of cross contamination with say, English grapes. The winery does not have an organically certified 'line' which our organic grapes can be processed in, so we cannot put an organic certification label on our bottles.
Solution?
If anyone would like to finance a small building for our winery, we have planning permission. Then get in touch.
Whats your next release?
Good question, the 2019 vintage will provide us with two limited release wines "Triskele".
These will be a still white wine made from our Solaris grape and a still red wine, similar to our 2018 first release "1" made from our Rondo grapes.
Both have tasted consistently well and we are very excited about their release date mid- November 2020.
Does your Rondo red need to breathe and why?
Drinking wine is a personal experience but in general we feel that our Red Rondo like most quality red wines will benefit from being allowed to 'breathe' or aerate.
When air and wine interact, two important processes occur evaporation and oxidation. Allowing these processes to occur can improve the quality of the wine by changing its chemistry and thus flavour and nose.
If you are not using an aerator or decanter, then open the bottle between half an hour to two hours before enjoying it. You may wish to check its nose and take a little taste on opening then compare and contrast after at least half an hour and congratulate yourself on your self control by enjoying the rest of the bottle.
Which varieties of grape do you grow?
Our chosen red variety is Rondo.
Rondo is a dark-skinned grape, used for making red and rosé wine. It is a hybrid grape, created by crossing the varieties Zarya Severa and St. Laurent. It has been protected since 1997, when it was first planted commercially, it became known as Rondo in 1999.
Important characteristics of the Rondo grape to us; is that it is an early ripening variety which possesses high resistance against frost and downy mildew; normally vines would be sprayed to protect against downy mildew. We do not want to spray our vines with chemical nasties. Our Rondo vines are grafted to a water resistant root stock S04. This means that they will tolerate the higher rainfall level which we 'enjoy' in West Wales, so long as they do not have 'wet feet' for too long. Rondo produces a ruby-red wine and is cultivated in many locations in northern Europe where dark-skinned traditional varieties struggle to ripen and produce quality fruit.
Our chosen white variety is Solaris.
Solaris is a hybrid white wine variety developed in Germany in 1975. It's parent varieties are Merzling and a crossing of Zarya Severa and Muscat Ottonel.
As organic growers the Solaris variety is attractive, as it too has a high level of disease resistance and ripens earlier than almost any other wine grape. The name Solaris, which means “sun”, is particularly apt, as the variety is used in regions noted for their cooler climates and lower sunshine levels. Our Solaris vines are also grafted to the water resistant root stock S04. Solaris vines are impressively prolific given the right conditions. This means that we have to spend a lot of time in controlling the vine and encouraging them to push their energy into fruit rather than vegetative growth. They can be a bit of a Triffid!