English vineyard and winery Furleigh Estate is expecting its best-ever harvest this autumn, and has estimated that it will produce approximately 100,000 bottles of award-winning, still and sparkling wine as a result.
This year’s harvest is anticipated to be twice as large as the previous record yield, in 2010. What’s more, in one of its vineyards the crop is predicted to be even bigger than the total sum of all of the previous harvests, as a result of two consecutive years of great summer weather.
Situated in Salway Ash in West Dorset, this former dairy farm is owned and managed by husband and wife team, Rebecca Hansford and Ian Edwards. The couple planted their first vine just over nine years ago in 2005. Today, more than 22,000 Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier vines grow on the south-facing slopes of the Estate.
Rebecca Hansford, owner of Furleigh Estate, said: “We are so excited about this year’s bumper harvest. It’s come at a significant time for us as we enter our 10th year as a working vineyard and winery.
“A dry Glastonbury festival and a warm Wimbledon are usually reliable indicators that the grape harvest is going to be good, so we’ve had high hopes since the start of the summer. We are so fortunate that the English climate has been kind to the vines this season!”
Furleigh Estate’s vineyard and winery will be open to the public for two very special harvest lunches. For more information or to book, email info@furleighestate.co.uk or phone 01308 488991.