Stopham Estate Vineyard’s story began in 2007 when winemaker Simon Woodhead planted 21,000 vines on the six-hectare (15-acre) estate following the successful completion of a Viticulture course at Plumpton Agricultural College in East Sussex. He makes white and sparkling wines using the latest winemaking technology to bring out the best from their own estate grown grapes. They specialise in still wines, with their Pinot Blanc and Pinot Gris regularly winning rave reviews.

2021 vintage report

We had a warm March so the vine got going and then temperatures plummeted again in April. Budburst was on April 10th and we did our best to manage 10 frost events with our air drain fan but ultimately the frost did affect yields and resulted in a delay in development. This meant the vine needed to catch up to where it should be over the summer months. The vine did catch up as we had some warm weather but then we had storms and rain to contend with. Leaf stripping became a priority as we did not have enough UV light compared with previous years, the lack of sunshine and UV meant the grapes struggled to ripen, followed by downy mildew which caused further damage to the crop, impacting yields. However, we had a warm, sunny September which helped veraison.

On the positive side, we did get some grapes so we will be able to produce all of our varietal styles but not as much as previous years. We harvested around mid October. We struggled to get our workers from the EU this year due to Brexit but we rallied our local friends, family and wine enthusiasts to help us pick. A memorable harvest for sure. We do have some plans for a new wine next year (a limited release – details to follow next year).

In terms of quality, it is hard to compare yet with previous years but the wine in tank (which has just finished fermenting) is tasting good and as it should at this stage.