Ancre Hill Estates doubles vineyard area

The Welsh biodynamic wine producer Ancre Hill Estates has moved towards tripling its production with the planting of 8,000 new vines on 11 acres of land in Monmouthshire.

Ancre Hill’s new plantings at the Newton Court site will help it to increase production to 50,000 bottles by 2022 (Ancre Hill Estates)

The new plantings of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay vines at Newton Court Farm, just north-east of Monmouth, double Ancre Hill Estates’ vineyard area, with the ultimate aim being to increase annual still and sparkling wine production from 15,000 bottles per year to 50,000 by 2022.

Ancre Hill owners Richard and Joy Morris acquired the 120-acre Newton Court Farm in 2014, complete with farmhouse, cider press and outbuildings. The pair recognised that some of the south and south west-facing slopes of the site had a very similar terroir to Ancre Hill itself, where the original vineyards and winery are based.

The new Newton Court vineyard is the largest single plot planted at any one time across Wales, both in terms of number of vines and acreage, Ancre Hill said.

A further 15 acres will also be planted next year on the adjacent field, bringing Ancre Hill Estates’ total vineyard area to over 12 hectares.

The site was prepared last year by planting a cover crop of seven different plants from biodynamic seed. It has now been planted with 60% Pinot Noir and 40% Chardonnay vines, sourced from France, that will be farmed biodynamically for the production of both still and sparkling wines.

“We selected a variety of different clones and rootstocks for both the Chardonnay and Pinot Noir suitable for the mudstone/ sandstone soil in the vineyard,” Richard Morris explained.

“These were inter-planted in each block to increase biodiversity.”

It is expected that the first grapes will be harvested for natural wine – wine with no additives or intervention except to add a minimal amount of sulphur to protect the wines from bacterial infection – production in three years’ time.

Richard and Joy Morris established Ancre Hill Estates in 2006. The estate produces a range of white, red, rosé and sparkling wines.

The new vineyard site was prepared in 2015 by planting a cover crop of seven different perennial plants from biodynamic seed. Just the planting swaths were cultivated this spring to maintain the cover crop. This has increased the soil humus content and micro-organism numbers, improving soil structure and creating the right environment for the diverse population of insects required for successful biodynamic viticulture during the vineyards’ lifetime.

The Pinot Noir has been planted on three different rootstocks, all known for supporting quality production and proven in the Devonian-age red mudstone/sandstone-based soils of the site. Some of the Pinot Noir vines are Burgundian clones, but the majority is selection massale.

The Chardonnay vines are a mixture of three Burgundian clones, grafted onto a mixture of three different rootstocks, selected for their focus on quality and flavour rather than quantity.

All the vines and rootstocks have been treated with biodynamic preparations during propagation and grafting.