Q&A: Michael Caines MBE and James Matyear

Chef and owner of Michelin-starred Lympstone Manor, Michael Caines MBE, and manager of the hotel and restaurant’s new vineyard, James Matyear, discuss their English wine production plans, and why we could start to see more single vineyard expressions and clarity over regional labelling in the future.

Caines and Matyear announced plans to plant a vineyard at the country house hotel and restaurant in Devon in March. With planting delayed due to significant snow fall, frost and then heavy rainfall, the team eventually planted 17,500 vines in May with a projected first wine release date of spring 2024.

The vines, planted over 4.2 hectares and comprising 50% Pinot Noir, 30% Chardonnay and 20% Meunier, will be used to produce “classic Champagne-method sparkling wines” as well as still wines that will be sold and served at Lympstone Manor and potentially further afield.

Here, former Gidleigh Park head chef Caines, and Plumpton trained, ex-Hattingley Valley Matyear, discuss their plans for the vineyard, why Devon is suited to grape-growing and what the future holds for English wine.

What was it in particular about the site that inspired you to establish a vineyard?

Caines: I have visited vineyards around Europe and have always had a great interest in wine and the effects of their environment on the finished product. When I embarked upon the Lympstone Manor journey and saw the landscape of our plot, it was just instinctive to want to plant a vineyard of our own. We have a perfect south facing plot with great exposure, perfect slopes, low altitude, it really couldn’t be a more idyllic spot.

How many wines will you be producing?

Caines: We will start off producing sparkling wines in a house style and perhaps a rosé and as we progress and develop our process and our vines get more established, we may look into producing single grape varieties, possibly a blanc de noirs or a blanc de blancs, and even some still wines, but we need a good yield for the best return and so we will have to work around our process and our fruit.

How many bottles do you think you’ll produce each year?

Matyear: This is of course very much subject to many factors, but assuming an average yield at full maturity, we should expect to produce approximately 20 to 30 tons of fruit. This should allow us to make approximately 20-25,000 bottles of wine.

Do you have an idea of the style of wine that you’d like to make?

Caines: It is hard to say at this stage as we are still so early into the project. We will be having a tasting of English sparkling wines and Champagnes soon, to see what style of wine we all like and hope to achieve, but depending on the yield and the quality of our fruit, it is difficult to comment just yet.

It is safe to say, however, that with such a high percentage of Pinot Noir being planted, that this is likely to be more dominant factor in the final product and as time goes on, we will look to create a consistently good house blend which we hope to rely on the success of year upon year, holding back reserve stock as we go.

What soils do you have in the area?

Caines: We have a red Devon clay, pebble bed and Triassic bedrock. This should provide us with great minerality.

Matyear: Our soil profile is predominantly that of a clay loam, which provides us with a nice structural balance, allowing us to retain nutrition, whilst providing us with good drainage. This is further assisted by the vast amount of river bed stone which sits above a bedrock layer of Exmouth sandstone, dating back approximately 250 million years ago in the Triassic period.

What events do you have planned around the vineyard and the wine you’ll be producing?

Caines: We have already had a successful vine panting event and we will look to create further events across the annual calendar and throughout the process that help to educate people and make our vineyard something to be celebrated at various points in its growth. We will be mapping out our process and aligning events with this as well as offering both residential and non-residential packages twice a week which will be exclusively vineyard packages. We are also looking to host a harvesting festival and this will be a recurring event that wine novices and experts alike will be able to come together to enjoy. We will also be building wine events with our wine making partner, and more details of the partnership will be announced shortly and hosted on our website.

What has been the most surprising thing that you’ve found out since you started this project?

Caines: Luckily, so far we have had only good surprises. We have found that our vineyard sits in the top 5% of micro climates in the UK for growing vines, add to this that the highest spot in the vineyard is only 22 meters and that we have a single vineyard status, then it really is very lucky and special to be able to plant in such a spot. We feel very lucky to have a similar microclimate to that of Nyetimber and with it needing to be so specific, we really hope to be able to use it to its full potential.

What advantages do you believe that Devon has for growing grapes, and what are wine producers in the county doing differently?

Caines: I think what Devon has is more of an opportunity now to play its part in that story. We need to be careful where we plant as the climate has to be just right and this will restrict our yield, however it allows us to concentrate more on the quality of wines, rather than vast quantities. We are lucky to have some top producers in the country such as Sharpham Estate, Pebblebed, and Lyme Bay which are all great leaders and we are seeing more producers rising up in the domestic market such as Kenton Estate and Old Walls Vineyard, to name just a few, so we are really in quite an exciting time for English wine at the moment.

English wine: Future trends

What are your opinions on the quality of this year’s vintage?

Caines: 2016 was a really great summer, but we had a late frost which effected yield with a similar pattern repeating itself in 2017, but we got the quality eventually. 2018 has been great for weather so far and so this should hopefully be a good vintage, we hope for this magnificent sun to continue into the latter part of the growing season so that our grapes can be harvested at their best, which is quite a crucial bit of timing, so let’s wait and see.

What do you think are the next trends in English wine?

Caines: Single vineyard status is becoming more important as well as sorting out the quality and the labelling. We need to consider if it is right to import juices from other areas across England into another region/area and then label it as if they have been grown there and also think about the quality of the wine making process to build more confidence in sparkling and still wine as well as straight and blended wines.

Add to this the techniques being used such as barrow fermentation and ageing and that we are also seeing a lot of good talent coming to England from France, and indeed other wine areas, so the knowledge, care and attention to detail is getting better in the winemaking. This, along with better quality juice and good acidity, means that while we still may not have the quantities, we are certainly getting there with the quality.

How would you describe the current market for English and Welsh wine, and how do you see this developing in the future?

Caines: We have seen an increase in interest of 64% in wine last year, so English wine is on the up. The quality of sparkling wine is improving and we are now starting to see a lot more award winning wines being produced here in the UK. The key is building the reputation and extending that quality that we now have in sparkling wine into still wine too. We can’t fully exploit English wine because of the limited yields, but we can certainly produce quality for the domestic market.

Profile: Michael Caines

How has your career as a chef and the philosophies that you work by influenced the vineyard project?

It has always been key for me to work well with sommeliers when it comes to matching and pairing wine with food. I have been fortunate to travel the world to learn about wine, to see vineyards and hear stories of local wine. I have always enjoyed wine and learning about the context of what it is that I am drinking, where it comes from, how it has developed its flavour and what food it is usually had with.

I instinctively knew that our vineyard project at Lympstone Manor could happen as I have a passion for it, a great team who share the same passion, and I’ve enjoyed working and sharing that passion with my Operations Director Steve Edwards for over 25 years now, along with our knowledgeable partners who will enable us to get the best from our project. Ultimately we are aiming for a food friendly wine. but equally a wine that’s good on its own too.

What is your ultimate food and drink pairing?

There are so many possibilities, however a good story that I can share with you is about a wine that I tried in Italy – Moscato Rosa made by Franz Haas, which is a sweet red wine, with notes of raspberry, chocolate and rose petals, and it inspired me to create one of our most popular desserts, our White Chocolate Candle, which has flavours of raspberries and rose.

I also wanted to involve our head sommelier Marko Mägi, as he can also share a couple more examples of fantastic pairings of white and red wine with favoured dishes on our menu.

Marko Mägi: – Cornish duckling, orange braised chicory, anise and orange scented jus. Classical flavours, but also very demanding for the wine. Orange sauce and skin of duck need special freshness from the wine and to find orange marmalade character from the wine is a must to integrate the flavours. The pairing wine is 2015 Pinot Noir Coteaux Champenois, Le Rouge de Balnot, Gremillet – a red wine from Champagne which we have specially sourced for this dish and we are the only restaurant in England where this wine can be found.

Exmouth lobster with mango and potato salad, curried mayonnaise, cardamom vinaigrette – Michael’s absolute classic dish. The pairing wine is 2015 Pinot Gris, Wellenstein Foulschette, Mathis Bastian, Luxembourg. The wine has just enough fruit character to compliment the natural sweetness of lobster and mango flavours while the key element is the aftertaste of cooking spices in the wine which just lifts the flavours of cardamom and curry and creates such a unique flavour combination. This wine is sourced for us straight from Luxembourg just for this dish.

In what way do you think your wines will compliment your food?

Caines: We will look for quality most of all, and aim to produce a wine that is developed to be enjoyed with food. A well-balanced wine with good acidity and structure will always be our preferred starting point when it comes to how our wine will complement our dishes. It is difficult to forecast how our wine will be presented as a finished product at the moment, but with the care and attention that our team give to our vines, as well as the focus on quality throughout the process, we should hope to create wines that complement our dishes beautifully.

Profile: James Matyear

How did you get into wine?

After an eight-year career as an airline pilot based in the south west, life took a dramatic change in direction in order to follow my true love of wine and viticulture. While flying, I attended Plumpton collage, gaining the knowledge and skill set that would allow me to leave aviation, and begin a new adventure in the world of wine. After travelling through Italy for their 2013 vendemmia, I began my journey with the award winning English sparkling wine producer Hattingley Valley. Having dedicated my knowledge to the production of English sparkling wine, it is now an absolute honour to bring my passion and knowledge to Lympstone Manor in the creation of its vineyard, to what is a truly unique, and exceptional setting.

What, in particular, appealed to you about this project?

This is a truly unique setting, with a truly unique micro climate. It is also an enormous privilege to be a part of, and at the start of, such an exciting project that is fuelled by Michael’s passion and dedication to his vision.

What has proved easy/challenging when establishing the vineyard?

Establishing a vineyard is a huge undergoing that requires vast amounts of planning and preparation. Our greatest challenge was most definitely the weather. With heavy snow at the start of the year, followed by prolonged rains on the lead up to planting, it meant ground conditions were tricky, requiring us to delay planting four times.