The Rustic Appeal - Sharpham Vineyard

Firstly, my apologies for the rather long sabbatical.

I hope no-one is thirsty.

Any hidden gems that you've found in the meantime, please do share with the rest of us.

View downriver towards Totnes from Sharpham

In my absence, I have been experiencing somewhat of a bildungsroman in the world of English Wine (and Cheese!) While I knew comparatively little in the field of English viniculture in relation to many other regions in the world, I cannot claim to having been thrown in at the deep end; rather I have found myself to have drifted, sleepily into the idyllic world of a peaceful vineyard and dairy, set amongst the green and pleasant rolling hills of Devon: home.

Sharpham Vineyard and Cheese Dairy sits on a small promontory, around which the Dart River bends in a lazy ox-bow, two miles down river from the town of Totnes, set in the beautiful South Hams region of South Devon. It is not a large operation - around twenty or so employees - but the cheese made on site in the local dairy can be widely found in many boutique cheese shops, while the 10-acre vineyard produces a twentieth of the UK's total yearly supply of wine.

While I have the pleasure of administering daily tastings and tours to the (ever growing!) wine-loving English public - visitors thirsty for information and keen to support local, English wines - working at Sharpham has also presented me with a wonderful opportunity to learn, not simply about the rapid rise of English viniculture, but also offered a hands on experience of wine-making itself. Wine-maker Duncan Schwab has over twenty years of experience in his field, having had his Sharpham wine win international recognition and even been sipped at the House of Lords, as recently as a year ago.

While the magnificent scenery alone is worth the commute every morning, Sharpham's site-produced cheeses and wines typify the rustic and rural, Devon aesthetic. You simply cannot visit without trying the Sharpham Estate Selection 2009, which, just a few weeks ago won best UK Still Wine of the Year. Produced from the free-run juice of choice Madeline Angevine grapes, it is a delicate, citrus, elderflower and tropical delight on the nose, bone-dry with steely acidity, possessing intense grape-fruit and guava on the palate, with a length that just keeps on going. Five miles from famous fishing town of Brixham, in a region closely linked to both cod and clotted cream scones alike, this is the perfect match for scallops, white fish or Brixham's world-famous crab. Better yet, come and try it in the Vineyard!