PRESS RELEASE A Derbyshire vineyard, Amber Valley Vineyards, is a Bronze Medal winner in the world’s most prestigious wine competition the International Wine Challenge. Grown in Amber Valley Wines Ltd own vineyards overlooking the beautiful Amber Valley near the village of Wessington, the 2018 Lindway Brook Vintage Cuvée Brut, was singled out as “Clean with yellow fruits on the nose and fresh orchard fruits on the palate” garnering 86 points. The special sparkler came from the 2018 vintage, which will go down in history as one of the greats for the U.K. and is predominately made of Seyval Blanc grapes with smaller quantities of Pinot Noir Précoce and Auxerrois, all grown at their Doehole vineyards that straddles the boundary of Ashover and Brackenfield parishes and their Back Lane vineyard in Wessington. Amber Valley Wines owner Barry Lewis said, “I’m absolutely delighted - this is the wine we’ve always wanted to make - a top quality sparkling wine that could comfortably stand alongside the best from anywhere in the world. When we planted in 2012 it was with the intention of making top quality estate grown sparkling wines eventually and 2018 was the first year where conditions and cropping were perfect. Our location and growing sites can be challenging but when conditions are just right then we can get startling results.” Amber Valley Vineyards is situated in Wessington, and comprises vineyards, orchard and Cellardoor. They offer tours and tastings and a programme of events including farmers and artisan markets in their lovely orchard. Visit Amber Valley Vineyards website at www.ambvervalleywines.co.uk where this and their other wines can be purchased and tours and tastings can be booked. Lindway Brook Vintage Cuvée Brut 2018 International Wine Challenge Bronze Medal Winner 2021 https://www.internationalwinechallenge.com/canopy/beverage_details?wid=160823
Bob hard at work with the electic pruners zipping carefully and skilfully through the vines.
Back in June, when the government announced that outdoor markets could return business we took the decision to try to organise our own farmers market. It was something we had thought about for a year or two, thinking the orchard would make a perfect backdrop for one. Since the orchard is also fully licensed it made sense anyway. We were hearing of many small producers that had reduced opportunities to sell due to the cancellation of so many events like country shows and fairs and of course, any indoor venues, thanks to the Coronavirus pandemic. So when we reached out and contacted traders we found them willing to give it a try and so with reasonable pitch price we hoped it would work out for us all. We held our first one on 20th June and put in measures such as on-site bookable parking that could be booked online, a clearly signed one-way pedestrian system with hand-sanitiser stations at key points and because we have lots of space and the trees provided a natural way to break-up movement in the orchard it worked beautifully. People arrived at their pre-booked times and followed the advice amazingly well and enjoyed a delightful visit, shopped and supported local traders. It was lovely to hear comments from people about how they felt so safe shopping at the market and how it was nice to get out and do something so normal. It was a huge success for all of us. Since then each market has grown, with more visitors and more stalls and traders adding to the beautifully curated selection of stalls. We have amazing fruit and veg, hand crafted local chocolate, a local gin distiller, a kombucha producer from down the road and a local chorizo maker all of whom can be found on our webpage here. Ahead of each market we had contact from a number of other traders, mainly of crafters and artists looking for a place to sell their beautiful products, so eventually we decided to trial a Artisans Market - and we were overwhelmed with the numbers of people that got in touch. Organised along very similar lines to the farmers market the artisans market included an outdoor food and drink area, with tables, track and trace slips for those that hadn't prebooked parking and a constant table wiping down regime and wipes and hand sanitiser available for people to use. With a little live music to provide a lovely mellow backdrop to the day it was a real privilege to be able to host such a nice event and provide an opportunity to visitors to enjoy a great Bank Holiday weekend experience that felt a little bit normal. It was equally nice to hear from the traders what a great day they had had too. We're looking forward to Septembers Orchard Farmers Market - it may be the last of the year. We hope you'll come and support our fantastic traders before the weather turns. So, for next year I think We'll be back with a programme of markets - a monthly Farmers Market from May through to September or October and of course a number of artisans markets. We'll also be looking to organising a limited number of Winter markets, perhaps a Twilight Orchard Christmas market in November. Ahead of that we'll need to make a number of access improvements to ensure we can park some cars and get access to the orchard during the colder wetter months firstly. Have a look at the great video below created by Chris Smith Photography Wessington. Photos also by Chris Smith....
Read about the imminent arrival of our new 2019 vintage and how we're supporting Ashover Show, our local agricultural show, through this difficult time.
Read about how we can help support your business if you need outdoor space.
There's a big debate at the moment about climate change, it's affects on society, the planet and of course, our way of life. There's no doubt that change has manifested itself in agriculture and most especially in the vineyards of the world - even here on Derbyshire. We've noticed each year that the season is a little longer, yet the grapes ripen a little sooner. Everything is a bit earlier, such as budburst and flowering, along with an earlier harvest and whilst all this, on the face of it, is a boon for us here in the UK it does bring new pressures. Pressures such as disease and pests that all need more management. Not to mention the extremes we seem to experience more and more - such as increased rainfall episodes (when it's wet it's really wet), prevalence of drought, hail and storms. For example, there have been two droughts in the last 8 years and at least two of the wettest years ever recorded have occurred in the last twenty years (Remember 2007 and 2012). The real impact however is being felt in our global community of vineyards, amongst them some of the world's most cherished heritage regions with specialised growing conditions and appellations that require them to grow specific grapes in specific places to produce wines of immeasurable quality and these places, and their iconic wines, are threatened by warming and extremes. Hail the size of golfballs and greater batter more vineyards more frequently, and the new warmer mean temperatures means that some grapes are not expressing their best qualities and consequently new varieties are being considered. We are entering a perilous period for vineyards. There's real need to ensure we do our bit as a business to ensure we don't contribute to the problem and are acting to safeguard our future too. We've been ahead of the curve in this regard, for quite some time and it has always been written into our business plan to be as green and sustainable as possible. We've just revamped our solar and wind powered battery storage system which provides power to our temporary cellar door facility in the old stables. We've been powering lighting etc here for nearly 15 years using this system and with a few tweaks and a new 220ah battery we're good to go for another 15 years! Our new cellar door facility and winery, which we got planning granted for earlier this year, will incorporate a much bigger solar, wind and battery storage facility to supply our needs. Whilst capital intensive such an investment upfront should see us run our operation on a minuscule budget for energy. So as well as being green it makes real financial sense - at the end of the day it's this that will win business and householders over to renewables. We've also got a compost toilet, which I built last year, and this novel solution to an age old problem (what do you do about loos in the middle of nowhere with no sewers?) it is clean, odour free and amazingly efficient and doesn't use any water! We'll be using these in our new facilities too. Additionally, we intend that we will capture, store and UV filter all of our water for use in keeping the winery scrupulously clean, by using water efficient steam cleaners. Even in the build we'll use local tradesmen and craftsmen to ensure we maximise the sustainability of the build as well. Our next investment will be in rechargeable mowers and strimmers - and a renewable means of charging them! These are exciting times for English wines, but we must act to ensure that we protect its future. So, we don't just talk the talk at AVV, we walk the walk.