Raising the Bar
Words | Alastair Duncan The response to English wines used to be dismissal; now they’re attracting awards. Voyager discovers the Dutch courage behind one of England’s most successful vineyards “THE MAIN LESSON I’ve learned in this business is that you have to be patient,” says vineyard owner Eric Heerema. “Mother Nature moves slowly.” If patience is a virtue then the [...]
Words | Alastair Duncan
The response to English wines used to be dismissal; now they’re attracting awards. Voyager discovers the Dutch courage behind
one of England’s most successful vineyards
“THE MAIN LESSON I’ve learned in this business is that you have to be patient,” says vineyard owner Eric Heerema.
“Mother Nature moves slowly.”
If patience is a virtue then the millionaire entrepreneur must be saintly. Dutch-born Heerema turned his back
on a career in finance to become a full-time vintner in 2006 when he bought the prestigious Nyetimber estate in
Sussex – by reputation, makers of England’s finest sparkling white wine. But as things stand, he does not expect to
break even until 2014. Such is the lengthy maturing period required for his wine (made by the same method as
champagne). So he is currently funnelling great vats of cash into Nyetimber as he aspires to make it an English rival to
the likes of Dom Perignon, Veuve Clicquot and Bollinger.
“We make huge losses currently,” he says, wryly. “But that’s because our expansion is so dramatic – so our
investments are very heavy indeed. We have just released our 2001 vintage. You can imagine how long it takes to get
the return on that investment!”
Heerema had always been a wine buff, but he only encountered British wine for the first time back in the late
1990s after moving to the UK to live with his family in Tudor Farm in Sussex, six miles from the Nyetimber estate.
“I had read articles about English wine getting better,” he recalls. “Then I bought a bottle of Nyetimber from my local
shop and was really surprised at how good it was.”
alt="Eric Heerema thought he would have to move to France to fulfil his dream of running a vineyard">
It inspired Heerema to find out more. The vineyard was established in the 1980s by two eccentric Americans, Stuart
and Sandy Moss, who had set out to produce an English sparkling wine made from champagne-type varieties Pinot
Noir, Chardonnay and Pinot Meunier. “They were treated with a lot of scepticism at the time,” explains Heerema.
“All the other English wine producers then were using local varieties or German variety wines that were strong
enough to withstand the cool climate. But the Mosses realised that champagne might work here as well – it’s not
for nothing that Champagne is the most northern wine production area in France; there is a very cool climate there.
They saw parallels between both regions in climate and soil. And, when they first released their products, they had
immediate success.”
Heerema had always wanted to acquire a vineyard, long before he arrived on British shores, but imagined he would
have to move to France or Italy to realise his dream. He is glad now that he never went down that path. “Purchasing
a French or Italian wine estate might have seemed a more obvious choice, but I would have had to produce bucketfulls
of money and I would always have been viewed as an outsider in those countries.”
He preferred the challenge of taking on a vineyard in the UK, and, besides, by the 1990s, British wines were winning
awards; Nyetimber won its first major prize in 1996. Eyeing the estate as a golden business opportunity, he snapped it
up for £8m and began to expand the business at a dizzying rate: increasing the acreage sevenfold, from 36 to 260 and
doubling staff from 17 part-time workers to 35 full-time employees, with the aim of increasing production from
70,000 bottles a year to a staggering 600,000 by 2011.
It would all sound like madness, especially in the current economic climate, investing so heavily in as niche an
industry as English sparkling wine, were it not for the fact that demand far outstrips supply. “It’s frustrating but we
have to say ‘no’ to many customers,” says Heerema. “The positive aspect of this is that we have been able to charge
more of a premium: our wine now retails at around £25 a bottle. Why not? There is huge demand.”
After securing a place on the shelves of supermarket Waitrose and other leading wine merchants in the UK, as
well as leading restaurants such as Le Gavroche, The Ivy and Gordon Ramsay’s restaurant group, Heerema is now eyeing
European and other international export markets.
“I have the opportunity to try and put England on the map as a serious, wine-producing country,” he states.
“We’re creating a luxury brand and intend to become a serious international player.”
alt="The Nyetimber estate’s centuries-old manor house was restored in the early 20th century">
In the wine industry, blind-tasting tests by international wine judges are often the litmus test for the quality of
new vintages and, in this, Nyetimber is currently excelling: at the International Wine & Spirit Competition earlier this
year, Nyetimber’s 2001 Classic Cuvée was awarded not only the gold medal but also was given the distinction of
Best in Class.
Its reputation as the premier British bubbly has also been boosted by being regularly served at Buckingham Palace
and during other state occasions. The drinking of wine made on British soil at such formal gatherings is largely a
patriotic gesture, of course, but having the Queen as one of your regular customers certainly helps. More importantly
to Heerema, however, is the fact that he simply loves the wine he makes.
“If you mention to most businessmen that you will make a profit in six or seven years’ time and that you’ll have to
channel enormous amounts of money into the business along the way, then many will say: ‘I don’t see the future as
all that rosy.’ But I am hugely passionate about my product and that puts me in good stead.”
www.nyetimber.com
Other British bubblies
Nyetimber is spearheading a wave of enthusiastic English winemakers. There are almost 370 vineyards in England and Wales, with more than
3,000 acres under vine, an increase of 61% since 2003. There were 20 new vineyards planted last year, and several more are planned for next
year, mostly in Kent and Sussex but also in Hampshire, where Waitrose is planting five hectares. Waitrose say that their customers are “increasingly
positive about buying English wine”, as sales of home-grown wine grew 92% between 2006 and 2007.
Ridgeview Estate at Ditchling Beacon, on the Sussex Downs, was started by Michael and Christine Roberts in 1993 when they
sold their computer business. Their Merret Bloomsbury 2002 has been applauded in wine circles for its “complex and longlasting
toast and biscuit notes”.
Fragbarrow Lane, Ditchling Common, Sussex BN6 8TP, +44 (0)845 345 7292;
www.ridgeview.co.uk
Kent-based Chapel Down was the first English winemaker to win a gold medal at the International Wine Challenge. It supplies Gordon
Ramsay and Gary Rhodes’s restaurants, among others. Their “peachy” Bacchus 2005 is often eulogised. The vineyard has guided
tours and tastings for members of the public between March and October and a bistro with not only their wines but local Kentish
produce on offer. They also organise bespoke corporate tastings throughout the year.
Tenterden Vineyard, Small Hythe, Kent TN30 7NG, +44 (0)1580 766 111; www.englishwinesgroup.com
At 265 acres, the Denbies Wine Estate, on the North Downs in Surrey, is the largest in England.
Their Greenfields Cuvée 2003 won a gold medal at the International Wine Challenge which, according to one wine
critic, “competes with the best anywhere.”
London Road, Dorking, Surrey RH5 6AA, +44 (0)1306 876 616; www.denbiesvineyard.co.uk
English wine – a restaurateur says yes
Iqbal Wahhab, the owner of Roast restaurant in London’s Borough Market, which specializes in showcasing British
produce, gives his take on stocking English wines:
“When I opened a seasonal British restaurant I wanted to offer diners the complete package, and therefore decided
to offer English wines. Admittedly, I was originally sceptical. But English wines have now come of age; we do not have
to sell them to customers, they come in seeking them and invariably are happy for having done so.” The English wines
at Roast – Chapel Down and Ridgeview – currently account for 10% of the overall wine sales.
“A couple of years ago the government body Food from Britain used Roast to do a week-long blind tasting session where they offered diners
a sparkling English wine and a French Champagne. Needless to say when the English one got the majority vote
everyone was delighted.
“It’s not surprising then that more and more vineyards are cropping up in southern England. But when I’m next in
a restaurant in say Paris or New York and I see an English wine on the list, then I’ll know that they have truly arrived.”
