Downsview Vineyard, High Weald, Sussex
Downsview Vineyard, High Weald, Sussex
The vineyard and small off-grid winery of Downsview Vineyard are nestled in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in the High Weald in Sussex and run by husband-and-wife team Toby and Katy Spiers, who are passionate about creating outstanding wines from exceptional quality grapes.
Recently, Toby and Katy have become the custodians of some rare, old vine vineyards in the local area planted over thirty-five years ago of which Herons Ghyll is the first. The first vines at Herons Ghyll Estate were planted by the Slatter family in 1989 following the great storm of 1987, an extratropical cyclone that decimated swathes of forest landscape in the UK. Reichensteiner and Huxelrebe were high cordon trained down a south-facing slope to fill the space left by the storm and were selected to suit the milder climate of Sussex.
This growing collection of old vine vineyards make the wines for the Downsview Vineyards Old Vine range from which Toby has made three old vine wines for the first release from the Herons Ghyll Estate vineyard:
* Downsview Vineyards Old Vine Museum Release Late Disgorged 2006
* Old Vine Sparkling White NV
* and a still Old Vine White 2022.
Each wine has been made with a focus on showcasing the age of the vines and the purity of the fruit and careful intervention drives Toby’s intention to let the aged vines tell their story.
“Old vines (over 35+ years) are rare in the UK with less than 3% of total vineyards remaining. We are lucky enough to be the custodians of a growing number of vineyards planted in the 1980s and are on the lookout for more as we seek to become England’s leading wine producer of old vines.” Toby Spiers
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