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Nutbourne Vineyard Autumn Harvest Q&A

24.10.24

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5 min read

We caught up with the Gladwin brothers - Richard, Olive and Gregory - during their autumn harvest at Nutbourne. If you're a London foodie, you'll know their Local + Wild restaurant group (The Black Lamb in Wimbledon Village is practically our local), where their "what grows together, goes together" philosophy has earned them quite the following.

These Sussex boys have been cultivating some of England's most interesting wines for decades, leading the charge with Germanic varieties when everyone else was fixated on French grapes. Their family vineyard was one of the first to plant Huxelrebe and Bacchus on British soil. Between running their growing restaurant empire (including their latest, The Pig's Ear in Chelsea), publishing cookbooks and keeping their Sussex farm running, they somehow find time each autumn to return home for the grape harvest.

Over the rumble of tractors, we got the inside track on this year's harvest - and discovered why this year's vintage might just be their most intriguing yet - even if the weather had other plans.

How’s the harvest going? With a vast selection of varieties to pick, what are you picking at the moment? Is there an order to the variety you pick?

The harvest has gone well so far, despite the variable growing conditions we’ve had this season. Although it’s a smaller crop than usual, it’s good clean fruit. Our Germanic varieties ripen first, so we pick the Huxelrebe, Bacchus and Reichensteiner for our field blend Sussex Reserve, followed by the Pinot Noir for Nutty sparkling, then the rest of the French grapes – Pinot Meunier, Pinot Blanc and Chardonnay. We’re leaving the Pinot Gris until last in the hope of making a ‘late harvest’ style wine.

You were recently featured in the Times, explaining that the recent rainfall may threaten this year’s vintage. What are some of the challenges due to this? How do you overcome these challenges?

Rainfall has been a challenge throughout the season, starting from flowering and fruit set, when we wanted dry weather with a light breeze. So it has all been about canopy management this year – more leaf pulling to expose the fruit for ripening and more wire lifting to manage the canes above the fruiting zone. This was all to prevent the mildew and disease that can develop in the high humidity. We also green harvested in some of the plots – removing some bunches so the remaining fruit can ripen. Giving the crop a longer hang time, we started harvest three weeks later than usual to allow the crop to ripen.

What might we expect from this year’s vintage?

Although we might not make a red wine this year, because there was a lower yield, we have still managed lovely ripe fruit. The saying goes that you can’t make good wine from bad grapes, so this is a good start for production in the winery. The juice from the press tastes delicious, with the fruit and aromatics that we’re looking for, so with the ferments underway in tank, we’re expecting a few good wines from this year!

England has traditionally been known for growing the traditional champagne grape varieties, Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier and Chardonnay, Nutbourne goes beyond these three varieties. What was the thinking behind this?

Our vineyard was originally planted with Germanic Riesling-style grapes 45 years ago, during an era when these were favoured in the UK. The idea was that as England is also a cool climate region on a similar latitude to Germany, these varieties would do well, and at Nutbourne, they have. Our new plots and replantings over the years have added French grapes for making sparkling and still wines, with both Champagne and Burgundian clones. As Pinot Gris and Pinot Blanc are simply mutations of Pinot Noir, many English vineyards plant these alongside the main Champagne grapes.

What elements on the Nutbourne estate contribute to being able to produce these other grape varieties?

Our terroir is ideal for fruit production – the site was originally terraces of apple orchards. The South facing slopes are in a microclimate, protected from sea breezes by the South Downs. With a base of sandstone topped by greensand soil, we have good water retention as well as good water drainage, so grapes grown in this soil have finesse - delicate and elegant characteristics - as well as balanced acidity and concentrated fruit flavour. For example, the Bacchus grape flourishes here and produces wines with a delicate elderflower nose and herby, grassy palate.

With English winemaking still largely free from strict regulations, how has Nutbourne used this freedom to create wines that stand out?

In time, more classifications will be added to the English PDO/PGI system as estates and regions become known for quality and distinctive styles, but English and Welsh producers do currently have a wonderful freedom to plant. They can choose established varieties from around the world, or new cultivars like PIWIs, so there are interesting new blends being produced, such as our field blend Sussex Reserve that combines French and Germanic varieties. Winemakers can then pick and choose from a range of methods developed in other regions and countries – for example, we have used French and American oak to age aromatic grapes for Barrel Reserve - this adds brightness and body to the blend, whilst softening fresh acidity. Winemakers are also starting to produce ageworthy still wines that can develop finer flavours from time in bottle. A new generation of winemakers are emerging who have either travelled and joined vintages overseas or are learning from experienced British winemakers how to grow grapes well in our climate and make great still wines with them.

The Gladwin Brothers

Three brothers, three different talents, one shared passion for what grows together, goes together. Richard's the wine-savvy restaurateur who learned his trade in New York before bringing it all back home. Oliver's the creative force in the kitchen, as likely to be found foraging in hedgerows as he is leading the pass. And Gregory? He's the farmer, raising everything from beef to guinea fowl when he's not overseeing their prized Nutbourne vineyard.

Together, they've created Local & Wild, a restaurant group that's redefining British seasonal cooking. From The Shed to their latest pub, The Pig’s Ear, each spot showcases the best of British produce – often from their own farm – paired with wines from their family vineyard.

Ready to taste what happens when farming, foraging, and winemaking expertise meet on a plate? Here are three of their favourite autumn recipes and wine pairings.