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Yorkshire's oldest vineyard celebrates wine making milestone
Yorkshire's oldest vineyard is celebrating two decades of making award-winning wine.
Neil Hudson braved the cold to talk about growing grapes at Leventhorpe Vineyard in Woodlesford.
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George Bowden is standing at the top of a long row of grapevines which cross one of the snow-covered hillsides at the side of Bullerthorpe Lane in Woodlesford.
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It's a stone's throw from the big roundabout at Colton but far enough away to give the impression of it being in the middle of the countryside, with nothing but rolling fields for miles around.
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The particular hillside I have come to visit is home to Leventhorpe Vineyard, which was founded in 1985 and began producing wine around Easter 1990.
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This year will mark its 20th in terms of wine production.
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The vineyard is smaller than I imagined but my concept of a what a vineyard ought to look like is skewed by stereotype: that of a continental sun-drenched vale stretching as far as the eye can see and probably beyond, kept in check by a small army of quad-bike driving workers, no doubt directed by a grass-chewing, straw-hat wearing Frenchman named Pierre.
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Mr Bowden has no straw hat, nor does he own a quad bike. In fact, he looks after his 7,000-plus vines himself, for the most part, employing two pickers come harvest time – "the only two teetotal Methodist grape pickers in the country," he later jokes.
While we are dispensing with stereotypes, vineyards are no longer continental affairs, either. There are now 416 vineyards – and 116 wineries – scattered throughout the UK and UK wine is fast making its
mark in the world.
In January this year, Nyetimber's Classic Cuvee 2003, a sparkling wine
produced in Sussex was crowned Champion of Worldwide Sparkling Wines, in the annual Bollicine Del Mondo competition in Verona, beating French heavyweights such as Bollinger, Pommery and Louis Roederer.
Leventhorpe is also no stranger to awards and has won several regional accolades – it has also passed quality tests to differentiate it from other 'table wines', so, its labels now carry the words 'Yorkshire Regional Wine' to reflect this.
Mr Bowden's wines have other plaudits, including praise from the likes of TV wine critic Oz Clarke and journeyman James May – the two collaborated on Oz and James's Big Wine Adventure (2007) – and chef Rick Stein.
Add to that favourable reviews in the national press and industry awards and you start to appreciate Mr Bowden isn't playing at making wine – he's pretty much nailed it.
At this time of year, the leafless vines, with their twisted woody stems, look somewhat disappointing, stunted and withered. In fact, you'd be forgiven for thinking they were dead. Of course, they are merely dormant, waiting to burst out in a rash of vibrant leafyness.
I wave at Mr Bowden to attract his attention and it's as we head towards one another – me clambering awkwardly over several large piles of vine prunings made that very morning – that I realise I'm not in any way dressed appropriately for the job in hand, my slippery office shoes no match for mud barely above freezing temperature.
Ten minutes into our chat and I begin to lose feeling in my toes, not to mention other body parts. But then Mr Bowden makes an observation.
"See where you've been stamping your feet," he says. "The snow has melted but there's no puddle. It means this slope is very well drained, which makes it perfect for growing vines.
"In fact, that's how I first came across it. I used to teach chemistry, I was going to an exam meeting in Wakefield, it was very snowy. I kept off the main roads because I knew 90 per cent of people don't know how to drive in snow. So, I came down this road. My meeting finished early and on my way back, the sun was shining and I noticed the snow was already starting to break up and melt.
"It told me two things: this hill collects the heat but it's also well drained, because for the snow to melt, the water has to have somewhere to go. I thought, if it ever comes up for sale, I'll buy it.
"It's what's known as the Charlemagne effect, after the Roman emperor, Charlemagne, who, when he went through Europe, used to look where the snow had melted and would order them to plant a vineyard there."
The hill did come up for sale , Mr Bowden did buy it and a few years later he revived a tradition of wine-making which stretches back to the 15th century and possibly beyond.
The 62-year-old father-of-one, clearly has a passion for history. "You could say I've revived a tradition. This area was renowned for its wine making. This field was listed in the Doomsday Book, they used to overwinter pigs here, pigs feel the cold like we do.
"From here to Wetherby they used to grow grapes for Kirkstall Abbey. I've just revived the tradition.
"Most people think the vine comes from the Mediterranean. It is, in fact, a mountain plant and is at home in the Caucasus and Himalayas. It spends its life in the trees and only does anything when it comes out of the tree top into the sun. All man has to do is replicate that.
"This particular field has a hungry soil, which is great for the vines. If the soil is too rich, the plant puts a lot of energy into making wood and leaves, instead of fruit."
Leventhorpe produces several wines, including Leventhorpe Madeleine Angevine, Hill Field, Leventhorpe Seyval, Leventhorpe Brut (all white) and West Riding Red.
You may even have tasted his wine and not known it. In addition to supplying selected farmshops and delicatessens throughout Yorkshire, he supplies West Yorkshire Playhouse.
"I was always interested in wine. I've planted every vine myself. The vines have a sense of bonsai about them. It takes three weeks to pick the fruit. I like to replant them about once every hundred years."
Of course, he's joking, the life of a vine is around 40 years, so it's not something he has to worry about.
He continues: "The best one can hope for it to produce good quality wine. There's no use in producing plonk. I have been approached by supermarkets but I have always said no, because I do not want to have prices dictated to me.
"I know too many French growers who rue the day they ever got into that. It's like riding a tiger.
"When you see wine on offer in supermarkets, three bottles for 10, you know the vineyard is in trouble.
"I cannot describe what good wine is. Good wine is personal. Some people say there's no such thing as bad wine, there's only better wine.
"If it's 2 a bottle and you like it, then that's the best wine for you. If it's 100 a bottle, likewise.
He adds: "The recession hasn't affected me at all, really. Nor the winter. The vines will stand it down to minus twenty. And people are perhaps eating in and buying a nice bottle of wine to enjoy with their meal. Farmshops which sell my wine do a great trade.
"Oz Clarke said he could taste my wine anywhere in the world and know it was mine. It's only anecdotal but my wine was recently in a tasting competition in Japan and it was up against some top wines, more expensive wines and it won. A professor who was judging it couldn't believe it, because he comes from Leeds. I'm hoping to meet him soon because he is planning to visit.
"I like to quote Richard III: 'Now is the winter of our discontent, Made glorious summer by this Yorkshire wine...'".
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Weather for Leeds
Thursday 24 May 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 10 C to 25 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: North east
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 9 C to 21 C
Wind Speed: 16 mph
Wind direction: East
