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Harvest at Bolney has begun!
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Perfect weather over lockdown has helped produce a beautiful ripe crop of grapes.  Bolney Wine Estate in West Sussex will pick in excess of 235 tonnes of grapes to fill approximately 190,000 bottles.  A variety of grapes is grown at Bolney, producing an array of award-winning sparkling and still wines.
A third generation family business, Bolney has been producing wine since 1972 and is led by Sam Linter; Sam, who is also a WineGB Director says âlockdown has been challenging but the weather has been amazing so we are seeing harvest come earlier than ever before.  The future of English Wine looks very promising.â
State of the art harvest machinery will be used after a successful trial last year at  Bolney Wine Estate this harvest.  Bolney Wine Estate have always been pioneers and are constantly looking for ways to innovate wherever possible. They call on century old traditions and brand values of heritage and craftsmanship and marry them successfully with a modern, efficient approach.
There will always be a place for handpicking for making sparkling wines, when whole bunch pressing is an important part of the process. The Bolney team will be picking the three sparkling varieties (Pinot Meunier, Pinot Noir and Chardonnay) by hand in a couple of weeksâ time.
Meanwhile, on a warm sunny September day, Bolney are delighted to have started their 2020 vintage. And the 16 tonnes of Rondo will be harvested in time for lunch (a task which normally would have taken 40 pickers all day).
How to Taste Wine
Learning how to taste wine properly will open you up to a world of sensory pleasure. Wine tasting can have a bad rep, being associated with snobbiness and seemingly nonsensical descriptions of âbouquetsâ and ânotesâ. But when you understand the process and how to do it correctly, youâll start getting the most out of what can be an incredibly rewarding experience.
We have been making award-winning English wine at our Sussex estate for half a century, and have been offering wine tasting experiences for years. Allow us to take you through how to taste wine for beginners, explaining each step and its significance, so you can become a wine tasting connoisseur in no time at all.
