This event was well supported by the Friends with all places filled within 48 hours from the advert and a waiting list of 25 hopeful Friends.
After a short drive into Windsor Great Park, the 50 Friends and Guests who were successful in securing a place for the talk and tour met at the York Club.
Our speaker and guide for the morning was Anne Linder, General Manager, Direct Wines.
The history of the vineyard
The vineyard in Windsor Great Park began when Tony Laithwaite was looking for a way to celebrate the 50th anniversary of his involvement in the wine trade. Tony was brought up in Windsor and spent much of his time as a boy roaming in Windsor Great Park.
An idea for his 50th anniversary was a vineyard at the Castle. By chance Anne took a customer call in the office and started a conversation. The outcome of which was a call from the Castle and an invitation to visit Windsor Great Park to look for a suitable site for a vineyard.
A choice of sites was offered, the current site chosen and the land leased from The Crown Estate.
The vineyard has a gentle slope that runs south and west down to the Great Meadow Pond. The site is near The Vinery where until the start of World War Two grapes were grown for eating. It was discovered from the Royal Archives that during the reign of Henry II there had been a vineyard at Windsor Castle.
The first vines
In 2011 the first vines were planted, 10 acres with 15,000 vines. The vineyard is planted with three grape varieties, Chardonnay (55%), Pinot Noir (35%) and Pinot Meunier (10%). These are the grape varieties that are used to make Champagne and the soil at the vineyard when analysed before planting was shown to be suitable for their growth.
2016 saw the release of the first wine, an English sparkling wine made by the Champagne method. There have been good and bad years. Today there is less intervention with the vines.
This year Anne had expected to harvest in mid-September, however this year the grapes ripened three weeks earlier than predicted.
The vines yield approximately 24 tons of grapes that take 30 people 2 days to pick. Following picking the grapes are taken to another Laithwaite vineyard and winery in Marlow for processing and eventually bottling. On average one vine produces one bottle of wine. The grapes harvested take 4 years ‘ageing’ before the wine is ready to drink.
The future of the vines
Anne explained that they were already looking to the future with the vines. The yield is expected to drop after 35 years and as all the vines were planted at the same time there needs to be some succession planning. They will experiment with cutting out the crowns of the vines and grafting on new vines to prolong their life.
After a short break we took to our cars for a short drive, in convoy, to the vineyard.
Visit to the vineyard
The vines were laden with bunches of nearly ripe grapes. The green grapes were Chardonnay, and the red grapes were Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier. Anne explained how they check the sugar content of the grapes and once this reaches the required level harvesting will occur.
We stood outside by the vines in the sunshine and sampled the white sparkling wine, which was enjoyed by all of us.
Many of the Friends walked through the vines and around the vineyard.
Sparkling white wine sampling
Anne extended an invitation to join the harvest when it occurred.
The following week on Tuesday 16 September a few Friends did join in the harvest. After donning orange gloves and equipped with snips they cut the bunches of grapes from the vines and enjoyed themselves. In 4 years’ time the wine made from these grapes will be ready for release.
Bunches of grapes in a basket
