About Us.
We are a small family run business, supported by a close team of really good friends (otherwise known as staff).
So, what do you get when you cross a bored Corporate Tax Lawyer with an eccentric Engineer who has a whole load of crazy ideas? It could be the start of a Christmas cracker joke, but it’s not. Throw into the mix the UK’s oldest vineyard and 10 acres to play with and what you get is total madness, blue wine, chillis with flaming bottoms, and live music every day you can 🤔
And so as every fairy tail begins; once upon a time… Philippa (the bored Tax Lawyer) and Russ (the eccentric Engineer) hitched up.
He was a bit nuts, with some good ideas. She was well grounded and had a good head for business (Russ wanted to write “with a big slapping stick” but that was quickly deleted. Humphffff).
The story shall continue.
First and foremost, we don’t have staff!! Yes, of course we have a handful of people helping to operate this madness. To us though, we are all friends and that is what makes the difference. Each of us enjoys what we do; so much so that many of our customers have said that they feel as though it is the most relaxing and happiest place they have visited during their stay on the Island because they are welcomed into a family. (thankfully, we don’t let Russ out of the tractor much…..)
Adgestone Vineyard Team
We are the oldest continuously operating vineyard in the UK. None of that Trigger’s broom with “5 new handles and 3 new heads” stuff!
A few vineyards in the UK were originally planted in the late 50’s, but were then “grubbed up” (removing the vines to return the land to pasture) due to being unsuccessful. Many years later, new owners have planted new vines on the same land and continue to support English Wines, but they have not been continuously operating.
The original plantings of Seyval Blanc in 1968 still remain, making them them the oldest commercial vines in the UK (we’ll get around to updating the onerous Wiki statements at some point…. if we can ever be bothered).
Having the oldest vineyard in the UK doesn’t mean we need to be pompous about it. We love wine and the ingenuity of the processes behind making it. We control every single stage of production, from growth of the vines, through to creating the taste of the wine. We want you to love and appreciate everything that we do about the whole process, which is why we try to make our vineyard experience as genuine as possible.
Lets just make wine fun…that’s what it should be, right?
Something Blue
And so…… have fun we did. We explore to extremes the art of wine making, whilst at the same time ensuring our visitors go away understanding the truths about wine. Our aim is to dispel the fanciful myths such as: “does a bigger dimple in a bottle mean the wine is better??” and to explain what the importance is of the “Duchess’ Fart”.
Come along and see us at Adgestone Vineyard. Russ, Philippa and our lovely team look forward to showing you how beautiful, yet so simple wine can be. xx