Author: Faye

19 May 2013

600 new vines have been planted and the vineyard has increased in size by 40%, just short of 2000 vines,  an area of half a hectare.

New wines for this year will be our 2012 vintage, a Rosé and the second release of our 2010 Sparkling Rosé which has spent 22 months on its lees.  As soon as the labels are printed they will appear on our shop shelves.

25 May–2 June 2013 is English Wine Week and Gala Week for The Lions Club of Budleigh Salterton.  The vineyard will be open every day 10.30 am – 4.00 pm and a Guided Tour followed by a free tasting of our Fine English Wines, price £6 per adult, will take place every day at 2.30 pm.  Please book by contacting 07977 057864.  Light refreshments will also be available.  This year our chosen charity for a donation will be the Budleigh Salterton Health Centre Charity.

Budburst is late this year so the vines have some catching up to do.  Fingers crossed for a good growing season and a bumper harvest.

27 March 2013

Last Monday we participated in the local producers event ‘Secrets of Devon’ held at The Britannia Inn and Restaurant in Knowle Village.   The afternoon turned into quite a busy affair with local businesses and Councillors dropping in.

Meanwhile, at Lily Farm, we have finished pruning 3 weeks later in the year than normal and it was hard work in the cold weather.  Not surprisingly we do not expect to see budburst for a while yet.

Looking on the bright side we are preparing to plant another 600 vines which will include a new variety for our vineyard, namely Reichensteiner, a white grape to compliment our current white wines which is good for blending and  sparkling wines.

We open for the new season from Thursday 28 March 2013 and our Shop opening hours will be every Thursday, Friday and Saturday 10.30 am to 4.00 pm.  Guided Tours will take place at 2.30 pm but as we are a working vineyard booking is required by contacting 07977 057864.

Alan and I look forward to welcoming you to Lily Farm Vineyard.

1 December 2012

Christmas drinks should not be left down to luck at this time of year when you want your wines to be as good as your food.  Celebrate with Lily Farm Sparkling Rose’ – just perfect for those wanting to add some extra fizz to the festivities.

For a present that is slightly different we offer Gift Vouchers for a Guided Tour of the Vineyard priced from £12, or check out our hand knitted garments made from our own sheep wool to keep you warm during the Winter months.

The Vineyard Shop is open Thursday, Friday and Saturday every week to Christmas 10.00 am to 3.00 pm and as a Special Christmas Offer we have doubled our case purchase 6 bottle discount to 10% until 22 December 2012.   Orders and payment may also be made by phone on 07977 057864 with free delivery to Budleigh Salterton and the surrounding area.

Have a Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year.

8 October 2012

It seems that we only put the nets around the fruiting wires yesterday and already they  are down again as on Wednesday 4 October we welcomed our regular pickers, with one or two new faces, who had come to help us pick our grapes.   What  GREAT FRIENDS you are and once again, THANK YOU, we could not manage this so well without your help.

We met at 9.00 am for tea, coffee, brioche, muffins and a chat followed by instruction and safety talk from Alan with a 9.30 am start in the vineyard.

The morning went well with the only shower of rain materializing just as the pickers finished and came in for lunch.  There was a lot of ground to cover as due to the weather this year we had fewer grapes to pick and we decided to pick Rondo following on with Pinot Noir Precoce as they will be blended by Steve at Bagborough Winery to make a rose’ wine this year.

We picked half a tonne of grapes, not a lot for all the work, but we did have a harvest and we still have the Seyval Blanc left to pick which should be ready in early November.

14 September 2012

As we are such a small vineyard it is important that we take measures to protect our grapes from birds as they can have a huge impact on the amount that we pick.  Every year we net around the fruiting area, a laborious task but one that is very necessary.  Normally we start putting the nets up in the first or second week of August just before the sugars in the grapes reach that level of ripeness which makes them so attractive to the birds.  This year we are about 3 weeks behind due to the weather conditions that we have experienced this year.  We are fortunate that our son William and his partner Kyrie are always a great help with jobs like this around the vineyard.

Last month we were having doubts as to whether  we would have a harvest this year but, the ripening process is now well under way.  A wise man I know who has produced grapes for many years,  said to me, “It’s a funny old year!  It usually is”.

25 June 2012

Three of our wines were entered into the English & Welsh Wine of the Year Competition 2012, which is judged by six Masters of Wine.   We were thrilled when our Sparkling Rose’, a Quality Sparkling Wine, was awarded a Silver Medal, our 2010 Rose’ achieved a Bronze and 2011 Red English Quality Wine was Highly Commended.

Also, in the recent search to find the best Devon wine to accompany South Devon Crab, 16 wines were tasted blind and our Sparkling Rose’ was given an honourable mention , Master of Wine Xenia Irwin commented, “It sang out in its glass,” and is perfect for those wanting to add some extra fizz to the festivities.  .   http://ow.ly/busej

10 June 2012

Definitely not flaming June and there were not many guided tours this English Wine/Gala/Jubilee Week in between the rain showers, however, we were pleased to greet new and regular customers who called in to taste and buy our wines.

We will be making a donation of £100 towards the Budleigh Salterton Christmas Lights.  Thank you for your support in helping us to raise this amount.

On Saturday 9 June, Faye was made welcome in the Devon Food Shop at Otterton Mill where she offered tastings of Lily Farm Wines to customers.  Feedback was positive and recent media publicity is working well to help raise awareness that we have a first class English Wine Industry.

There have been many changes at Otterton Mill and it is well worth a visit to see the ancient working watermill, shop for local food and wine, arts and crafts, participate in one of their workshops, or just eat in their award winning restaurant.

23 May 2012

English Wine Week is being celebrated by the vineyards of England and Wales from 2nd – 10th June 2012 and for this week we are pleased to announce the release of our 3 new wines.

A Red English Quality Wine, Dry White Wine and Sparkling Rose’ which is  our first Quality  Sparkling Wine that has been bottled fermented and produced by the Traditional Method, as for Champagne.

As this week is also the Budleigh Salterton Lion’s Gala Week we will be making a donation from the proceeds of our Guided Tours towards the Town’s Christmas Lights.

To book a place on a Guided Tour, which will take place every day at 11.30 am and 2.30 pm,  followed by a Free Tasting of our Fine English Wines, contact Faye on 07977 057864.

10 April 2012

The new vineyard year is off to a good start.

Some late winter weather and frosty conditions made for a nervous few days in early April, but the buds have burst over Easter and the weather has started to warm up. Here’s hoping for more of the same as the summer season kicks in!

We will have some exciting news on our new vintage to be released shortly!