Category: News

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!

4th March 2012:

There are so many jobs around the vineyard at this time of the year and it is true to say that there is never a dull moment at Lily Farm!

Our four Dorset Down ewes lambed in January and the lambs are growing so fast that they will soon be as big as their mothers.

Pruning of the vines and bowing over the new canes is now finished. Whilst a somewhat arduous task the weather has been fantastic. With daily temperatures reaching as high as 16 degrees it certainly feels like the beginning of a new growing season!

We visited Steve at the winery last week to get the first taste of the 2011 vintage. The new red is a particularly exciting prospect, with a natural fermentation at 13.5% volume. This is exceptional for an English red wine and we eagerly await its arrival in time for English Wine Week at the beginning of June.

13 December 2011:

Following one of the warmest Novembers on record our Bacchus vines initially started to grow again after harvesting.  The vine leaves have now changed colour and are falling.  Rondo is bare with Pinot, Bacchus and Seyval following on behind in order of harvest.

We are open Thursday, Friday and Saturday 10.00 a.m. to 04.00 p.m. and we have Red and Rosé wines still available.  A Gift Box of 3 are priced from £26.50, Gift Vouchers for Vineyard Tours are £12 for 2 and £24 for four adults.

Alan and I would like to say THANK YOU to all of you who have supported us this year, those who helped us pick at harvest time and also to our customers.  We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

19 October 2011

The year has rushed by and we have now finished harvesting our 4 varieties with the help of our stalwart volunteer pickers.  Thank you.  If we did not call on you this year, we may well call next year.  The quantitiy of grapes, 1.5 tonnes,  was less than last year but the natural sugars were very high.

The shop has kept us busy and sales of all our wines have gone well, the Bacchus 2010 and Red 2010 are now sold out.  We have met visitors, some from around the world who have come to the our vineyard and taken a guided tour.  Our Opening Hours, as we move towards the winter months are Thursday, Friday and Saturday 10.00 a.m. to 04.00 p.m.  If you want to call in at other times, just ring us and we will see what we can do.

17th July 2011

Last Tuesday Alan and I attended the House of Lords for The English & Welsh Wine Of The Year Competition 2011 Awards Ceremony.  We were thrilled that our wines had achieved one Silver and three Bronze medals.  This competition, judged by a panel of Masters of Wine, is the only competition run by the UK wine industry for winemakers and we were excited to have been a part of this event.

17th July 2011

Last Tuesday Alan and I attended the House of Lords for The English & Welsh Wine Of The Year Competition 2011 Awards Ceremony.  We were thrilled that our wines had achieved one Silver and three Bronze medals.  This competition, judged by a panel of Masters of Wine, is the only competition run by the UK wine industry for winemakers and we were excited to have been a part of this event.