The English Wine Diaries Rebecca Pitcairn

Joining me on today’s episode of The English Wine Diaries is Art Tukker, owner of Tinwood Estate in West Sussex. 


The Tukker family farm, which is situated in the hamlet of Halnacker, near Chichester, has a history of growing lettuce but when Art took over in 2006, he had other ideas. 


While studying agriculture and farming at university, it dawned on Art that growing vines could be his family’s future and, after spending some time working at vineyards in New Zealand, returned to Sussex and set about planting the three classic Champagne varieties. 


Fast forward 18 years and the Tinwood estate now has 110 acres under vine and harvests between three and four hundred tonnes of grapes each year. 


As well as touring the vineyards and sampling Tinwood’s award-winning sparkling wine, visitors to the estate can also stay the night in one of the three – very soon to be eight – luxury lodges. 

And once a year Art and his team host a sell-out summer party, where guests dance among the vines to the sound of top DJs, accompanied by fabulous street food and, of course, plenty of English sparkling wine. 


 We talk about how Art transitioned his family farm from producing salad to wine,  the challenges he faced in the early days and why Tinwood is all about making English sparkling wine and the vineyard experience inclusive for everyone.

To find out more about Tinwood Estate, visit tinwoodestate.com or follow @tinwoodestatevineyard on Instagram or @TinwoodEstate on Facebook.

With thanks to our series sponsor, Wickhams, The Great British Wine Merchant. Visit wickhamwine.co.uk to see their award-winning range of English wine with free delivery on orders over £40. The English Wine Diaries listeners can also get 10% discount on their first purchase by entering the code TEWD10. 


Thanks for listening to The English Wine Diaries. If you enjoyed the podcast then please leave a rating or review, it helps boost our ratings and makes it easier for other people to find us. To find out who will be joining me next on the English Wine Diaries, follow @theenglishwinediaries on Instagram and for more regular English wine news and reviews, sign up to our newsletter at thesouthernquarter.co.uk.

In this special episode of The English Wine Diaries, brought to you in partnership with Coravin, I am joined by the company's inventor and founder Greg Lambrecht.  
Having had a successful career in medical technologies and engineering degrees from MIT, Greg combined his knowledge of medical-grade needles with his passion for wine to develop a unique preservation system that allowed him to pour wine without removing the cork. 
The first Coravin wine preservation system, which uses a non-coring needle to pass through the cork while it’s still in the bottle, was launched to the market in 2013. 
 Since the launch of that ground-breaking device, Greg has continued to innovate and has created additional products for still and sparkling wines that give both consumers and trade professionals the freedom to pour wine, in any amount, without feeling the need to finish the entire bottle or waste a single drop. 
To anyone like me, who loves wine, or works in the industry – he is quite frankly a genius!

We talk about the catalyst for the invention of the Coravin wine preservation system, returning to the place Greg had his first taste of wine as a teenager and his hopes and dreams for the future of the brand. 

For more information about Coravin's wine preservation systems, visit coravin.co.uk. You can follow Greg on Instagram @gregatcoravin.

With thanks to our series sponsor, Wickhams, The Great British Wine Merchant. Visit wickhamwine.co.uk to see their award-winning range of English wine with free delivery on orders over £40. The English Wine Diaries listeners can also get 10% discount on their first purchase by entering the code TEWD10. 
Thanks for listening to The English Wine Diaries. If you enjoyed the podcast then please leave a rating or review, it helps boost our ratings and makes it easier for other people to find us. To find out who will be joining me next on the English Wine Diaries, follow @theenglishwinediaries on Instagram and for more regular English wine news and reviews, sign up to our newsletter at thesouthernquarter.co.uk.

My guest on today’s episode of The English Wine Diaries is Sarah Massey, the esteemed head winemaker at Lyme Bay Winery in Axeminster, in Devon. 
Sarah’s interest in winemaking was sparked at an early age and, after completing her Wine Business degree at Plumpton College, she embarked on a remarkable career, working harvests around the world before arriving at Lyme Bay Winery in 2019. 
Sarah's leadership, expertise and innovative approach have been instrumental in shaping Lyme Bay’s reputation as a beacon of excellence within the English wine industry. 

Having initially started as a cider house 30 years ago, Lyme Bay is now a trailblazer in the production of top-tier English wines – buying the best fruit from vineyards located in the best parts of the UK, to make the best quality wine possible. 
 Under Sarah's guidance, this diverse portfolio of wines, which ranges from traditional method sparkling wines to exceptional still varietals, has garnered accolades and critical acclaim for authentically capturing the unique terroir of the English countryside.
 We talk about the moment Sarah fell in love with English wine, her passion for Burgundian-style wines and what attracted her back to her Devon roots after travelling the world.

To find out more about Lyme Bay Winery and tastings  at its cellar door, visit lymebaywinery.co.uk and follow @lymebaywinery on Instagram and facebook. 

This episode of The English Wine Diaries is sponsored by Wickhams, The Great British Wine Merchant. Visit wickhamwine.co.uk to see their award-winning range of English wine with free delivery on orders over £40. The English Wine Diaries listeners can also get 10% discount on their first purchase by entering the code TEWD10.


Thanks for listening to The English Wine Diaries. If you enjoyed the podcast then please leave a rating or review, it helps boost our ratings and makes it easier for other people to find us. To find out who will be joining me next on the English Wine Diaries, follow @theenglishwinediaries on Instagram and for more regular English wine news and reviews, sign up to our newsletter at thesouthernquarter.co.uk.

Joining me on this week's episode of The English Wine Diaries is wine educator and winemaker, Jimmy Smith. 
Jimmy has worked in the wine industry for over 20 years. Having started his career in wine buying, he founded West London Wine School, one of the UK's leading wine, spirit and beer education facilities, in 2010, and in 2020 started online wine education tool Wine with Jimmy.

The school has won multiple awards over the years, including Consumer Educator of the Year at the International Wine Challenge in 2023.

Jimmy has more recently turned his hand to winemaking and, together with business partner and wife, Bethany Paterson, and fellow winemaker Sam Hill, set up Beare Green Winery in the Surrey Hills. 
The winery crafts small batch wines made of grapes sourced from exceptional vineyards within the south of England and focuses on natural yeast fermentation, minimal intervention, innovation and creativity.

We talk about where Jimmy's passion for wine originated, how Beare Green Winery has given he and and Sam the vehicle to experiment with different grapes and techniques and the wine regions that have influenced their winemaking style.

To find out more about the latest wines from Beare Green Winery visit bearegreenwinery.com or follow Jimmy @winewithjimmy on Instagram.

This episode of The English Wine Diaries is sponsored by Wickhams, The Great British Wine Merchant. Visit wickhamwine.co.uk to see their award-winning range of English wine with free deliver on orders over £40. The English Wine Diaries listeners can also get 10% discount on their first purchase by entering the code TEWD10.


Thanks for listening to The English Wine Diaries. If you enjoyed the podcast then please leave a rating or review, it helps boost our ratings and makes it easier for other people to find us. To find out who will be joining me next on the English Wine Diaries, follow @theenglishwinediaries on Instagram and for more regular English wine news and reviews, sign up to our newsletter at thesouthernquarter.co.uk.

On this week's episode of The English Wine Diaries is Gail Gardner, Managing Director of Ashling Park Estate in the charming hamlet of West Ashling near Chichester.


It was after Gail spent some time living in Switzerland and was seduced by the romantic vineyards there that she convinced her family to plant vines back in Sussex and, in 2018 their English wine adventure began.

They planted the traditional champagne varieties of Chardonnay, Pinot noir and Pinot Meunier, as well as some Bacchus and Pinot Precoce, and have gone on to produce sparkling and still wines which have won numerous awards.

But with a fabulous estate at her disposal and a career in marketing, Gail wasn’t happy to settle for just producing award-winning wines. So, along with her team, she has developed Ashling Park into a thriving tourist spot that not only offers vineyard tours and tastings but a stunning first floor restaurant with views across the vines, luxury accommodation, designed by Lewes-based architect and Channel 4 Amazing Spaces co-host, William Hardie and there’s even a gin-making school.

We talk about the future of Sussex's wine tourism, the pressure to keep winning awards and how Gail hopes Ashling Park will continue to be a family affair for years to come.

For more information about Ashling Park Estate  visit ashlingpark.co.uk or follow @ashlingpark on Instagram or @ashlingparkestate on facebook. 

This episode of The English Wine Diaries is sponsored by Wickhams, The Great British Wine Merchant. Visit wickhamwine.co.uk to see their award-winning range of English wine with free delivery on orders over £40. The English Wine Diaries listeners can also get 10% discount on their first purchase by entering the code TEWD10.



Thanks for listening to The English Wine Diaries. If you enjoyed the podcast then please leave a rating or review, it helps boost our ratings and makes it easier for other people to find us. To find out who will be joining me next on the English Wine Diaries, follow @theenglishwinediaries on Instagram and for more regular English wine news and reviews, sign up to our newsletter at thesouthernquarter.co.uk.

On this week's episode of The English Wine Diaries podcast is Tommy Grimshaw, head winemaker at Langham, in Dorset. 
Tommy developed a love for English wine after a summer holiday season spent labelling and bottling wine as a teenager. He left school to work a harvest at Sharpham Vineyard – now known as Sandridge Barton – in Devon and there, he progressed to Assistant Winemaker. 

He joined Langham in 2019 and worked alongside Daniel Ham with the aim of producing world class sparkling wines without fining or filtration and minimal SO2 additions. In January 2020, at the age of 24, Tommy took on the role of Head Winemaker, making him the youngest head winemaker in the UK.

As well as producing and developing Langham’s award-winning, minimal intervention wines, Tommy has judged for the Independent English Wine Awards, has been included in the Harpers 30 Under 30 list and was named their Commitment Champion for his dedication to the industry.

We talk about Tommy's love of hands-off winemaking, why the landscape of the Jurassic Coast, where Langham is situated, is so perfect for creating sparkling wine (despite the rain!) and his hopes for more young people to join the English wine-making scene. 
You can follow Tommy on Instagram @tommy_grimshaw and find out more about Langham at langhamwine.co.uk.

This episode of The English Wine Diaries is sponsored by Wickhams, The Great British Wine Merchant. Visit wickhamwine.co.uk to see their award-winning range of English wine with free delivery on orders over £40. The English Wine Diaries listeners can also get 10% discount on their first purchase by entering the code TEWD10.



Thanks for listening to The English Wine Diaries. If you enjoyed the podcast then please leave a rating or review, it helps boost our ratings and makes it easier for other people to find us. To find out who will be joining me next on the English Wine Diaries, follow @theenglishwinediaries on Instagram and for more regular English wine news and reviews, sign up to our newsletter at thesouthernquarter.co.uk.