Friends and neighbours Grant McRostie and Russ Bryant have decided to plant vines: 2 acres of Chardonnay this year, from which we plan to make a flinty non-malo Not-White Burgundy, and also, if all goes well, some Not-Champagne to be made on site a la methode champenoise.
And then, perhaps, next year, another acre of Nebbiolo, which we are thinking of fermenting in amphoras lined with pitch (pine resin, not the stuff they surface roads with) like the ancient Romans used to do. I went to visit Rick Kinzbrunner the other month. He’s been experimenting fermenting Nebbiolo in amphoras: you just chuck in the grapes, seal the neck and leave them for a year to do their thing. I was astonished by how nice the resulting wine was. No oak only natural tannins from the grapes plus a hint of resin (do not think retsina) which I found really interesting. Watch this space.