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Little Busted Vineyard |
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Little Busted Vineyard |
Little Bursted is a brand new Kentish vineyard planted in 2022. It is hidden among the hamlets and pastures of the Pett Bottom valley in the North Downs. Once in production we will specialise in Pinot Meunier led sparkling blanc-de-noirs and rose, with a limited production of still, long lees-aged Melon de Bourgogne
We bought the land in 2020, spent 2021 undertaking ground preparation and finally planted in spring 2022.Our first crop is likely to be in 2024 or 2025, and because we want to give our wines - both sparkling and still - substantial time in tank and in bottle we don't expect to release our first wines to the market until at least 2027. But we'd like to bring you on the journey with us which is why we're online so early. It will be worth the wait.
We are commuter vignerons, living and working in London and travelling to the vineyard each week. We expect to remain so for the foreseeable future.
On our science page you will see: Details of how we have prepared and planted the land, data on annual applications of any crop nutrients, pesticides, fungicides and herbicides: how we manage birds, deer and other friendly neighbours (moles are particular fans of the terroir); our annual harvest figures including crop yield, sugars, titratable acidity, descriptions of the winemaking process including additions such as sulphur or clarifying agents and honest accounts of the pitfalls as well as the pleasures of grape growing, from spring frost to autumn bird attacks and everything in between....
...in other words all the things you wanted to know about how English wine is made but were afraid to ask.
We plan to produce a Pinot Meunier-dominated sparkling blanc de noirs, as well as a sparkling rose with a little Pinot Noir to add colour and complexity. With a first harvest in 2024 and substantial time on the lees we expect to release our first sparkling wines in 2027 or 2028 at the earliest. A number of English winemakers have started to produce pure varietal Meunier, and almost without exception they have been hits. In our opinion, this has the potential to be one of England's signature grapes. It seems to do very well in our part of East Kent in particular.
Just over a quarter of our surface area will be planted with Melon de Bourgogne . Melon makes clean, mineral and vaguely saline still white wines around the city of Nantes in North West France and scarcely anywhere else. Its appellation name is Muscadet.
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