Bardfield Bacchus

About the vineyard

Great Lodge

The original vineyard was planted in 1989.

Over a 2 acre site, they planted 20 rows of the grape variety Bacchus and 10 rows of Reichensteiner.

From these varieties Great Lodge historically made two different styles of still white wine and a sparkling Bacchus wine.

The old Bacchus vines are producing a fantastic quality crop.

From these grapes they make either one or two styles of white wine each year, depending on the size of the crop.

In 2015 Great Lodge planted 750 Pinot noir vines and in 2016 planted 300 Seyval blanc vines and 200 Pinot meunier vines.

The vines were all hand planted.

The Pinot noir will be used to make a Rosė wine and they will also blend all three varieties together to make a sparkling wine.

Great Lodge work closely with the charity Keep Growing, a therapeutic horticulture project run at Great Lodge, in partnership with MIND West Essex.

It supports adults with mental health issues using gardening and working in the vineyard.