Biddenden Vineyards
Kent ’ s original vineyard , Biddenden Vineyards has been owned and managed by the Barnes family since 1969 . Today , the vineyard is run by the second and third generations of the family , drawing on many years of experience in winemaking at Biddenden .
Originally home to a 40-acre apple orchard , the Barnes family started to consider diversifying the farm in the late 1960s as apple prices began to decline . After listening to a feature on the BBC ’ s Women ’ s Hour programme about English vineyards being replanted , Joyce Barnes was inspired to turn to viticulture . In 1969 , one third of an acre of vines was planted and Biddenden Vineyards was born .
Today , the single estate vineyard spans 23 acres of gentle southfacing slope just outside the picturesque Wealden village of Biddenden . Twelve varieties of grapes are grown to produce award-winning white , red , rosé , sweet and sparkling quality English wines .
Biddenden produces approximately 80,000 bottles of wine each year . All the grapes are grown on the estate , with all vineyard work and picking carried out by hand to ensure that the very best quality grapes are selected to produce Biddenden ’ s wines . The grapes travel a maximum of 600-metres from the vineyard to the winery , with pressing , fermentation and bottling also carried out on site . The majority of wines are then sold from the cellar door or delivered directly nationwide .
Biddenden ’ s signature variety , Ortega , accounts for approximately 50 % of the plantings at Biddenden , and is used to produce Biddenden Ortega and Biddenden Sparkling Ortega Demi-Sec as well as Biddenden Ortega Late Harvest 2018 , a very special , limited edition wine with a residual sugar of 122g / l , believed to be the highest naturally occurring sugar levels ever recorded by a UK vineyard .
Alongside Ortega , Biddenden ’ s plantings include white varieties such as Bacchus , Reichensteiner and Huxelrebe , as well as red varieties Dornfelder , Pinot Noir
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