Biddenden Vineyards
Kent ’ s original vineyard , Biddenden 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 south-facing slopes . 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 .
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 - 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 and gamay noir . For those with a sweet tooth , Biddenden Schönburger is produced using single varietal schönburger grapes which are left on the vine to develop higher natural sugars , to produce a sweet and fruity full-flavoured wine . 10 | VINEYARD