SSE Fellow Forty Hall Vineyard release its first social enterprise wines

Scale Up Fellow Forty Hall Vineyard, London’s only commercial-scale vineyard, and its partner Capel Manor College, are delighted to unveil the 2015 vintage of two organic white wines.

The Forty Hall Vineyard London 2015 Ortega and Forty Hall Vineyard London 2015 Bacchus are the first wines to be made available for public sale, in a limited release of 700 and 1500 bottles, respectively.

The wine has been produced from organic grapes grown at Forty Hall’s community-run vineyard in Enfield, on ten acres of south-facing, organically managed land. It is believed to be the biggest vineyard in London at least since the Middle Ages. The wine is made by multi award-winning English wine maker, Will Davenport, and is of exceptional quality, reflecting the best of low-intervention, natural English wine making. The release marks a fresh milestone in the extraordinary success of English and Welsh wines, which now regularly win gold medals in international blind tastings. Both wines were shown to great acclaim at this year’s Real Wine Fair in London’s Tobacco Dock last month. More information about the wines is available on the Forty Hall Vineyard website.

The wines can be purchased exclusively from the Forty Hall Farm shop (open Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays from 11am – 4.00pm), from this week. The Farm shop sells a variety of other locally produced organic products including farm-grown vegetables and farm-reared meat. Customers can visit the farm and vineyard when the shop is open.

Forty Hall Vineyard not only aims to produce award-winning organic wines, but also to support the health and wellbeing of local people by engaging them in active, outdoor volunteering – a chance to socialise with others and to benefit from fresh air and physical exercise in a beautiful, natural setting.  Forty Hall Vineyard is partnered with Capel Manor College, which has supported the project from its inception, as well as providing the land for the vineyard at Forty Hall Farm in Enfield, which it manages.

In addition to the Ortega and Bacchus, Forty Hall Vineyard produces a sparkling wine: London Sparkling Brut. A select release of the 2014 vintage is expected later this year – due to limited stock, this is only being offered as part of a sponsorship package.  Following an excellent, high-yielding harvest from maturing vines last year, it is anticipated that the 2015 vintage FHV London Sparkling Brut will be available for sale to the public in autumn 2017.  For more information on sponsorship packages visit http://fortyhallvineyard.com/sponsorship.html