Biddenden Vineyards delighted with 2020 harvest as it starts winemaking process

Biddenden Vineyards says it is going for "quality over quantity" after it completed this year's harvest.

The wine and cider producer, near Tenterden , began bringing in its 11 varieties of grape three weeks earlier this year - with key variety Ortega accounting for around half of its 23-acre vineyard.

Workers bring in the crop at Biddenden Vineyard
Workers bring in the crop at Biddenden Vineyard

And the family-run firm says the summer weather conditions - warm and dry with little rain - provided another quality crop .

Tom Barnes, general manager, said: “In a year with much uncertainty, it is a big relief to have safely brought in the harvest here at Biddenden and have all the juice in tank, ready for winemaking to commence.

"This year we have focused heavily on quality over quantity, purposefully thinning the grapes earlier in the year to produce a smaller but higher quality crop.”

Over the coming months, juice from the 2020 harvest will undergo the winemaking process, with wines usually being released from the following June onwards.

Mr Barnes adds: "It’s still early days, but we are hopeful that there may be the opportunity to produce some of our very special smaller release wines from this year’s harvest.

The grapes will now start the process of being turned into wine
The grapes will now start the process of being turned into wine

"Gamay Noir in particular is a variety which, under the correct conditions, we are able to produce a still red wine from and for which our last vintage in 2018 gained much praise.”

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