Wife Wins!

Barbara, Cherry and the Wyfold harvest team

Wife bouncing around the house yelling. She just won. But no, not her win on Twirling Magnet (A.P. McCoy) at Newbury today. (Day at the races - Xmas present). Much, much better than that!

In its – and her – first ever wine competition, her wine, 'Wyfold' won! Wyfold: the South Oxfordshire vineyard she and Cherry cultivate; the wine beautifully made, of course, by the incomparable Mike Roberts. 

An aerial view of Wyfold Vineyard

Not just a medal. The actual winner. I don't know if there's a real trophy. Should be. 

This is the annual tasting of English Sparkling Wines organised by Stephen Skelton; the man who wrote the book on English wine. 85 wines … all there by invitation … just the best … with a few well-known Champagnes thrown in for comparison. (The top Champagne came 10th but they won't tell them that). And a top team of judges. Called 'The Judgement of Parsons Green', it’s the English Sparkling Wine Oscars.  

I thought they were in with a good chance. I mean, it is such an elegant wine.

And at the races today she placed a horse in the winners’ enclosure every race … so clearly her luck was running.

Then she gets this email on the way home, the horses are all forgotten and we're nearly off the road.

  

It’s good to have got this win, I can tell you. Because it’s been a long, cold endurance event to get it. Jan and Feb they've been out there almost every day, meticulously pruning in vile weather, reflecting, as they worked, upon last year's non-harvest … wondering if that will happen again and if it’s all been worth it. Well, today it is.

"A win for us little 'uns" … will they now stop asking "Wyfold who?"?

 

Wine producers are sensitive to little slights. They need constant re-assurance. They have to win medals. They need knowledgeable people to tell them they are doing it right.  

Great start, my love, and – no excuse now – I will be out there with you tomorrow. I'm very good at burning the cuttings, aren't I? I'll get sausages from Carl Woods and we'll have another celebration; champion local bangers with champion local wine. 

P.S. Close second to Wyfold came our 'Theale' sparkler. Another Thames Valley wine. I can't say its 'my' wine; it is Laithwaite's … the Company's wine – all my lot have their own labelled vine in the tiny Theale vineyard behind New Aquitaine House. But Theale is an old stager. Winning awards for years … from the Mike Roberts stable of course. But I won't be mentioning that tonight. Nor that our South Ridge (Roberts again, and, I suspect, the cheapest wine in the tasting) came a very respectable 22nd.