insideKENT Magazine Issue 54 - September 2016 | Page 41

FOOD+DRINK

kent: the new
winemaker’s paradise
Where in the world are the top winemakers to be found? Will you
stumble across them in the gorgeous rolling vineyards of France?
Perhaps taking care of the grapes growing in Italy? Or is the sun of
California’s Napa Valley the first thing that comes to mind? If that’s the
case, it’s time to think again.

Barnsole grapes

English wine is getting better every season, and the winemakers creating
stunning wines in Kent are amongst the best of all. And we do mean English
wine. British wine is something entirely different – the grapes made to use
this particular variety can actually come from anywhere in the world, and
as long as the wine making process takes place in Britain, the name can
stick. English wine, on the other hand, is born and bred here – home grown
grapes from home sown vines.

And it wasn’t until 1969 that anything happened to change our idea that
winemaking in England simply wasn’t possible. With our weather? With our
soil? Wine? It had to be a joke… And yet 1969 is the year in which the very
first vineyard was planted in our county. Planted by the Barnes family, and
still producing excellent quality grapes today, Biddenden Vineyards is now
one of many Kentish vineyards that are the envy of the world.
In total, Kent has around 350 acres of wine producing vineyards, and the
wine it does produce has won award after award. So where are these fine
wine producing vines? You may be surprised.

Despite the Romans having taken over Kent by AD250, and despite the
fact that they drank (and made) copious amounts of wine, by the time they
left our shores in the 5th century, there was no real evidence left behind
that winemaking had ever happened. Tools, yes. Villas, yes. Bones, yes.
But vines and wine? Not a jot. Not a sip.

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