Shrewsbury's new vineyard to offer sneak peek to visitors
A new vineyard being planted and developed on the edge of Shrewsbury will open its doors for a preview this weekend.
Hencote Estate is off Ellesmere Road just outside Shrewsbury, and is a 60-acre site which is being developed as a vineyard, with 22,000 vines already planted on the estate's south-facing slopes.
In the next couple of years it will be opened as a fully-productive vineyard and visitor centre, with large gardens and an ancient riverbed.
The taste for British wine is growing, and there are already a number of producers in Shropshire and Mid Wales.
On Saturday the vineyard will introduce itself to the county, by hosting a summer wine party including sampling of sparkling wines similar to those to be produced at Hencote.
Hencote Estate is a family owned venture where Andy Stevens runs the development operation, his son Mark is head of the vineyard and daughters Vivienne and Suzanne will be joining as events managers at a later date.
Mark Stevens said: “We are very keen to be involved with the Shropshire community and decided to host this special preview event to introduce ourselves to the county and showcase our vineyard and what we eventually hope to achieve in the future.
“The whole day will be very informal but hopefully rather refined and enjoyable, purely to give people an opportunity to see the extensive work already carried out and view our widespread plans for the future.
“The vines are well on their way and we hope to have our first harvest of grapes at the end of this year, producing just a few bottles of sparkling English wine, before growing to full production over the next two to three years."
