Poured With Love
A Surprise Evening at Wiston
The full story of our first Poured With Love experience, and the neighbour at the heart of it
The story behind the evening
They’re the ones who bring coffee when you move house. Who cook for a neighbour who needs a little extra help. Who check in, bring people together and quietly make life a little better for those around them.
For Chris, that person is his neighbour, Adamo.
Meet Adamo
Chris moved to Steyning five years ago. Adamo was one of the first neighbours he met, arriving with coffee and offering to pick up a takeaway on moving day.
It didn’t take long for Chris to get to know him as someone who puts his neighbours and family first.
Another neighbour, Beryl, who was 96, was cooked for by Adamo and his family right up to the last few weeks of her life. Over the years, he got to know her, her family and the children as they grew up.
As Chris put it in his nomination:
“He is truly an exceptional example of neighbourliness and never asks for anything in return. I think it’s time for him to be treated as well as he treats others.”
So we decided to surprise him…
Poured With Love began with a simple thought.
At Wiston, we’re lucky to be part of so many of life’s special moments. Weddings, birthdays, long lunches, celebrations and gatherings with the people who matter most.
We wanted to create one of those moments for someone who is usually busy making them happen for everyone else.
So, with Chris’s help, we invited Adamo’s closest family and friends to Wiston for an evening he knew nothing about.
Bringing it together
With Adamo none the wiser, the planning began.
We worked closely with his wife, Carla, to secretly pull together the guest list, organise dietary requirements, coordinate transport and work out exactly how to get everyone to Wiston without giving the game away. A little tricky when most of the guests live on the same road!
Meanwhile, our team was busy preparing the vineyard.
Tables were moved into place. Glasses were polished. The menu was prepared. Flowers were arranged, and a few key people were quietly asked to help keep one very big secret.
We worked quietly behind the scenes to bring it all together without Adamo knowing.
An evening in the vines
And then, everything came together.
The weather couldn’t have been kinder.
As the sun began to soften over the vineyard, Adamo arrived to find his family and friends waiting for him. The surprise was revealed, and the evening began.
It felt like a real privilege to witness what followed. Good food, Wiston sparkling wine, plenty of chat and an evening spent with the people who know Adamo best.
Around the table
Kirsty prepared the menu for the evening, making the most of the summer produce, while the team looked after the rest.
There was no particular occasion to mark. It was simply an opportunity to get everyone together and give Adamo an evening he wasn’t expecting.
“For us, the evening was a reminder of something that has been at the heart of Wiston from the beginning: bringing people together. Pip planted the first vines here with the hope of creating something that could be shared. More than 50 years later, that spirit continues to shape what we do. Seeing Adamo being celebrated by the people he had spent years looking after felt like a particularly special expression of that.”
Poured With Love
This was our first Poured With Love experience, created around a simple idea: to celebrate someone who spends a lot of their time doing things for others.
At Wiston, bringing people together has always been part of what we do. From the first vines Pip planted here to the many meals, celebrations and gatherings that take place at the Estate today, our wines have always been made to be shared.
Adamo felt like the most perfect person to start with.
We’ll be opening nominations for our next Poured With Love experience later this year. If someone has come to mind while reading Adamo’s story, we’d love to hear about them.
