Christmas Messages from the Estate

“As the team head out once more into the vines to prune and cut back, there has been much to be thankful for over this past year. It was an honour and joy to have had our wine chosen for the toast at the King’s State Banquet. His majesty has always been focused on the gift of the natural world and has been an inspiration to many, particularly on the restoration of wildflower meadows. So it felt appropriate to be beginning our re-naturing project at Wiston and making a start on a 30 year vision to connect habitats and play our part within the 100 mile Weald to Waves nature corridor. But perhaps most of all Kirsty and I are grateful for the passion we see in all of the team across the estate, loving and caring for this place and the people who visit this land. Their welcoming spirit and attention to detail has won the inaugural Schoffel partnership award for conservation and only last week Restaurant of the Year in the Beautiful South Awards. For all of us it has been a great vintage. Happy Christmas.” – Richard Goring

“As the winery rhythm starts to slow and the ferments come to an end, we have a chance to reflect on the 2025 grape harvest. Wow, what superb quality of fruit we saw arriving at our door this year. First off, we have to give a big round of applause to Travis and Rex et al. for doing such a super job nursing those vines and bringing us such wonderful fruit to work with.

 After the initial visual inspection of the berries, the next sign of quality was dipping my glass into the juice tray of the coquard, after we fire her up from an 11 month nap! The usual purity of Wiston fruit was there, but this year we got such depth and breadth of flavour. As the wines settle down after fermentation and start to reveal themselves, we look forward to meeting them fully in the new year. I’m very hopeful for some exceptional quality and the possibility of some exciting new projects this year.” Marcus Rayner-Ward – Winemaker.