It is the award-winning vineyard behind the first English wine to be served at Wimbledon in its history and the only one currently offered to British Airways passengers in the comfort of first class cabins.
This week the Sussex-based Bolney Wine Estates will announce a £2m investment to fund further production through a new state-of-the-art winery and major expansion into the US, Scandinavia and Asia.
The family-owned business – founded in 1972 and now headed by managing director and master wine maker Sam Linter – has enjoyed a steady organic growth, producing 120,000 bottles last year which will rise to 160,000 this year. The company has sold its wines through Waitrose for 16 years, and has been in partnership with Bibendum, supplying Marks & Spencer as well as Wimbledon (since 2015) and British Airways for flights to and from the US.
The new investment will allow the vineyard to boost production and supply to 300,000 bottles a year, by 2020, supporting growth in demand across the UK and also for expansion in the US – due to be launched in New York this week.
Provided predominantly by an anonymous private investor, with the second phase from crowd-funding, the £2m will allow the construction of the new winery on the existing site in Bolney, near Haywards Heath – due to be completed in 2018. The current winery will be adapted to allow more storage space to lay down sparkling wines.
Linter said the investment was in response to market demands and confidence in both English wine generally and the Sussex vineyard’s premium still and sparkling wine portfolio, which include the award-winning Blanc de Blanc, Cuvee Rose, Bolney Bubbly, Pinot Gris, Bacchus and Pinot Noir.
Linter, who is flying to New York this week to oversee the US launch – despite her UK harvest still being underway – said: “ We feel this is a huge opportunity in this large market and relish the chance to make English wines very well-known in a country that embraces the craft drinks revolution.”
Last month Kent-based producer Chapel Down announced plans to export its sparkling wines across the pond, with the first shipments due by the end of the year.
Meanwhile, the Co-op is this autumn introducing its first own-label still white wine and a new sparkling wine 15 years since it launched one of the UK’s first English wines to be available on the high street.
The still white, Limestone Rise, is the first English wine to be sold under the Co-op’s premium ‘Irresistible’ range, and will be priced at £7.99. The wine is produced in Surrey by award-winning English wine producer, Denbies. The new wine will go into fewer than 1,000 Co-op stores, while a new sparkling English wine – Balfour 1503 Foxwood Sparkling from Kent – will also go into a limited number of stores.
