Bantham Vineyard

Our journey since planting…

 

Our story

May 2021 – Planting the Dream

The journey began when we planted Bantham Vineyard in May 2021, high on the south‑facing slopes of Bantham Estate. With panoramic views across the Avon Estuary and Burgh Island, it was the perfect site to establish a new chapter for Bantham Estate. Over 27,000 vines went into the ground, spread across 11 distinct south‑facing blocks, each planted with Pinot Noir, Pinot Noir Precoce, Pinot Meunier, Pinot Gris, and Chardonnay.

Thank you to Vinescapes for their support in our project.

 

Summer 2021 into 2022 :  Baby Vines & Biodiversity

That first summer saw tiny shoots emerge, nurtured under Devon sunshine and cooled by sea breezes. We drilled clover cover crops between vine‑rows to support pollinators and beneficial insects, while hedgerows, Devon banks, and new trees were planted to form wildlife corridors in sync with our deeply held commitment to biodiversity on the rest of the estate.

Early 2022 : Growing Together

By early 2022, our regular team, locals and estate staff, began their learning journey in the vineyard – shoot selection, tucking, pruning, trimming, and leaf‑stripping, learning intimately what each block needed to thrive. Those early mornings had a quiet energy: sunlit vines, birdsong from the estuary, and the satisfaction of giving the best chance to those vines to establish.

 

Late 2023 : First (unexpected) Harvest!

Late 2023 brought the first harvest. After an fantastic growing season, we have decided to give it a go and leave a very small amount of bunches on our vines. The excitement in the vineyard was palpable, and thank you Guy at the English Wine Collection, we have a fantastic footage to remember and celebrate the milestone!

Hand picked by our lovely local community, without whom we couldn’t have done it !

 

2024 – Partnership

After harvest, our grapes traveled to Itasca Winery, a partner who helped turn those early picks into our first still wine, a delicious Pinot Gris which was the results of few years of hard work!

But 2024 brought many more partnerships…

Jodie Newman, which has work hard behind the scenes with us to bring to life our branding.

Gnina from In the Loop Drinks, for our wonderful vermouth which we released in 2024, our first Rose Spritz in cans – perfect for the beach !

Becky Bettesworth, which kindly allowed us to use the famous Bantham Beach art piece she did a few years back on our cans for a stunning results!

 

2025 : Awards & Community Cheers

Bantham Vineyard was honoured with two Taste of the West Awards in 2025 for our inaugural Pinot Gris (Gold) and Rose Spritz (Silver) as well as a Silver Medal from the 2024 WineGB Awards for our 2023 Pinot Gris,  an affirmation of everything the team and community had poured in.

More recently, we received a Bronze medal at the 2025 WineGB Awards for our New Release 2024 Pinot Gris!

We also started our vineyard and Estate tours which became a highlight for estate visitors. It’s been a pleasure since to welcome everyone and show them more about our work behind the scenes.

And while we are looking towards the future, we also want to thanks everyone that has been part of this amazing journey since we planted the vineyard… the Vinescapes team, Mark Sharman which has been supporting us since day one, Frances, our amazing vineyard team and local community, Matt Greep our fantastic agronomist from Agrii, the estate team and all our visitors.