October Wine Journal

Harvest is both a joyous and intense period. The culmination of an entire years work, leading to a single opportunity to do justice to everything that went into it. There are always surprises, and decisions made on the fly. A quick conversation or comment, eye contact and a nod before you commit and move on. For me, those are the moments of magic that take something from feeling rigid and choreographed into something fluid and natural, where the wines give you the chance to let them make themselves.

That being said, this kind of improvising only works when you’ve all rehearsed and learnt the same material. The winemaking and ‘the plan’ for this year is, I think, the most intentional it has ever been at Tillingham. The relatively young vineyards finally showing us the wines that ask to be made here. I can’t wait to share what we have in the works.

Harvest also presents many surprises outside of the winemaking, whether it is kit failing, getting stuck, not arriving, last-minute picks etc. etc. etc… So there is a long list of people inside and out of the winery that none of it would be possible without. To everyone who lent a hand, or a tractor lesson, or a morale-boosting double thumbs up, just a massive thank you.

Wednesday this week marked the end, with a final pick of an unlikely pairing for the UK – Pineau d’Aunis & Trousseau – which, after some foot-treading and slow pressing, are now happily co-fermenting in a 1300L fuder, which, after writing this, I will pop off to taste!

The winery is full to bursting, and after one final pressing in a week or so, the vessels will be put to bed. It’s a drastic change of pace, from the pedal-to-the-metal of harvest, to the quiet calm of ferments and wines slowly shifting in their vessels.

And with the end of harvest it suddenly feels like autumn proper. All the tell-tale signs. Which in Sussex happens to be a bonfire obsession. So much so, that the towns have to share them out over a string of weekends, with our first local one being Hastings this weekend.

There are wines for that kind of behaviour, naturally. Introducing the bonfire bundle, and the first opportunity to try our 2023 Pinot Noir Précoce, of which there are only 590 bottles. Allez.

Wine manager | Tierney Beames

YOU CAN BUY OUR BONFIRE NIGHT BUNDLE HERE OR PICK UP FROM THE FARM