The Pig announces launch of homegrown wines
20th August 2024
Hotel chain The Pig has announced the launch of its first wines that are made from vineyards located in West Sussex and on the Kent-East Sussex border.
The company is now offering three varieties of wine, Alpaca Block Chardonnay, Alpaca Block Field Blend Rosé, and Where Eagles Fly, which have been made using grapes from the group’s vineyards.
Before opening The Pig in the South Downs in 2021, the team planted over 4,000 vines of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier and a few rows of Gamay.
A company’s spokesperson said: “Our first vineyard in the South Downs was a passion project of our chairman Robin Hutson – a serious wine enthusiast at heart who had a long hankering to make wine in the UK.
“Roll on several years later of nurturing from The Pig in the South Downs’ garden and wine team, our vines yielded over a whopping 3.1 tonnes of grapes in the first-ever harvest of October 2023.
“The grapes were handed to Dermot and Ana Sugrue – of Sugrue South Downs fame – to weave their magic on the inaugural vintage of what would soon become, Alpaca Block wines.”
‘New lease of life’
The team was also able to “breathe a new lease of life” into the original Seyval Blanc vines found on the grounds of our new Pig, The Pig at Groombridge in Kent. Those harvested grapes now form the backbone of ‘Where Eagles Fly’.
“This is a wine that our team are very proud of, and the name honours the beautiful birds of prey housed in the Owl & Raptor Centre on the site of Groombridge Place.
“The eagles, in particular, are often seen flying directly over the vines,” company’s spokesperson added.
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