The Ortega grapes grown in Throwley Vineyard are an early ripening variety (about the third week in September) and are among the first grapes to be picked in England. These grapes are used to produce a dry white wine. It is a crisp, fruity and slightly aromatic wine reminiscent of a North Italian white. Chardonnay and Pinot Noir grapes are grown by us to make a brut, bottle-fermented, methode traditionelle sparkling wine. Like good champagne, this is bone dry but with good yeasty character from prolonged contact with the "lees" (the sediment inside the bottle from the secondary fermentation that creates the sparkle). Don't worry we remove the lees - have a look at our "making the wines" page for full details of the wine making process. In very warm years (such as 2003) we have also made some still wine from the Pinot Noir (a red and a rose still wine) and Chardonnay (a white still wine) and with global warming we suspect this may occur more frequently. 2007, 2008 and 2009 have all experienced very dry Septembers so even though the summers have not all been warm the conditions were ideal for slow ripening flavoursome fruit with no mildew or grey rot. It certainly made picking a lot easier.