The move, which marks the hotel and Michelin-starred restaurant’s one-year anniversary, will see it planting some 18,000 vines to produce classic champagne-method sparkling wines.
The microclimate at the estate, which is located on the East Devon Exe estuary, is particularly suited to growing grapes, according to chef and Lympstone Manor owner Michael Caines, and is on par with some of the best sparkling wine producers in the UK.
The first batch of Lympstone Manor Cuvee is expected to be released in October 2023, with the future aim to also create still wines.
“From the first time I viewed the property in July 2014, my intention was to establish a vineyard on the site,” says Caines.
“The great vineyards of Europe are all located on rivers, the Médoc châteaux of Bordeaux on the Gironde, wine estates along Rhône, Loire, and Rhine rivers, the great port vineyards of the Douro. Why not the Exe estuary? Our climate is mild, and the success of other local vineyards has convinced me that it will be possible to produce outstanding wines here.
“Wine is a huge passion of mine and is an integral part of what we offer at the hotel, so I can’t wait to share our very own Lympstone Manor Cuvee with my customers.”
Vineyard and grounds manager James Matyear will be oversee the project alongside Caines and operations director Steve Edwards.
“To think that alongside our already impressive list of wines at Lympstone Manor, in a few short years we will also have single estate examples made from grapes sourced within our own vineyard is both exciting and remarkable,” says Edwards.