Sharpham

Sharpham Estate, Totnes, South Devon TQ9 7UT, England
Phone: 01803 732203

Established relatively recently in the early 1980s, Sharpham is a small estate based around an 18th century stately home, Sharpham house. In all there are 14 acres of vines, mostly on South-facing slopes.

Set amid beautiful rolling hills surrounded by the River Dart, the estate is accessible only by negotciating a long, winding single track road through the South Devon countryside. It is worth the difficult drive to get here, though. First I took a long walk around the steeply sloped vineyard.

The vines are grown in fairly closely spaced rows on a single trellis system. When I visited, in mid-July, we had been experiencing rainy, cool conditions for pretty much the whole of the preceding month. As a consequence, the vines were only just flowering, and because of the rain, flower set was quite uneven. This may cause a few problems come harvest time, so 1998 may not be a classic vintage.

After spending a pleasant forty minutes wandering through the vines, I went inside the small winery/shop for a free tasting.

Page 2: The winery and the wines