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<\/p>\nFollowing yesterday\u2019s news that south London train station Denmark Hill is producing its first vintage of Bacchus, Sarah Neish speaks to the project\u2019s winemakers about staying on track and not going loco in the British heatwave.<\/p>\n
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As db reported yesterday, the UK\u2019s first railway station wine<\/a> is well underway with the inaugural vintage from \u2018Chateau Denmark Hill\u2019 expected to be ready to drink next year. We caught up Nick Mair, co-winemaker for the south London project alongside Tony Coleman, to find out the triumphs and tribulations of growing vines just metres away from the train tracks.<\/p>\n According to Nair, vibrations from trains passing at speed are \u201cnot an issue\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cThe vineyard is well above the tracks,\u201d he said. \u201cHad it been at the same level we would have been more worried. The vines appear to be flourishing and rose bushes at the ends of each row bloom prodigiously. Plus, the prevailing wind is south westerly which then tends to run east along the tracks.\u201d<\/p>\n Intriguingly, neither Mair, nor Coleman, have had a career in wine, \u201cthough we are keen wine drinkers\u201d, Mair tells db. Rather, Coleman works in construction while Mair is a French and Spanish language teacher. The combination has proved to be a winning formula.<\/p>\n \u201cI tend to have ideas but Tony has the perseverance and construction background, without which the vineyard wouldn\u2019t have happened,\u201d said Mair.<\/p>\n That vineyard comprises 30 vines of aromatic white grape variety Bacchus, located within Denmark Hill train station\u2019s grounds in Camberwell. After Network Rail granted a special Community License to the Camberwell Society<\/a>, of which Mair and Coleman are members, efforts were made to \u201cclean up\u201d the station and surrounding area. In Mair\u2019s words, the station \u201cwas one of the dodgier parts of Camberwell \u2013 a reputation we wanted to change. It was strewn with litter and we wanted to make it somewhere special.\u201d<\/p>\n Along with installing various artworks and gardening projects, including a mini lavender farm, the Bacchus vines were planted as a way of helping the local community and commuters\u00a0 to\u201dengage more positively with the station,\u201d said Nair.<\/p>\n Forgiving variety<\/p>\n Bacchus was chosen by the novice winegrowers because Nair and Coleman, running point on the project, had noted that the variety was \u201csuccessfully widely grown in South East England\u201d, and perhaps most importantly, is \u201cforgiving for beginners!\u201d<\/p>\n However, before leaping straight in, the pair started off with another crop entirely.<\/p>\n \u201cI planted sunflowers in 2022 just to check [the soil\u2019s viability],\u201d said Nair. \u201cThe horizon is very low and the vineyard is due south. We also checked soil records with Network Rail. Encouraged by a bumper sunflower crop, we removed bindweed in the autumn of 2023, terraced the ground and then augured in vertical posts, which was very hard work as we had no electricity or mechanical agricultural equipment.\u201d<\/p>\n Thankfully, this is where Coleman\u2019s background in construction came into its own, meaning \u201cwe were able to make accurate plans to ensure an appropriate build, dig and structure\u201d for the vineyard site.<\/p>\n It hasn\u2019t all been sunshine and roses (or indeed sunflowers), with manpower a continual issue, especially for tending the vines.\u00a0 At the start, Nair said, \u201cwe asked for volunteers who were prepared to help with the hard labour \u2014 we were honest about the scale of the project \u2014 and plenty wanted to dig in the vines, but nothing else.\u201d<\/p>\n New skills<\/p>\n And while the team was short on professional winemaking experience, Nair had plenty of travel to winemaking regions under his belt, where he had picked up a thing or two.<\/p>\n \u201cAs a French and Spanish teacher, I have spent some years in those countries,\u201d he said, adding that \u201cpart of the\u00a0 A-level syllabus also used to allow for the study of a region \u2013 and 15 years of school trips to Jerez, including research interviews\u201d not only helped him to \u201cappreciate a good fino Sherry\u201d but also to learn about the making and bottling of wines. He also spent a year in Cahors in the south of France, and time in the Alpes-Maritimes.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Coleman embarked on a vine-tending course at The Mount Vineyard<\/a> in Shoreham, Kent, where he made the call to prune the Denmark Hill vines using the double Guyot method.<\/p>\n According to Nair, \u201c2026 will be the station\u2019s first proper harvest and the grapes are looking good \u2013 though a little rain at some stage would be helpful!\u201d He of course refers to the unprecedented British summer heatwave, where the temperature has scarcely dipped below 30\u00b0C for months.<\/p>\n Regarding the expected yield he revealed that the pair have pruned back to \u201csomething like nine bunches per vine\u201d and given that the pair are beginners \u201cwe would be happy with 22 bottles in a first year \u2013 so a bottle per vine.\u201d<\/p>\n Not for sale<\/p>\n As the Camberwell Society \u201chas an understanding with Network Rail that we will not sell any wine,\u201d interested parties will sadly not be able to purchase a bottle of Chateau Denmark Hill. At least for the timebeing.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s really a passion project,\u201d said Nair, who has received advice, support and encouragement from various parties. \u201cWe have found it to be a very welcoming community, from growers to Masters of Wines, and independent local wine shops.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cGiven the excellence of English winemaking we are clearly enthusiasts rather than experienced viticulturists,\u201d he said. \u201cSip it and see will be our approach!\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Related news<\/p>\n \n \n \n
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