I fell in love with wine when I was working with growers in the 'Bubbles Belt' across Kent, the Sussexes, Surrey and Hampshire during the early days of what became the modern English winemaking industry.
When I began visiting vineyards in Sardinia some 20 years later, I was struck by the similarities. Not just the small scale and their struggle to be recognised on the world wine stage, but the character of the winemakers.
Every nuance in the painstaking process from vine to bottle, the tiniest changes in the growing season, the subtle differences between varieties, were all endlessly fascinating to them. The grapes were family and somehow the DNA seemed to have seeped between them.
The best wines aren't simply the result of a chemical process expertly executed. They are a magical combination of some special humans' connection with an elemental force. The land, the grapes and the winemaker are a trinity. In Sardinia, in fact, wine and winemaking are so embedded in the country's history and culture that it is treated with religious respect.
When, earlier this year, we had the delightful opportunity to visit an English vineyard in North Yorkshire - one of the most northerly in the UK – that same passion and curiosity were also very much in evidence.
Our visit to Malton Vineyard (l-r): Candido, Viv, Phill and Sue
Winemaking is an artisanal process at Malton Vineyard. Standing in its tiny winery, inside a repurposed stable block, a stone's throw from the vines that were just budding into life, reminded me so much of a trip we'd made to Tenute Donnulù in Tertenia just six months before.
There, Sandro Murgia, a supremely talented winemaker who's also incredibly humble about the magnificent wines he conjures into being, excitedly drew a glass or two of Vermentino off a vat, eager to see what we thought. It was the first white wine he'd ever made – from new plantings on the family's vineyard, which otherwise produces red Cannonau. With only six weeks in the tank, it was evident that he'd produced another winner. That Vermentino will be joining our other wines later in 2026, so you can judge for yourself!
Family winegrowing in Sardinia: Sandro Murgia at Tenute Donnolù
Getting merrily excited about the grape juice fermenting in Viv and Phill Clarkson's vats at Malton – the next vintage of Musley Bank, made from Solaris grapes that are suited to the chilly North – we couldn't help thinking how well these two families would get along. Different languages. Different varieties. Different weather, mostly! But the same scale (around 2,000 bottles a year). The same passion. Same curiosity. Same all-consuming relationship with the vines.
So, this Autumn, we'll be taking Viv and Phill to meet the Murgias - if there are any other English winemakers out there who'd like to join us, you're very welcome!
I'm writing this on August 1, 2026, which (if you're a Yorkshire man or woman) seems an appropriate one to celebrate the fellowship of the vine between two countries that are at the very heart of Terra Sarda Wines.
HAPPY YORKSHIRE DAY, every one!
{PS: If you're a horseracing fan, you'll have recognised the name of the Clarksons' wine, Musley Bank, as also being that of the Malton-based stable of trainer Richard Fahey. Viv and Phill's vineyard is right next door!}
