Sandridge Barton is the breathtaking home of Sharpham Wine, which has been produced in the South Hams since 1981.
The company crossed the River Dart to its new location on the east bank near Stoke Gabriel.
CEO and Head Winemaker Duncan Schwab says: “These vines were planted in 2008 and now we’ve got around 40 acres of vines on this side of the river. At Sharpham there were only eight.
‘’Sharpham Wine and Sharpham Cheese were called the Sharpham Partnership established by a chap called Maurice Ash.
‘’When Maurice died the estate became a trust and the companies were separated.
Duncan then explained more about the grape varieties:
‘’We’ve got some early varieties like Madeleine Angevine, Bacchus and Pinot Noir Precoce which make a white wine and a red wine.
‘’We also have Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris and Chardonnay which make sparkling wines.
‘’We’ve got a brand called Sharpham which makes all the existing wines that we have made for years, we’ve got the Sandridge Barton Collection now which is considered the reserve range and we also make a natural selection of wines.
Duncan then explained the process for producing the wines:
‘’We’ve just started the harvest. These are our Pinot Noir Precoce which are sweet on the palate and these make a really good red wine.
‘’The grapes are all brought down to the winery.
‘’The white wines are crushed and pressed, the juice comes out and you ferment the juice.
‘’The rose wines you ferment on the skins from two to three days and the red wines are fermented on the skins for about six days to a week so you get the full colour that comes out of the skins into the wine.
‘’The sparkling wines are whole berry pressed so you don’t crush the grapes at that stage at all.’’
To find out more you can visit the website at: https://sandridgebarton.com