Setting the scene: how to arrange wine glasses at the table

As harvest approaches, we shift gears into full preparation mode. We pick by hand and every detail matters to ensure a smooth and successful harvest. Canopy management We start by tidying the canopy so the ripe, pickable fruit is clearly visible. Ground maintenance Our team clears the under-vine strip of weeds, so we can place crates directly beneath the vines without risking damage from tractors. Alleyways are mown to make movement easier for our pickers. Planning & coordination We meet to review yield estimates and lock in harvest dates. We book picking teams, winery slots, and transport early. Coordinating pickers, machines, winery, and logistics is a balancing act – constant communication and flexibility are key. We may even have to delay picking based on ripeness and weather. Hand-harvesting essentials We estimate around 50 kg of fruit per picker per hour. Crates are laid out the day before, and we ensure we have enough secateurs, buckets, gloves, and plasters, for everyone. Ground crew & palletising Each collection team includes a tractor driver and crate collectors. Everything is labelled, weighed and logged. Smooth logistics  Harvest is complex, but with careful planning and teamwork, it’s one of the most rewarding times of the year. We arrange everything ahead of time to ensure a smooth process from vineyard to winery.

We often get asked what dishes go well with our wines and have blogged about this subject. However, BBQs would never be the top of ours or your list of options, or so we thought… Grilled meats & veggies It’s commonly thought that grilled meats and vegetables, do not go well with wine white. But white wine should be there on your garden table, mixing with those smoky flavours. Why? It’s the smokiness itself, which comes from the charcoal used in the cooking, combined with the paprika and garlic in the marinades and rubs you may be using, that make white wine perfect for BBQs. Cutting through White wines can cut through the sweetness of BBQ sauces and provide a perfect contrast and balance to the palate. With vegetables an essential part of the BBQ offering, white wines also go brilliantly with any grilled vegetables – sweetcorn, courgettes and peppers. Light & versatile  In fact, white wines provide lightness making them a versatile option that won’t overpower the meal, while red wines might actually be too overwhelming for your BBQ food.

When you take your wine glass, it’s vital to hold it by the stem. This doesn’t just look sophisticated, it also stops you from warming up the wine too quickly with your hand. It’s also important for wine glass etiquette, to understand how to pair your glass with your wine – selecting the correct glass is key. Shape, aroma, flavour The shape can influence the aroma and flavour of your wine. Glasses for red wine are generally larger than white ones and are often wider too. This gives the wine the chance to breathe and enhances the flavour. But for white wines, such as ours, your glass should be smaller and narrower. This helps maintain the wine’s subtle aromas. Pour correctly To also boost your wine drinking experience, there are other things to consider. To start with, it’s essential to pour your wine properly – fill the glass about one-third full to allow the aromas to develop. Gentle swirl Gently swirling the wine can also release the aromas further.  By following our guide and giving wine glass etiquette the attention it needs, you can raise your wine drinking experience to a whole new level of pleasure and class.

When setting the table for a meal, it’s important for the overall ambience to get the placement of your wine glasses just right and it also helps guests navigate your table too. To the right of the water Wine etiquette says the wine glass should be positioned to the right of the water glass. This ensures each diner has their own glass, but it also allows the person pouring the wine during the meal, or any waiting staff, to have access to the glass more easily. Select your glassware Not sure what glasses to use? It’s vital to pick an appropriate glass for the wine you’re planning on serving. Glasses for red wine are generally bigger than white wine ones and are wider too. This gives the wine the chance to breathe and it also enhances flavour. But for white wines like ours, your glasses should be more petite and essentially narrower. This helps maintain the wine’s subtle aromas. Flutes for bubbles? Sparkling wines do their best in flutes. Their taller and slender shape is designed to preserve the bubbles. However, there is a trend for champagne coupes too. While these look great and have a 1920s nostalgia about them, coupes expose the champagne to more air because they are flatter and wider, and this allows the bubbles to disappear quickly. However, there is a school of thought that says the ideal glass for champagne may in fact be one that is V shaped, because this concentrates and shows off aromas as well as bubbles. Read more here .

We can picture the scene…the sun is out, the garden is looking very inviting, you’ve poured yourself a glass of our wine and you’re thinking about getting the BBQ out. Before you do, we’ve put together some top tips for safe barbecuing this summer: Keep those hands clean! The number one rule when it comes to touching food and raw meat, in particular, is always wash your hands before and after Ensure all meat is completely defrosted if you’re using frozen meat Keep raw and cooked meats separate from each other to avoid cross contamination Use a thermometer. It’s always a good idea to use a meat thermometer to ensure your burgers, sausages or chicken are cooked properly. Sometimes when BBQ-ing it’s misleading and items looked cooked, when in fact they’re not quite cooked through Part cook in the kitchen – there’s no shame in part cooking your food in the kitchen oven and finishing it off on the BBQ to ensure it’s properly done Make sure that all knives and cooking utensils are securely stored when not in use and regularly wipe down surfaces between use with a disinfected cloth Select the right wine. Yes, white wine can go well with BBQ food. In fact, there’s a special culinary harmony when our wines are blended with a BBQ experience. Give it a try! For outdoor quaffing on a summer’s day, or evening, our white wines should be served chilled, ideally between 7°C and 10°C. This gives the best flavour. This helps to emphasise the refreshing herbal and fruitiness, making them the perfect companions to the smokiness of BBQ dishes  Chill your wine with an ice bucket and pop the bottle into the bucket about 20 minutes before serving or keep it in the fridge and pour just before the food is served.

Visitors to Hellens Garden Festival this weekend (June 7 and 8, 2025) will be able to meet our team and taste our award-winning products while also helping fundraise for charity. We will be at Hellens Manor in Much Marcle on June 7 and 8 to offer visitors samples of our English wines made from the grapes grown on vines here in Bromsberrow. Sponsor & support Heather, who co-founded our vineyard with her partner Richard and is also Hereford-based Wyevale Nurseries’ Chairman, says: “It’s wonderful to be attending Hellens Garden Festival once again this year. Both Foxbury Fields and Wyevale Nurseries sponsor and support the event. Charities “The event fundraises for two very important charities in the area: St Michael’s Hospice based in Hereford and Back to the Wild (B2W), based at Hellen’s Manor, supporting young people and helping them to reconnect with themselves, others and the natural environment. Try wines “We’ll be offering anyone who comes along the opportunity to try our award-winning English wines and to chat to us about our vineyard, which is not far from Much Marcle. Tickets are on sale now and are only available in advance this year. About the festival “The theme for 2025’s Hellens Garden Festival is ‘MIGRATION – Growing Connections.’ From animals following ancient routes, to plants dispersing seeds and people seeking new opportunities, migration is a story of resilience, adaptation and connection. The weekend will be full of talks, demos and workshops that explore this theme and much, much more!” How to book tickets Book your tickets in advance here .

We’re throwing open our gates to visitors for a series of ‘Taste of Herefordshire’ tours and tastings as part of English Wine Week next month (Saturday, June 21 to Sunday, June 29, 2025). We’re hosting events on June 21, 22, 25, 27 and 28 to help raise awareness of the county’s wine producers and wine tourism opportunities. BOOK NOW here . Behind-the-scenes tours We’re delighted to be hosting these behind-the-scenes tours during English Wine Week 2025, which is organised by our industry body WineGB, and to give visitors the opportunity to try some of the wonderful wines we make here in Herefordshire. English wine is going from strength-to-strength. We’ve had some great production years recently including 2023, which was pretty near perfect in terms of the weather, the harvest and the number of bottles produced. Wine tourism 2024 proved a bit challenging with all the wet weather at the start of the year so it’s going to be interesting to see how we all fare in 2025, especially with the drier start to the year we’ve had so far.” WineGB’s ‘UK Wine Tourism in 2024 Report’ shows that visits to vineyards and wineries have risen by 55% and that vineyards and wineries are now actively involved in wine tourism. We’re very proud of the cultivation, land management and environmental practices we’ve implemented at our vineyard, as well as the award-winning wines we make and we’re looking forward to showing it to anyone who is interested in finding out more. Our awards We’ve been winning regional and national awards for our wines for many years and have a range of accolades from silver and bronze to highly commended from WineGB West going back to 2017. We were awarded with bronze medals in 2023 for both our 2021 Bacchus and Ortega wines from WineGB and a silver for our 2022 Ortega and our 2022 Bacchus at 2023’s WineGB West awards event, which was judged by industry experts including top wine journalist, Susy Atkins.” To enhance the celebrations, English Wine Week also coincides with the Summer Solstice, which falls on June 21. About our tours Every event takes place at our vineyard, nestled at the foot of the Malvern Hills. After walking through the vines and touring our site, guests can sit back and try our award-winning classic vintage English Bacchus and our wonderfully perfumed Ortega wines. The vineyard is a five-to-10-minute walk from our farm, so if anyone has any walking difficulties, but would like to come along, please get in touch with us direct before booking and we can discuss accommodating your needs. Dates & Times Our ‘Taste of Herefordshire’ tours and tastings are on: Saturday, June 21 from 3pm Sunday, June 22 from 3pm Wednesday, June 25 from 6pm Friday, June 27 from 6pm Saturday, June 28 from 3pm. How to book Each tour, which is priced at £5 per person, lasts approximately 90 minutes to two hours and includes the wine tasting. Tickets should be booked in advance via the store section here . Advance booking is required to guarantee a place

Planning an Easter weekend lunch or a sumptuous spring dinner? If you want to be sure your table looks the part, then here are a few handy hints:  Cover your table with a crisp plain linen tablecloth and contrasting napkins. If you go for a plain cloth, then you can change your table décor by using different coloured napkins and other accessories. It is easier on the purse to do this, and it also means you achieve a classic, stylish look effortlessly. Lay your placemats and put the main course knife and fork either side of each mat, then lay the starter cutlery outside this. Pop the dessert spoon above the fork with its handle to the right. Water glasses should be place above the knives with wine glasses above to the right. White wine glasses be placed to the right of the water goblets. Arrange fresh spring flowers as a centrepiece and add handwritten place cards for a personal touch. Make sure your floral arrangement isn’t too high so people can’t see or speak over it. Place napkins on the side of the fork.

If you’re looking for something different to try for a dinner party, how about giving ceviche of scallops a go and use our Bacchus white wine as an ingredient in the dish, as well as to serve with it. Scallops are still in season in the UK in April, so this might be a great addition to your Easter feasting plans too. Remember to take care when eating seafood and to buy your ingredients from a reputable shop. Always seek specialist advice from an experience fishmonger. Serves four people Ingredients 8 fresh scallops cleaned 200ml olive oil 25ml of our Bacchus white wine, also serve the dish with a glass 50ml vermouth Juice and zest of 1 lime Juice and zest of ½ lemon 1 shallot peeled and sliced 1 clove of garlic peeled sliced. Micro herbs Coriander, pea shoots or similar, parsley Herb oil 1 bunch of coriander 300ml olive oil Method Herb oil Wash thoroughly the coriander and dry on a cloth. Bring to the boil a pan of salted water and blanch the coriander for one minute and place into ice cold water until cold. Drain the coriander and squeeze out excess water pat dry. Place the blanched coriander into a food processor with the oil and blend for three-four minutes until the oil is bright green. Leave the oil to infuse for five minutes. Have a piece of cheese cloth and double it over. Place the cheese cloth under cold water until soaked, wring out the cloth. Place cloth into a fine sieve, make sure the cloth is double thickness. This will stop any sediment from the herbs straining through. Pour the oil into the cloth and leave to strain naturally. Once strained pour into a jar and chill. For the marinade Place the olive oil, wine, vermouth, lemon and lime juice into a mixing bowl and whisk together, add the garlic and shallot, season with salt and pepper. Leave at room temperature for at least one hour. For the scallops  Slice the scallops into four-six rounds depending on the size of the scallops. Season the scallops and place into the marinade for 10 minutes. The scallops will start to turn white once ready. Gently strain the scallops from the marinade and place onto a plate to drain. Check the seasoning and plate up the scallops. Spoon over a little of the ceviche marinade. Mix a selection of the herbs; season and place on top of the scallops, drizzle over the salad and scallops some of the coriander oil and serve.