After one of Tamar Grow Local’s farmstart tenants needed to step back from their vineyard project based in Lower Metherell, the idea for a community managed vineyard and community business started to come together.
An initial meeting at Harrowbarrow & Metherell village hall was well attended and from there a vineyard group has started to grow! The vines which were planted 7 years ago are predominantly a bacchus grape and a small harvest was gathered in by the vineyard group in October 2022. After some tlc on the vines, a much larger harvest of over 900kgs was harvested in 2023. Sadly 2024 was a challenging year and saw no harvest, but the members are undeterred and looking forward to harvest 2025 already.
Tamar Valley Vineyard based on the Bere Peninsula have been very supportive of the project and have produced our first wine – a white baccus for the group which is delicious!
Unfortunately, the vineyard cannot be a publicly open space as it is surrounded by active farmland and does not have dedicated paths to it so visits are limited to member work parties and special events. There are also significant maintenance costs for running the vineyard and so there is an annual membership cost of £50 per household, but this does include a share of the wine. It is hoped that membership costs can be reduced over the coming years once there is excess wine or juice to sell and maintenance costs can be covered through sales.
Please contact [email protected] if you would like to come along to the next vineyard visit and work party to find out more or be added to the mailing list to keep up to date with developments and future events!
To find out more about Community Supported Agriculture follow this link https://communitysupportedagriculture.org.uk/
