Harrow and Hope Vineyard interview
Welcome to the English wine Collection’s Vineyard focus! It’s great to have you on board. Could you tell me about the team at Harrow and hope . who’s in the team and what do they do?
Myself (Henry Laithwaite) and my wife Kaye run the business and then we have Cat Wilder who is our office manager, James Townsend is my assistant winemaker, Matt Robson vineyard manager and Gordon Fulford is second tractor driver and all round legend!
How did you get into the wine business and what led you to English wine?
My parents started Laithwaites 55 years ago so it’s been in my blood since I can remember. But doing a few harvests in my teens in France and Australia inspired me to become a winemaker. After living a year in Bordeaux learning to look after vines, myself and Kaye returned to the UK to start a family and decided to take what we’d learnt to enter into English Sparkling Wine.
How big is the vineyard at Harrow and hope and how many different grape varieties do you grow?
It’s been 6.5 Ha for 15 years until we planted a new plot this year to take us to 10 Ha. The split across the board is 20% Meuneir 40% Chardonnay and 40% Pinot Noir.
What is unique about you English vineyard location?
Whilst the Thames Valley is shaped by the Thames cutting into the chalk of the Chilterns, there is quite an influence of the river on the soil with large deposits of gravel, clay and sand that sit over various parts of the chalk bedrock. Being central also helps to temper any weather fronts that come in, no matter what the direction, as they have to go through a certain amount of land mass first before they reach us.
Why has Harrow and Hope focused on producing just Sparkling wines?
We just felt that to maintain and consistency of style and quality from year to year, sparkling would be the best option. Also I feel that chalk, whilst great for producing very fine and delicate sparkling base wines, is not great at producing soft and round still wines, as the chalk holds on to that acidity and freshness no matter how ripe you get them.
Talk me through your English Sparkling wines....
Harrow and Hope Brut Reserve
Our most important wine, the one we have to make no matter what mother nature throws at us. This is achieved through our perpetual reserve that is held in seasoned oak barrels. This not only maintains quality but brings immediate complexity to the wine with anything up to 40% reserve used in any particular release. Each bottling is given a number so people can track what is in each blend. Aged for a minimum of 3 years on lees. 40% Pinot Noir 40% Chardonnay 20% Meunier
Harrow and Hop Blanc de Blancs
Made exclusively from our block of Chardonnay perched on the steepest section of the vineyard. Here the soils are thin and very close to the chalk. This helps the vines produce and small but concentrated crop. The chalk helps retain acidity and freshness enabling us to push the ripeness levels of the vines to achieve an opulent and expressive character. 50% fermented in oak puncheons. 100% Chardonnay
Harrow and Hope Blanc de Noirs
From our Pinot Noir block located on the brow of the hill, encompassing both the thinner chalk soils at the bottom with richer clay and gravel soils at the top. A wine dedicated to our friend and winemaking mentor Tony Jordan who passed away in 2019. We worked on this wine more than any other, fermenting in 500 litre oak puncheons, bringing intensity, elegance and length to what will be a very long lived wine.
Harrow and Hope Brut Rosé
Made using the assemblage technique, blending a red wine component that comes from our Jura 292 clone of Pinot Noir. Here we focus on the red fruit character of Pinot Noir, with the chardonnay bringing finesse and balance. 30% fermented in oak puncheons to build texture and length. 50% Pinot Noir 30% Chardonnay 20% Meunier
If there were no English Wine available and you had to choose, what would be your favourite wines and why?
As a child I was weaned on the wines of Bordeaux and have spent so much time working and living there that I find it’s unique characters very evocative of many happy memories.
Can we come down to visit Harrow and hope’s vineyard? If so what can we expect from a tour/tasting? What facilities do you have on site?
Yes you can, but we limit them to the summer months with a max of 12 per tour, so as a consequence they sell out within few hours of when we release them in spring. So best to get on the mailing list. They consist of a 1 hour tour with either myself, Kaye or James our assistant winemaker, followed by a tasting of 3 wines, hopefully on the terrace when the weather is nice.
What challenges do you face at Harrow and hope and what plans do you have to overcome them?
We are a certified organic vineyard so the risk is always there if we don’t do our job properly. But that’s why I love organics, because it forces you to be good at what you do and any deficiency or issues have to be dealt with properly instead of hiding behind a list of chemical inputs. We focus a lot on building soil health and vine resilience, so when the tough years come along it’s amazing to see their strength and still give us the opportunity to make great wine.
Looking to the future where does Harrow and Hope see it’s self in the English Wine industry?
I feel we have the site, the team and the methods to keep making better and better wines every year. We never want to be big as we love the hands on work too much. We will continue to show that organics is a qualitative and financially viable option in this country, and will endeavor to help all those who want to go down this path.