Had it not been for a discovery in a dilapidated greenhouse Helenka and William Brown wouldn't be where they are now - about to host the first ever wine tasting fayre on a Nottinghamshire vineyard. Hanwell Wine Estate, in Hickling Pastures, South Notts, on the Leicestershire border, is celebrating it tenth anniversary but it all started back in the 1970s when Helenka's parents moved into their new family home in West Bridgford.
They found a single vine in a derelict greenhouse, which put Tony and Veronica Skuriat on a life-changing path. It inspired them to venture into the world of wine production, officially opening Eglantine Vineyard in Costock in 1979 with the title of the most northerly commercial vineyard in the world in the mid-1980s.
Helenka said: "When my father first decided to plant a vineyard here in the East Midlands back in the 1970s, people laughed and thought it couldn’t be done." How wrong the doubters were. After 20 years of trialling more than 250 varieties of grapes, Tony was able to produce award-winning wines.
