Send us a text Joining me on today’s episode of The English Wine Diaries is Harry Cragoe, founder of The Gallivant – a luxury beachside retreat in Camber Sands, near the picturesque market town of Rye in East Sussex. Harry describes himself as an entrepreneur with a purpose and his career has taken him across the globe and into many different businesses with one clear mission – to spark moments of joy and happiness through hospitality. The Gallivant epitomises this. Here, Harry an...

Send us a text Did you know over 40% of people in the UK are looking to cut down on their alcohol intake? This episode of The English Wine Diaries podcast is brought to you in partnership with BOLLE – the innovative wine brand vying to redefine the no and low category. Joining me today is Gary Read, CEO of BOLLE Drinks, a proudly English brand that is leading the charge in this fast-growing space with the world’s first and only non-alcoholic wine to undergo secondary fermentation. This ...

Send us a text Joining me on today’s episode of The English Wine Diaries is Simon Rolfe, director of 10 International and co-founder of Sea Change, an eco-friendly wine company that directly supports global ocean conservation projects. After living with his family on the coast of Australia, Simon, who previously worked in investment banking, saw first-hand the damage being done to the ocean. He helped found Sea Change in 2018, with the mission to turn the tide against plastic poll...

Send us a text Joining me on today’s episode of The English Wine Diaries is Sibylla Tindale, co-founder of High Clandon Estate in the heart of the Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Sibylla and her husband, Bruce, founded the boutique vineyard, which sits on a chalky-limestone hill, 20 years ago with the aim of producing only aged vintage sparkling wine to rival – and even surpass – the best that France can offer. Each year the Tindales, who are originally from South...

Send us a text Joining me on today’s episode of The English Wine Diaries is Richard Gladwin of "Local & Wild" a restaurant group co-founded with his brother, Oliver, which celebrates seasonal, sustainable dining inspired by their countryside upbringing on the family farm and vineyard, Nutbourne in West Sussex. Together, they have a portfolio of five London restaurants, which each bring the farm-to-table philosophy to life in the city. The restaurants also champion English wine, part...

Send us a text Joining me on today’s episode of The English Wine Diaries is Jeany Cronk, co-founder of Mirabeau. Born in Munich, Jeany moved to the UK for secondary school and later studied at the London School of Economics. A career in tech Marketing followed, where she met her husband, Stephen in 1997, and together they have three children. Life in the leafy suburbs of South London was good but something was missing and in 2009 the family gave up England for fragrant Provence wi...

Send us a text Joining me on today’s episode of The English Wine Diaries is Laura Riches, co-founder of wine brand Laylo. Laura was previously the marketing director at Naked Wines, the UK's largest direct-to-consumer wine brand and, during her tenure, was responsible for record-breaking years of customer retention through a focus on customer engagement and storytelling. In November 2020, Laura joined forces with Laura Rosenberger to create Laylo with the aim of reinventing boxed wine a...

Send us a text Joining me on today’s episode of The English Wine Diaries is Sandy Booth, life-long farmer and owner of B58 Winery in Beaulieu, Hampshire. Sandy founded the B58 Winery off the back of his hugely successful soft fruit farming business, after realising that his knowledge and innovative approach to growing fruit in polytunnels could also be applied to growing grape varieties that aren’t usually, successfully grown in the UK climate. Growing up in St Andrews, Scotland, ...

Send us a text Welcome to a new series of The English Wine Diaries and my first guest to join me to talk about all things English wine in 2025 is Trevor Clough, CEO and head blender of Digby Fine English. Trevor and his husband, Jason Humphries, launched their first Digby wines for sale in 2013 having swapped the corporate grind of London for Sussex, in the heart of English wine country. Impelled to give English sparkling wine the same fanfare as its international counterparts, th...

Joining me on the last episode of season 11 of The English Wine Diaries is Mark Darley, founder and owner of All Angels Vineyard in Newbury, Berkshire. Mark and his family became custodians of Church Farm in 2009 and, while it was still earlyish days for English wine back then, talks around the dinner table soon turned to planting a vineyard. When the farmland was analysed as ideal for growing grapes for outstanding English Sparkling Wine, and the first vineyard planted in 2011, Mar...

Joining me on today’s episode of The English Wine Diaries is Luke Spalding General Manager at Everflyht Vineyard in East Sussex. With a background in wine studies from Plumpton Wine Division, and having worked at nearby vineyard, Ridgeview, Luke joined the Everflyht single vineyard estate in 2019 just two years after owners Ben and Sam Ellis planted the first vines. As well as planting Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Meunier on their land, which sits at the bottom of Ditchling Beacon, th...

On today’s episode of the English Wine Diaries is Laura Robinson and Mathew Abbey from Burn Valley Vineyard in Norfolk. Laura’s family moved to Crossways Farm in North Creake in October 1989, but it wasn’t until 2016 that they decided to plant vines on their land, harvesting their first crop after the hot summer of 2018. Since then, they have built and expanded a winery and developed a portfolio of still, sparkling and sweet wines and vermouths. Laura, who has a background in ...

Joining me on today’s episode of the English Wine Diaries is award-winning wine expert and social media sensation, Tom Gilbey. The Gilbey name is synonymous with wine and spirits. The Gilbey family were the first English family to buy a vineyard in Bordeaux in 1875 and subsequently became the most prominent wine and spirits merchant in the UK, selling one in every three bottles of wine consumed, and building a portfolio that included Smirnoff Vodka, J&B whisky and their very own Gilb...

Joining me on today’s episode of The English Wine Diaries is Richard Balfour-Lynn, co-founder of Balfour Winery in Kent. Following an education at Westminster School and the City of London Business School, Richard set up his first business at 24 years old – his early business interests ranged from Irish linen and lace to medical diagnostic centres and air conditioning companies, all with varying degrees of success and failure. In his late 20s, he began developing high end residentia...

Joining me on this week's episode of The English Wine Diaries is Johnny Stanford, chef patron of Tern Restaurant in Worthing. Manchester born and bred, Johnny began his career working with Paul Kitching at his acclaimed restaurant Juniper in Altrincham, before heading to Cumbria, then Edinburgh and finally settling in Sussex in 2012. Johnny worked as sous chef at the Michelin starred restaurant Matt Gillan @ The Pass before taking the reins as head chef at Pascere in Brighton and th...

Joining me on today’s episode of The English Wine Diaries is Mary Bridges, head winemaker and vineyard visionary at Gusbourne.Mary grew up near Inverness in Scotland in a farming family, where her love of the land developed from an early age, along with an instinct for the flavour alchemy created by good wine.She started her career in hospitality and quickly became enthused with the wine aspect, so sought to further her passion and knowledge at Plumpton College, all the way down south in Suss...

We're back with series 11 of The English Wine Diaries and kick starting this season is The Mistress of Wine, aka Sam Caporn MW. Not only is Sam one of just 421 Masters of Wine world-wide, (of which there are only 149 women) she was also the recipient of the 2011 Madame Bollinger Medal for Excellence in Tasting and remains one of just 16 women to have received the medal to date. Sam’s wine career started as a trainee manager at Majestic and in the years that followed, she studied a s...

Joining me on the last episode of series 10 of The English Wine Diaries is wine expert and presenter, Tom Surgey. Tom was just 14 when his career in hospitality started, peeling carrots and potatoes in a Sussex pub after school. At the tender age of 20, he found himself working at The Ivy in London, where a hero called Sancho taught him the basics of wine and his passion for the drink really grew. He took his WSET qualifications and, hooked on wine, left the restaurant side of the i...

Joining me on today’s episode of The English Wine Diaries is Michael Kennedy, Chief Executive Officer of Roebuck Estates – who make premium sparkling wine from their multi-vineyard estates in Sussex.Following university, Michael joined the Graduate Management Scheme of Marks and Spencer, and became the first trainee manager to be appointed to an overseas position in Paris. After a period as a buyer, he moved to Mars Confectionery where he worked as a National Sales Manager in the UK.What foll...

Joining me on today’s episode of The English Wine Diaries is David Bailey – the owner of Wraxall Vineyard in Somerset. David and his wife, Lexa Hunt bought Wraxall – thought to be the oldest vineyard in Somerset – in February 2021 having moved into the neighbouring 200-year-old farmhouse a few years earlier. The couple, who have both run and grown businesses within the financial sector, had absolutely no viticultural experience but saw an opportunity, not only to make great wine, bu...