Furleigh Estate and Tyrannosaurus Red

Andrew's parents live near Honiton in Devon. It's a stunning part of the world. Going to visit is always a treat. We normally like to tie a few vineyard visits in with each trip down. Yesterday we visited Furleigh Estate, just off the Jurassic Coast in Dorset.

What a fabulously romantic venue for a vineyard: growing above the soils where dinosaurs once roamed. For the fantasty novelist in me, the imagery was just far too compelling to drive by.

The image above is of the brand new vineyard and winery that they have created nestled within the ridiculously rolling hills of Bridport. The weather wasn't the greatest, but this was a bank holiday week end in England, what should one expect?

Furleigh Estate is surrounded by woodland and wildlife. We saw buzzards, a kite, pheasants and partridge. It was formerly a dairy farm. Vines were planted in 2005 to create a startingly modern vineyard and winery.

Over 22,000 vines grow on the south facing slopes of the Estate. The usual English sparkling suspects are all there: Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meurnier; as well as English still wine darlings: Bacchus and Rondo.

I was in search of "Tyrannosaurus Red", a Rondo / Pinot Noir blend, with some Triomphe. It's full of red berry fruits and is an enjoyable bit of red English tipple. I'd tasted in at the English Wine trade tasting and was ready to put it on our shelves at artisan & vine. You may be shocked to hear that this is of course a particularly difficult mission to fail at.

Tyrannosaurus Red is now available at artisan & vine (well, will be from tomorrow onward when I'm back in London) for £23.50 in the bar and £13.80 to take home.

Image: Furleigh Estate, nestled within the rolling hills of Dorset, 5km inland from the Jurassic Coast, with characteristic Bank Holiday week end skies.