EDITOR'S VISIT
Ed itor
Wraxall enters new era
Jo Cowdero y
Wraxall Vineyard in Somerset was established in 1974 and has successfully produced wine over many years, but now enters a new era. Vineyard hears about the visionary new owners exciting plans to modernise, renovate, and create a boutique vineyard producing high quality wines perfect for the tourism and foodscape scene of Somerset. Wraxall Vineyard is believed to be Somerset’s oldest vineyard, and second largest, even though it is currently only 6 acres. The vineyard was first planted around 50 years ago, in the 70s, but rumour has it that there may have been vines on the site in Roman times. The vineyard was bought by David Bailey and Lexa Hunt in February 2021 as a long-term family investment with a view to developing and maximising the assets. “The vineyard had been well cared for but now needs a programme of modernisation and investment both in terms of planting to enhance the wine, development to facilitate wine tourism and to ensure that the economics of the vineyard is on a firm footing,” explained David. David and Lexa have both run and grown businesses previously, albeit in financial services and not wine. “I grew my previous business, with three partners, to 750 people across eight offices in the world and sold it in 2018. It was at that time that Lexa and I started to look for a house in the countryside and focussed on Somerset – subsequently finding Wraxall Lodge – a 200-year-old farmhouse that needed renovation and situated next to a vineyard. The vineyard had been up for sale for some time and given the vicinity to the house we subsequently decided to buy it in February 2021 – seeing opportunities to develop both the vineyard itself and the visitor facilities. It’s not a large vineyard, but new plantings in 2022 will increase the area to eight acres,” said David.
The history
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“Wraxall Vineyard was originally planted with Seyval Blanc, Bacchus and Madeleine Angevine in the 1970s by the owners of Wraxall Lodge,” explained David. “In the late 1980’s, Raimund
Herincx, one of the great Wagnerian opera singers of the 1960s and 1970s and his wife Astra Blair, took over the running of the vineyard. They added to the vines and planted a few Chardonnay – smuggled back from France by Raimund, hidden in some socks! Astra, a soprano and agent for opera singers, took her sales skills into the world of wine and Wraxall wine was served in First Class on British Rail GWR and at the Waldorf Hotel in London where it was a served with cream teas. When the Vineyard became too much for Raimund and Astra to manage they sold it and it fell into disrepair, before new owners in 2007 nurtured the
vineyard back to life. Whilst there is local hearsay of the Romans growing vines at Wraxall, we have yet to find any evidence,” explained David.
Getting expert advice
“Once we started to contemplate the purchase of the vineyard, we needed help and guidance,” commented David. “Firstly, to decide whether it was a good site in terms of location and climate, and secondly to assess the state of the vines and their suitability for the modern wine industry – as most had been planted over 15 years ago – and some even longer. Thirdly, we needed a view on the opportunities, or otherwise, to grow and
