The Stopham Estate spans 1,200 acres and has been in the same family since the 12th century. Occupying 17 acres of this beautiful area of the South Downs is Stopham Estate Vineyard and Winery.
The founder of Stopham Estate Simon Woodhead, first planted vines on the site in 2007. Having studied at Plumpton in 2004 Simon was keen to plant a vineyard and produce wines with an aromatic quality. “These are the wines I like to drink,” he said with a smile. Having the goal of making aromatic wines in the marginal climate of West Sussex Simon decided to talk the idea over with Chris Foss his lecturer at Plumpton. “We discussed the problem of finding aromatic varieties that would ripen in this climate and we settled on Alsatian varieties such as Pinot Gris and Pinot Blanc,” Simon added.
The decision has been very successful. In the last five years the grapes have consistently ripened to produce wines within the 11%-12% abv target range. This means Simon and assistant winemaker Adderley Pelly are able to produce award winning wines with the minimum of intervention in the winery. Simon is quick to point out that Adderley is more than the assistant winemaker and has a vital part to play in the vineyard as well. “Adderley also does all our spraying,” he said with a loyalty that emphasised why this small team work so well together.
The vineyard has six hectares of vines. Pinot Gris is the largest planting but there are also Pinot Blanc, Bacchus, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir varieties. The vineyard did originally have some Dornfelder vines to produce rosé wines but these were removed and an extra plot of Bacchus was planted. Marie Davies, Stopham Estate Head of Sales explained: “There was a shift in trend towards lighter wine styles and so what is now called the ‘New Bacchus’ parcel of vines was planted.”
It is fitting that this vineyard, deep in the South Downs National Park affords fantastic views of both the River Rother and the River Arun. In fact, the River Arun is 37 miles long and is the longest river flowing entirely through the county of Sussex. The natural geography of the site is a significant reason for the unique flavour profiles that the team at Stopham are able to capture in their wines. Stopham vineyard sits on the Greensand Ridge which geographically stretches into Kent and Surrey but the composition of the Greensand Ridge varies greatly within each area. Areas on the Greensand Ridge with fertile soils support many different tree varieties and at the centre of Stopham vineyard is a Monterey Pine tree. The tree is not just central to the vineyard but it is also central to the branding of the wines. The Stopham Tree is a way for the vineyard and winery to unitedly celebrate that which makes it unique – the soil on which it stands. The rootstocks that were chosen are a mixture of SO4 and 3309. The sandy soil structure and the rootstock choices mean that the vineyard is not burdened with controlling over vigour in the vines. As head winemaker, Simon believes the unique composition of the Greensand Ridge with its rich iron deposits gives flavour profiles in the stone fruit and tropical range such as peach to the Pinot Blanc and lychee to the Bacchus.
Simon once worked in Formula 1 as an engineer developing sensors. “I have been a winemaker much longer than I was in Formula 1,” he said with a smile that makes it obvious that his real passion lies here in the heart of the South Downs National Park in the 19th Century Grade II listed building that houses the modern well equipped winery and barrel room.
It has been many years since his career change and he developed his love of viticulture, Simon does admit that his engineering background has an influence over the way he approaches certain aspects of the vineyard and winery. For example, the original planting contained Auxxerois which could be prone to disease and did not meet Simon’s exacting standards of quality. “Our ethos is entirely focussed on quality and there are no compromises,” he said. Discussing the importance of quality it becomes clear that the process starts right from the vine. Sorting takes place in the vineyard and the only grapes that make it into the winery are the very best quality. Much like the equipment on Formula 1 cars it is the fine tuning and the details that have allowed Stopham Estate to consistently receive recognition and awards for the wines they produce.
With a further possible nod to Simon’s past as a research engineer the vineyard installed a state of the art frost irrigation protection system in 2021. Supplied by Plantex the system covers every vine in the vineyard and mitigates against frost as the system uses water and the freezing process to keep the vines protected from the damage that occurs when heat from the plant is lost to the surrounding cold air. Simon and vineyard manager Matt Borsay installed the system digging the ditches, installing the pipework and fixing and positioning over 4000 nozzles. The system is connected to an alarm and Matt oversees the system each year from the start of the season (when every inch of pipe and every nozzle is tested) until the threat of frost has passed. Matt and Simon both agree “the system is costly but it can save the entire crop and so if it is only used for one frost event the system will cover its costs.” This system is fed by a purpose built onsite reservoir to minimise its impact on the surrounding environment.
“The branding message is Passion, Precision, Craft and Sustainability and our ethos is to leave the least impact on our environment,” said Marie. The site does have deer fencing but in all other ways is happy to co-exist with the surrounding wildlife. Pheasants can be heard across the site and there is evidence of moles and rabbits but none of these are highlighted as threats to the grapes. Wildflower strips are plentiful across the estate and this has led to biodiversity increases. “We have had an explosion of the kite and buzzard population,” Simon commented as the sounds of the birds of prey echoed around the site. This plethora of natural predators may account for the lack of grape predation by the smaller birds and may also explain how the rabbit population remains in balance.
Matt pointed out that the vineyard always works on its own timetable. “I have been here six years and bud burst is almost always around the same time every year. We often hear that working outside is good for mental health and I get to do that every day,” he said. His enthusiasm is not even deterred by my comment that pruning often takes place in the coldest part of the year. Instead of thinking negatively on my comment he chooses to focus on the colour of the chardonnay wood and how this is an excellent example of every part of the vineyard having its own unique quality to offer. The Passion and Craft of the branding message is clearly evident from the largest right through to the smallest detail.
In the first week of April some of the vines are tied down but not all. “The Bacchus is always the first to be tied down and the first to be harvested. The other vines will be tied down as soon as sap flow permits,” said Adderley.
Reflecting on 2024 the team are quite pragmatic. “We had a season that was difficult and we had problems with downy mildew,” said Adderley. “We didn’t want to pick the Pinot Blanc because our reputation as quality winemakers is the most important part of our ethos,” added Simon. “The number of bottles that we produce from 2024 will be about a quarter of the production of 2023,” Marie added.
Simon refuses to only reflect on 2024 and pointed out that the wines that are produced by the team at Stopham always focus on quality and whilst the flavour profiles remain similar there are vintage variations. Those good aromatic profiles have occasionally turned into something quite outstanding and Simon pointed to 2014, 2018, 2023 as vintages that went beyond the exceptional.
Adderley and Matt discuss the addition of the Fischer under vine mower that was purchased from N P Seymour for the 2024 season. “It was slow in the beginning,” said Matt. “It was only slow until Matt was familiar with the equipment and by the end of the season Matt was really quick,” said Adderley in yet another example of team spirit and loyalty. “We are really pleased with the mower the fact that we did not have to use herbicide and the results have been really positive,” said Matt.
Technical innovation is not reserved for the vineyard. The winery may be housed in a listed farm building but it is a fully equipped modern space that enables the team to undertake all the winemaking processes in house. With the help of grant funding the winery will have a new cross flow filter which was sourced by the team at Bevtech. The onsite winery also allows Stopham to offer contract winemaking services to other small vineyards. Simon pointed out that this is not just about providing another income stream for the winery but also means that the winery gets to work with some really interesting varieties. “It is also really satisfying to see contract clients happy with the finished wines,” said Simon with a smile.
The winery also has its own barrel room. “Aromatic styles don’t always work with oak so we have been cautious with this approach but have found the wines have been really well received both by the public and by our trade customers,” said Simon. “Placing the Chardonnay into barrel has amplified the flavour profiles and people on tours here who would previously say they did not like Chardonnay have been completely surprised,” he continued.
The vineyard has the freedom to work with both new and older oak and use a small percentage of new oak to add structure to the Brut Sparkling. Stopham Estate only produce one sparkling wine which is a blend of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. “The barrel aging definitely adds a note of creaminess to the wine,” said Marie. There is also a Barrel Fermented still Chardonnay and a Barrel Fermented Pinot Blanc. It is encouraging that winemakers in England and Wales have the confidence to keep moving their winemaking skills forward and add wines with style and panache to their portfolio.
The vineyard runs both corporate team building events and tours. Tours run every Saturday from April to September at 11.00 and 14.00. The tours are run mostly by Adderley and sometimes Marie. “Adderley really likes taking the tours and she is really good at it,” said Marie. “Most people who take the tours from the UK are quite knowledgeable about sparkling wines so we are taking the opportunity to showcase the still wines that can be made in England and Wales as well,” observed Marie. The vineyard tours have seen plenty of international visitors throughout the years hosting guests from Australia, USA, Canada, France and Italy as well as several Scandinavian nations. The message about English still wine may be a work in progress but with the focus on still aromatic varieties Stopham Estate is well placed to champion this part of the English wine journey.
Another way Stopham Estate is spreading the message about the excellent quality that is possible in English still wines is through the international awards they have been collecting. “The Pinot Gris and Pinot Blanc have both been awarded Best Wine at the IEWA. There have also been numerous gold medals and accolades across a number of other competitions over the years,” said Marie with a hint of pride in her voice. For the 2025 award season Stopham Estate will again enter the IWA and WineGB Awards alongside a number of other prestigious competitions. “We are really going for it this year,” Marie smiled. “We do value the medals that we win and of course medals do help sales. Sometimes the entry dates for competitions fall when we have only just bottled the wines which is not ideal but this year we do think the 2023 Pinot Gris is tasting really lovely. The Bacchus is also great and the 2022 Barrel Fermented Pinot Blanc is also tasting well – it has a lovely gentle oak to it. So it is a good year to enter big competitions.”
A focus on superb quality still wines with surprising aromatic qualities has won consistent praise for Stopham Estate. Having personally witnessed the positive reaction of international wine buyers to these wines it was a privilege to take a behind the scenes look at this unique vineyard and winery. It was gratifying to learn that hard work, team spirit and a constant desire to improve are at the heart of the success of this vineyard and winery team but there is also something just a little special about Stopham that cannot be put into words, but the team do manage to put it into the bottle.
Photos: © Martin Apps, Countrywide Photographic
For more like this, sign up for the FREE Vineyard newsletter here and receive all the latest viticulture news, reviews and insight
