NEWS
Take a look at the latest news, releases and events from Dunesforde. Don’t forget to subscribe to our newsletter which will keep you up to date on what’s coming up and when.
19th July 2024 - Dunesforde produces the best English single varietal white wine
WineGB Awards Trophy win
We officially make the Best Single Varietal White Wine in the country after Dunesforde Pinot Gris 2022 was presented with the WineGB Awards trophy at a ceremony in London today, 19th July. The Tom Day Trophy was awarded to the Townsend family by expert judge Susie Barrie MW. Never before has a wine from Yorkshire been awarded such an honour.
In addition, Dunesforde Pinot Gris won the trophy for the Best Wine for the Midlands and the North.
The WineGB Awards celebrate the crème de la crème of wine from one of the world’s most exciting wine regions, Great Britain. Expert judges including Oz Clarke OBE, Susie Barrie MW and Peter Richards MW judge all the wines blind in a rigorous process. A record number of wines were entered this year.
Ian Townsend commented: “We couldn’t be prouder that our wine has been awarded these prestigious trophies by the esteemed WineGB Awards judging panel. Who knew that a wine from a small vineyard in North Yorkshire could be named as the top wine in the country in its category? When we planted the first vines in our village, Upper Dunsforth, in 2016, we could only dream that we could make wines anywhere near as good as this. We are over the moon that we are now standing side by side with some of the greatest producers in Great Britain.”
The trophy-winning wine, Dunesforde Still Pinot Gris, is from the exceptional vintage of 2022 which allowed us to produce this wine for the first time. It is a rich but easy drinking wine with a wonderful variety of smooth orchard and citrus fruit flavours. The judges' notes on the wine were: “Aromas of lime peel and fresh pear. On the palate there is pear, white pepper and lime oil. Nice balanced acidity, good texture and a long finish.”
5th July 2024 - It’s gold for Pinot Gris
The first top medal for Yorkshire in the WINeGB Awards
We are delighted to have won a gold medal in the WineGB Awards – the first Yorkshire vineyard ever to do so in the competition’s eight-year history and the most northerly. The medal-winning wine is Dunesforde Still Pinot Gris from the exceptional vintage of 2022 which allowed us to produce this wine for the first time.
The WineGB Awards, the premier competition for UK wines, saw a record number of entries this year with wines made in 33 counties across England and Wales gaining honours. Over 350 medals were awarded but only 56 gold medals were handed out and only 21 of these were given to still wines, making our medal exceptionally rare.
All wines in the competition were judged blind by expert judges including Oz Clarke OBE, Susie Barrie MW and Peter Richards MW. Their notes on Dunesforde Still Pinot Gris 2022 were: “Aromas of lime peel and fresh pear. On the palate there is pear, white pepper and lime oil. Nice balanced acidity, good texture and a long finish.”
Now the wine has been shortlisted for a WineGB trophy in the category of Best Still Varietal White and the results will be revealed on 19 July at the Drapers’ Hall in London. Fingers crossed!
15th June 2024 - Yorkshire Elegance at Grantley Hall
Revving up for a great time
We are delighted to be the wine of choice once more at The Fast Lane Club's high-end, prestige and classic sports car event, Yorkshire Elegance. The three-day festival takes place from 16th to 18th July, this year at Grantley Hall. VIP guests will sip Queen of the North while viewing some of the most exquisite rare cars from all over the UK.
14th June 2024 - Northern Aldborough Festival
Looking forward to the Last Night Outdoor concert
We can’t wait for the Last Night Outdoor Concert of the Northern Aldborough Festival on 22nd June with the UK’s biggest Queen tribute band, Majesty. We will be there with our Wine Marquee serving glasses and bottles of our fabulous wine. Bring a picnic but let us sort the refreshments. You'll go Radio Ga Ga for them!
17th May 2024 - Vineyard News
Press Release
There are celebrations at the vineyard today as we have won our first award in the prestigious International Wine Challenge. The IWC is the world’s most influential, impartial and rigorously judged global wine competition. It has just announced the results of its 2024 competition with Dunesforde Sparkling Pinot Gris 2020 awarded a silver medal!
The expert judges said: “This is bright and intense with red cherry and lime flavour, showing keen acidity and real interest.”
We are now excited about the future of this wine, in particular the next edition, Sparkling Pinot Gris 2021, which will be released shortly.
9th April 2024 - Summer Season
update from the vineyard
We are excited to announce that we have now entered our summer season. This means that our terrace bar and tours and tastings will be back running on Fridays and Saturdays.
We are still offering our cheese and charcuterie platters and as well as our award-winning wines. We still have a range of Fentimans soft drinks and lagers.
To book onto our terrace bar, please click here or for a tour and tasting, click here
19th March 2024 - Guest Chef Round Up
Update from the vineyard
Now that our winter season is coming to a close, we thought we would give everyone an update on how our guest chef nights went throughout the season.
Dan Graham gained his culinary experience by working in renowned restaurants in France and Greece as well as Michelin-starred restaurant Le Gavroche in London. In 2009 Dan was runner up on BBC’s MasterChef the Professionals, in 2017 he reached the semi-final of National Chef of the Year and in 2018 and 2019 he was a finalist in London’s Kikkoman Masters. For his evening at Dunesforde Vineyard, Dan created a beautiful menu of hand-dived king scallop, seared and poached in court bouillon, served with winter vegetables and a white wine butter sauce, chives and chive oil. This was paired with a still Pinot Gris. For main, rosemary roasted Yorkshire estate venison loin, pot roast celeriac, celeriac puree, pickled red cabbage, red wine and red currant game jus with dark chocolate was served alongside Dunesforde Pinot Noir Précoce Red. For dessert, caramelised apple tarte tatin - a favourite for the Dunesforde team - was served with salted caramel sauce, calvados crème fraiche, vanilla ice cream and was accompanied by Dunesforde Sparkling Solaris. Dan did a fabulous job in kicking off our winter season with his wonderful flavours.
Next on the line-up was Steph Moon who started her career at the Dorchester in London and worked her way round the world before moving back to Yorkshire, where she worked as executive chef at Rudding Park Hotel. From 2011-2013, Steph represented the North East in the Great British menu and now in addition to working as a consult chef, she also takes part in food demonstrations and has had several TV experiences. On her Guest Chef night, Steph made a wonderful menu, full of local produce starting with Lishman’s of Ilkley beef bresaola, celeriac remoulade, précoce red wine gel with a cup of leek and potato soup with gruyere cheese straws. This was served alongside jellied ham hock terrine with melba toast and Steph’s chutney with freshly baked bread and Yorkshire butter, paired with Dunesforde Red. For main course, it was local herb fed chicken breast roasted with lemon and rosemary, crispy chicken bonbon, confit chicken pastilla, fondant potatoes, butternut anise puree, honey roast parsnip with heritage carrots and green beans, paired with our still Solaris. For pudding, Steph made a trio of desserts: lemon posset topped with star anise mulled berries in Précoce Red 2022; spotted dick with bramley apples and vanilla custard and Yorkshire honey cake with roasted walnuts and a slither of Yorkshire blue cheese with a Dunesforde Rose wine glace. This was accompanied by a Dunesforde sparkling cocktail. Steph created a great start to 2024. She explained each dish as they were served which made for a wonderful atmosphere.
Mark Lees has had an interesting career, working in many well-known establishments such as Rudding Park, Goldsborough Hall and Hornington Manor. Mark created Nong Jo with his partner Joey after he spent some time working in Thailand where he learnt everything there is to know about Thai cooking. For his evening in February, Mark created a delicious five-course tasting menu which included Nong Jo’s vegetable spring rolls with glass noodles with sweet chilli chargrilled satay chicken with peanut Nam Jim. For his next course, he produced a Tom Kha - a creamy Thai coconut soup with mushrooms, lemongrass and tomato. After that he served a Pad Krapow taco, stir fried pork with holy basil, served in a crispy corn shell. For Main course he served slow cooked short rib of beef in Massaman curry sauce, served with Thai jasmine rice. And finally for pudding he made olive oil sponge with fresh mango jam and white chocolate custard. Mark created a beautiful evening and guests commented about how much they loved the evening.
Our most recent guest chef night closed our winter season in style: Simon Gueller, who has been head chef of three Michelin-starred restaurants, most recently at The Box Tree in Ilkley. He was responsible for gaining its Michelin star in 2004, which held its star until 2019. Simon created a marvellous three-course meal which was a hit with our guests. To start, he produced a mi cuit of smoky Loch Duart organic salmon, avocado, fromage blanc and brioche. For main course, he served daube of beef, horseradish pomme purée, pancetta, pickled shimeji mushroom with a red wine sauce. For dessert, guests were delighted with their burnt butter treacle tart with clotted cream ice cream.
All four of our Guest Chef nights have been highlights of our winter calendar, consistently providing exceptional food and showcasing our wine. It has been great to see not only some of our regular customers but also allowed for new customers to visit our beautiful vineyard. These events have been great fun for us to host and organise and additionally allowed us to work with some fantastic local chefs. We cannot wait for our next chef evening on 17th May when Dan Graham is back with a whole new menu for us to try.
17th January 2024 - 2023 Charity Donations
2023 round up
We are very proud to announce that throughout 2023, Dunesforde Vineyard has donated over £1000 to a variety of different charities.
Can’t wait to see what 2024 brings!
23rd December 2023 - Merry Christmas and a happy new year!
2023 round up
We'd like to take this opportunity to thank you for all your support this year for what has been another successful year at the vineyard. Let's take a look back at 2023 in numbers:
2,500 visitors to the vineyard on tours and tastings
2 silver medals won in the WineGB Awards for Dunesforde Sparkling Rosé 2019 and Queen of the North Rosé 2019
1 new style of wine launched - the rare Still Pinot Gris
3 times on the road at the Yorkshire Elegance car event at Bowcliffe Hall, the last night of the Aldborough Music Festival and the Great Yorkshire Show with the CLA
8pm - the new longer opening time for the bar and terrace on a Friday and Saturday in the summer
10 talks, concerts and special events. And lots of private parties and corporate events too
1st Guest Chef Evening (with more to come in the new year)
10s of news articles about the vineyard including features on ITV News, as well as in The Guardian, The Times and on the Ameliarate Through Wine podcast
3 cheers for our wines being available at The Boxtree, Aldwark Manor and Goldsborough Hall, as well as the Yorkshire Hamper Company and Lottie Shaw's
150 volunteers for harvest
12 tons of grapes harvested
15 stalls at our Christmas Fair and too many visitors to count!
36 newsletters sent (we hope you enjoyed reading them!)
We would like to wish all our Dunesforde friends a happy and healthy new year ahead. We will be popping some Queen of the North corks on New Year's Eve and hope you will too!
16th December 2023 - Carols and Choir Night
News from the vineyard
Another sell out night at the vineyard!
The Ouseburn church choir sang some of the classic Christmas carols and resighted their original poems to a sold out audience.
Wine and mince pies were enjoyed by all. This night really got us into the Christmas spirit.
20th November 2023 - Introducing the Dunesforde Christmas Case
News from the vineyard
New for 2023, we are launching a Dunesforde Christmas wine case designed to go perfectly with your Chrismas day.
Containing
Queen of the North Coronation Edition 2019 - To toast your Christmas day in a royal style
Still Rosé 2022 - A wonderful match for a smoked salmon and scrambled eggs
Bacchus 2022 - To accompany your canapés and nibbles
Still Solaris 2021 - Goes brilliantly with a prawn cocktail starter
Dunesforde Red 2022 - A perfect match for your turkey
Still Pinot Gris 2022 - To pair with your cheese
To get yours, click here
1st November 2023 - New Wine Alert
news from the vineyard
We are very excited to announce a brand new wine for Dunesforde, Still Pinot Gris 2022
This very rare wine has a rich flavour with notes of orchard and citrus fruits. This easy drinking wine pairs well with seafood such as scallop.
To be the first to try this very first Dunesforde edition wine, click here to order yours.
24th October 2023 - End of Harvest
news from the vineyard
We have just finished our final harvest of 2023!
The weather was not on our side this year but fortunately with the help of 150 volunteers, this year we picked 12 tonnes of grapes. These grapes will now go down to our wine makers, Half Penny Green, to go through the first stage of the wine making process.
We want to take this opportunity to thank all volunteers who have helped us this year. We cannot wait to see how this wine vintage turns out.
If you want to see what harvest entails click here to see our short harvest video.
11th October 2023 - Dunesforde Christmas Fair 2023
news from the vineyard
We are pleased to announce our Christmas Fair is back!
On Saturday 25th November we will be hosting our annual Christmas fair. Many different local businesses will be holding stalls and selling gifts, just in time for the start of your Christmas shopping.
The Fair will be open from 10am - 4pm and live music from Spa Sax will be played from 2:30pm.
Cannot wait to see everyone there.
1st October 2023 - Distinguished Gentleman’s Car Rally
News from the vineyard
Last week we hosted the final destination for the Distinguished Gentleman’s Car Rally. This was a charity event raising money for the Movember movement. Movember raises awareness for prostate cancer and men’s mental health.
Over 40 cars took part in the event, starting at Bowcliffe Hall, making several stops along the way, and finishing at Dunesforde Vineyard. All this effort did not go to waste as this event managed to raise £5879!!!
23rd September 2023 - First Day of Harvest
News from the vineyard
It’s that time of year again; HARVEST!
Today was our first day of Harvest and this year we started with Solaris.
Weather dependent, we will be harvesting for the next 4 to 6 weeks. If you would like to help with the 2023 harvest, please see our calendar here for the dates.
21st July 2023 - Yorkshire Elegance
Events
WOW! What a great two days we had at Bowcliffe Hall with Yorkshire Elegance. It was wonderful seeing so many people and beautiful cars. In addition to our wine stall, we also provided wine to Boodles, a jewellery company, and to the Fast Lane Club, helping them provide a VIP experience to their customers.
1st July 2023 - Our First Guest Chef Event Announced
Press release
Dunesforde Vineyard will host its first Guest Chef Evening with award-winning MasterChef runner-up Dan Graham on Friday 3rd November. Guests will enjoy an exquisite 3-course meal with wine pairings, canapés and petits fours at the picturesque vineyard in Upper Dunsforth in between York and Harrogate.
Dan Graham, the private chef who runs At the Dinner Party based in Malton, North Yorkshire, has had a stellar career from working at two Michelin-starred Le Gavroche and five-star hotel resorts around the world, to becoming MasterChef The Professionals runner-up. Now he is coming to Dunesforde for a very special evening. Read more
16th June 2023 - Our 2023 WineGB Awards
Latest news from the vineyard
We are very proud to announce that we have won three awards this year for WineGB.
Our Solaris 2021 placed bronze and our Queen of the North Rosé and Dunesforde Rosé placed silver!
We are the only winners from Yorkshire so we are very excited about this achievement.
15th June 2023 - The Country Land and Business Association AGM
Latest at the vineyard
The Country Land and Business Association (CLA) hosted their AGM at the vineyard this year. Over 80 of their members arrived for a wine tasting as well as a two coursed lunch and then a tour of the vineyard.
20th May 2023 - On National News
In the News
It was lights, camera and action at the vineyard last week as an ITV News crew spent the day with us filming for a news report about the rise of Yorkshire vineyards. If you didn't see it, you can watch it here. This was following an article in the Mirror too. It was a really fun day making national news headlines! Here's a look behind the scenes.
1st May 2023 - New Wine Alert!
Latest news from the vineyard
We have released a brand new special reserve Queen of the North Coronation Edition to commemorate the new King. This English sparkling has a split of chardonnay and pinot noir grapes, a typical champagne blend, and then has been left to mature on the lees of 20 months, leaving a nutty and regal finish.
A perfect way to celebrate the coronation of King Charles |||
10th March 2023 - Paradise x Dunesforde
LAtest news from the vineayrd
We are very excited to confirm that we are having a collaboration evening at Paradise Cafe in Harrogate with head chef Francis Atkins.
Francis, previously was the head chef of Michelin starred restaurant, The Yorke Arms. Gaining her star in 2003, making her the first ever British female to gain the award.
On the 24th March 2023 she will have prepared a fantastic 5-course tasting menu which has been paired beautifully with a selection on our Dunesforde wines.
4 January 2023 - The Iconic Box Tree Restaurant of Ilkley adds Dunesforde’s award-winning wines to their menu
Latest News from the Vineyard
Following Dunesforde’s success at the 2022 WineGB awards, the boutique vineyard based in North Yorkshire is delighted to announce that two of their wines have now been selected by The Box Tree to add to their already outstanding wine list. Restaurant guests can now choose Queen of the North, an elegant sparkling wine with broad orchard fruit notes and a wonderfully long finish, or Dunesforde Solaris which radiates finesse and is bursting with acidity and character. Read more
24 November 2022 - Focus on your resilience in 2023
Events in the vineyard
We are kickstarting the new year with two fantastic speakers who will share their knowledge and experience to inspire us into becoming the most resilient versions of ourselves. Georgina Hickman, a qualified nutritionist, will join us on Friday 27 January to give us the practical tools to better manage stress by improving our nutrition, sleep and mindset. Steven Robinson has an inspiring story - from poor beginnings, through a life changing accident and now a serial entrepreneur with a handful of prestigious awards. Come and find out more on Friday 24 February.
27 October 2022 - Christmas plans at Dunesforde
Latest News from the Vineyard
We have some wonderful festive events coming up, so where necessary do book ahead on the events page.
Christmas Fair - Saturday 26th November, 10am-4pm - A fantastic selection of local businesses selling their wares for the festive season.
Christmas Wreath Making - Friday 2nd December, 10am-12.30pm - We have a few spaces left for the session with Kirstie North, event florist from Rose and Spade.
Cars and Carols - Saturday, 17th December, 4-7pm - Please join us in fine fettle and fine voice for merriness, mulled wine and mince pies with Driving with Zoe. Christmas jumpers encouraged but optional!
Our usual opening hours continue up to Christmas - the shop is open every day (except Sunday) 10am-4pm and the Cellar Door Bar is open on Fridays and Saturdays which include Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve.
Photo credit: Simon Hulme, Yorkshire Post
24 September 2022 - Bumper year for Yorkshire vineyard after spectacular summer weather
In the news
We were delighted to have a visit from Yorkshire Post when we chatted to Alex Wood about this year’s record breaking (for us!) harvest. This year we are expecting to produce 10,000 to 12,000 bottles - a 50% increase on last year. The benefits of a long hot summer, carefully looked after vines and the grapes reaching peak maturity since planting in 2016 are really showing.
22 September 2022 - Harvest time is here
Latest news from the vineyard
We held our first harvest day today and picked over a ton of Solaris for our 2022 vintage Sparkling Solaris. It is looking like six tons in total; the largest we have attempted since we started in 2019 is 2.3 tons. So it really is going to be a bumper crop. New dates will be forthcoming for October. Do join us for a day with friends among the vines, a delicious lunch and of course some of our fine wine.
15 July 2022 - Dunesforde’s Classic Cuvée awarded as Best Wine for Midlands and North at 2022 WineGB awards lunch
Press Release
Wine experts, including English wine champions Oz Clarke and Susie Barrie, have awarded Dunesforde Vineyard’s Queen of the North the accolade of best wine in the region at today’s lunch held at Drapers’ Hall.
27 June 2022 - Volunteering in the vineyard this summer
volunteer dates
The vines are developing brilliantly and the first fruits are appearing. We’d love to see you in the vineyard this summer as we manage the vines ahead of the autumn harvest. Find a date that suits you to join the team and enjoy the camaraderie (and some wine!) for a few hours or the whole day.
24 June 2022 - Two WineGB medals for Dunesforde
Latest News from the Vineyard
We are delighted that the Dunesforde Bacchus 2021 and Queen of the North Classic Cuvée have both won silver medals at this year’s WineGB Awards. We received the happy news at the end of English Wine Week - a great way to close this annual celebration and fantastic to get the recognition in the north.
11 May 2022 - Dunesforde teams up with the Fast Lane Club to be the drink of choice at Yorkshire Elegance
Latest News from the Vineyard
Iconic routes, wonderful hotels, delicious dining alongside fine wines and huge amounts of fun will make up the three days as this year, Yorkshire Elegance celebrates 100 Years of Jaguar/SS on 19th-21st July 2022.
Come and enjoy some fine English sparkling on the lawn at beautiful Bowcliffe Hall at the county's most prestigious car event. Find out more here.
31 March 2022 - Terrace Bar Re-opens on Friday 1 April
Latest News from the Vineyard
From Friday, 1 April our beautiful terrace bar will be open, with its fabulous views of the vineyard. Given we can’t rely on the great British weather, we have rugs and roll-down side panels to keep you warm. Or you can simply take a seat in our cellar door bar and enjoy the ambience and the artwork over a glass of our finest still or sparkling wines. Order a delicious platter alongside from Peach Tree Picnics
Go to the wine bar page to reserve a table inside or out.
3 March 2022 - Part time Estate Assistant & Seasonal Bar Staff
Job vacancies
Part-time Estate Assistant
We are looking for an enthusiastic person to join the team to help manage the gardens in the vineyard, the vines and also our 25 acre nature reserve. We anticipate that the time commitment will be around 1 to 2 days a week depending on the time of year and weather.
Spring & Summer Bar Staff
We’re also looking for outgoing and sociable individuals to welcome and serve customers on our beautiful Terrace Bar overlooking the vineyard. The bar is open Fridays, 4pm - 7pm and Saturdays, midday - 7pm from 1 April. There will also be the occasional special event where we could do with an extra pair of hands. Ideally, we'd have a small team who could work on a rota.
Please email contact@dunesforde.com if you're interested in applying.
4 February 2022 - Cellar Door Wine Bar re-opens ahead of Valentine’s Day
Latest News from the Vineyard
Come and take a seat among friends in our fabulous Wine Bar on Saturday 12 February from 1-4pm and 4-7pm. We've made some improvements to make it even more enjoyable for you. So while you sip Dunesforde's finest you can take in the wonderful vineyard view and the impressive wall art in total comfort. Make your reservation here.
22 September 2021 - Dunesforde wins gold!
Latest News from the vineyard
Dunesforde is delighted to announce our first gold & silver medal for our Blanc de Noir 2018 and our Solaris 2020 respectively at The Independent English Wine Awards 2021! You can see all the medals here.
10 July 2021 - North Yorkshire’s greenest driveway
Latest News from the vineyard
Dunesforde has played host to 3 fantastic car rallies this summer! With the Wooden Spoon Charity Car Rally, Aston Martin Owners Club & the Benjafield Club all bringing fantastic cars to the vineyard. You can read more about it and see some fantastic pictures here or on our instagram page.
8 June 2021 - Roman mural unveiled at Dunesforde
Latest News from the vineyard
We announced the official unveiling of our 27ft roman mural of Aldborough, depicting the town as it would have looked arounf the 3rd century. The Stray Ferret, The Northern Echo and BBC Radio York were all keen to hear about it. You can catch up with their coverage of the event by checking out our social media pages where we’ve reposted everything or watch the video to the left for a summary version!
15 May 2021 - Phil Wang visits Dunesforde
Latest News from the vineyard
As part of the launch of Rome: Total War Remastered, Creative Assembly did a fun mockumentary with Phil Wang exploring Roman Britain. We were very happy to be asked to be involved and be part of the fun, you can watch the episode for yourself featuring both Ian and Peter here.
10 November 2020 - Dunesforde on Channel 4
Latest News from the vineyard
We were delighted to be invited to share Dunesforde with the world on Steph’s Packed Lunch on Channel 4 with Steph McGovern. Peter spoke to Steph about our new range of sparkling wines, some of the difficulties of growing grapes in North Yorkshire and Steph even had the chance to try our incredibly rare Rosé. If you didn’t manage to catch the show live, you can watch the whole thing here.
1 November 2020 - New Releases
Latest News from the vineyard
We are proud to announce the arrival of our very first collection of limited edition sparkling wines made from the spectacular 2018 harvest: the Solaris, Rosé and Pinot Gris have been produced from grapes grown at Dunesforde. Additionally, we have two specially commissioned sparkling wines, a Classic Cuvée named Queen of the North, and a traditional Blanc de Noir. This full complement of sophisticated, characterful wines has been over two years in the making following the traditional method for champagnes.
First harvest - September 2018
24 September 2020 - In the media
Latest news from the vineyard
On top of all the activity in the vineyard, we’ve been in the media twice this week. Thank you to Christine Austin for the write up on the success of Yorkshire wines in Saturday’s Yorkshire Post and today Peter will be chatting to Adam Tomlinson on BBC Radio York (Go to 1min 34secs)
Second harvest - September 2019
21 September 2020 - Harvest begins this week
volunteer dates
We're delighted to say the grapes are doing extremely well so we will be harvesting the Pinot Noir Précoce on Friday 25th September and the Solaris on Saturday 26th September. This is an exciting, yet busy time in the vineyard and it would be brilliant to see lots of volunteers as we collect in all the grapes. This year's harvest is going to be our biggest challenge yet. We have over three and a half tons to collect over the two days, Saturday's Solaris accounting for a staggering three tons.
The Bacchus will then be picked on Friday 2nd October and the Pinot Gris the following Thursday, 8th October.
Please do register if you can help. Thank you
24 August 2020 - Bank Holiday Opening
Latest news from the vineyard
As well as the weekday afternoon private group tours, you can also book to join a tour and tasting with up to six people on Monday 31 August. These will run every 2 hours from 11am-5pm with the opportunity to purchase what you sample.
Take a look at this short video to get an idea of what a tour looks like (whatever the weather!)
29 July 2020 - new tours and tastings announced
Latest news from the vineyard
Since the launch of our 2019 vintage wines and the success of the private tasting appointments to sample these, we’re now adding a tour to provide visitors with a more complete experience of both the vineyard and the wines. Visit our tours page to find out more and head over for a vineyard visit this summer.
13 July 2020 - Volunteer days updated for the summer
Volunteer dates
We’re opening up to volunteers during July and August and would welcome the extra help.
12 July 2020 - Visit for a tasting this summer
Latest news from the vineyard
Following the huge success of the July tasting week, we’re continuing the private tasting appointments Fridays this month. Please drop us an email or call us on 01423 887951 to book your 45 minute session to sample the 2019 vintages wines and to chat to a member of the team. We welcome groups of up to eight and will be following the latest Government guidance for everyone’s safety.
22 June 2020 - Release of our 2019 vintages wines
press release
The much anticipated release of our second harvest wines will take place on Monday 22 June and you can now buy a mixed case or a case of Bacchus or Solaris through our online shop.
Award-winning chef and Chef Director of The Yorke Arms, Frances Atkins came back to visit us in the vineyard and taste the wines. See what Frances thought of the new vintages.
Following the latest Government guidance, we are opening the vineyard gates from Monday 6 July - Friday 10 July, 10am-5pm and Saturday 11 July, 10am-midday for tasting appointments. Please call on 01423 887951 or email to book for up to a group of five people to come to the marquee in the vineyard for a half an hour tasting of the Bacchus and the Solaris with a member of the team.
8th May 2020 - #englishwinenight
Latest news from the vineyard
This Friday, our regional wine association WineGB Midlands and the North will be helping the 36 most northerly winemakers and vineyards promote their wines. We’ll be celebrating alongside our nine fellow Yorkshire vineyards. Please raise a glass and share your photos on social media with the #englishwinenight tagging @dunesforde to help spread the word.
Orders can still be made online or via the phone.
If you don’t know much about Dunesforde, here’s a short video to whet your appetite for our delicious wines.
10th April 2020 - #theBIGenglishgoodfriday
latest news from the vineyard
Good Friday, 7pm, support your local wine producers by raising a glass of your favourite wine from your area. Follow #theBIGenglishgoodfriday on social media to find out more. If it’s the delicately light and refreshing Bacchus with its zesty notes then give us a call , email us or visit our online shop.
4th April 2020 - Business as usual in these unusual times
latest news from the vineyard
Work continues in the vineyard, albeit with fewer team members and working at a safe distance. But the vines are not stopping for anyone. We’ve been pruning and tying down the canes and spraying will start shortly. With this warm weather, we expect the buds to be bursting through soon.
Jonathan created a short video to keep us updated.
Be a part of the Dunesforde journey in 2020
volunteer dates
How about a day learning news skills, making friends and working outside among the vines? Visit the volunteering page to see when as we’d love to have your help. Work starts with winter pruning in February!
15th January 2020 - A new year and a new vineyard manager
new recruit
2020 sees aspiring, local viticulturist Jonathan Atkin join the Dunesforde team as its new vineyard manager.
Christmas Opening Hours
Event
You can visit us in the run up to Christmas to buy your wines direct from the vineyard. We are selling the Bacchus by the case or bottle, along with some lovely single bottle presentation boxes for your Christmas gifts. We’ve also taken stock of a couple of beautiful, handcrafted wine racks made by Wine Cellars of Yorkshire - perfect for storing your Dunesforde wines!
Due to selling out of our limited supply, the Solaris is no longer available (drop us an email to be added to the Solaris 2019 waiting list). Do pop in for a tasting, along with a mince pie and a chat with the team on Saturday mornings, 10am - midday from 30th November to the 21st December. Cash or cards accepted.
20th November 2019 - The Story of Dunesforde Vineyard
Event
On Wednesday, we headed to St Mary’s Church in Lower Dunsforth to tell the Dunesforde story to 80 of our neighbours. It was a fantastic evening with a friendly crowd. Ian and Peter recounted the many highs and lows from the blank canvas we had in 2015 to the wines we have today. We introduced our debut still white wines, the Bacchus and the Solaris, in a blind tasting and the audience were evenly split between which was their favourite of the two. We had fabulous feedback and at the same time lots of money was raised for the beautiful church. Well done to Penny Denny and her team!
31st October 2019 - Harvest and wine making day at Dunesforde
Volunteer day
Volunteers are invited to join us for the last harvest for 2019 with the opportunity to press some grapes.
