Hambledon Vineyard winery
In 1952, when Major General Sir Guy Salisbury-Jones comes back from France to his birth region, he is inspired to plant the first vines in the Hampshire village of Hambledon. He soon begins making and selling his own wines, creating the first commercial vineyard in the UK. However, geology has also played a key role in the planning for Hambledon Vineyard and one could say that it all really started 65 million years ago. Indeed, Hambledon s subsoil is made of chalk. Not just any old chalk though. The same that was formed on the seabed of the Paris basin some 65 million years ago. Hambledon Vineyard s terroir contains the same Belemnite content as some of the best Chardonnay areas of the C tes des Blancs in Champagne - playing a key role in the quality of the grapes, as chalk is the perfect subsoil for growing vines. In addition to benefitting from the finest chalk soil, Hambledon Vineyard is lucky enough to be protected from heavy rainfalls by the Isle of Wight, directly facing Hampshire, allowing the vineyard to get exceptionally high (well, reasonably high, let s not forget we re in England!) insolation.