All Angels Vineyard and their crusade for excellence

On a sunny Saturday in May we were invited to visit All Angels Vineyard in rural Berkshire by owner Mark Darley. It's just 3 miles west of Newbury town centre, but the tranquility of the surrounding rolling countryside makes the vineyard feel miles from anywhere.

We were met by Mark, his wife Christine and three friendly retrievers at Church Farm. You won't find commercial signage blazened over the entrance. Just look for the gateway by the postbox on Enborne Lane, next door to St Michaels and All Angels Church.

The tour kicks off with an explanation of the history of the property. Whilst the dogs watched, we learnt how the house dates back to the 1600s where the area around Newbury was heavily involved in the English Civil War. The property would have housed colonels associated with Oliver Cromwell and even receives a mention in the Robert Harris novel, 'Act of Oblivion'.

Mark and Christine bought the property in 2009 as a country retreat from their busy and stressful working lives in London. The farm came with an abundance of land, and the couple pondered what to use it for until deciding to plant vines in 2011.

Once retirement came along in 2020, Mark could plough all his efforts into developing the vineyard and the passion for excellence over profit has become his personal crusade.

There are three Vineyards over the six-hectare farm, and the tour starts in the largest.

The site is ideal for vines as the soil provides good drainage, the slopes have a north-south facing aspect with a slope of 6-7 degrees, which is perfect to capture the sun's rays

The downside of the location is the risk of frost, and the tenacious efforts that Mark and the vineyard team have to go through during April and May to protect the vines from being wiped out by frost has the kind of single-minded intensity that would impress even Cromwell! There are several methods at their disposal - many involving middle of the night intervention.

1) Bio stimulant spray

2) Candles - This requires around 400 per acre that burn through the night

3) Larger propane burners

4) Frost fans - Only useful when there's warmer air above that can be blown downwards

5) Leaf blowers

6) Infrared radiation tubing called Frolight (pictured below). This is a Belgian product and All Angels is only the 5th vineyard in the UK to be using the system. It's very effective at covering large areas, but unfortunately very power hungry (and thus costly) and Mark has to hire generators to make the tubes light up overnight. The tubes warm the plants up rather than the air.

Frolight tubing in the vineyard

There are 5 grape varieties grown at All Angels. The largest portion of the vineyard is given over to chardonnay grapes, with smaller quantities of rondo (red hybrid grape used in the sparkling rosé), pinot gris, pinot muenier, and pinot noir.

The first glimpse of 2026 vintage rondo grapes

We learnt how the rondo grapes will be the first to ripen and be ready for harvest in September, whilst the pinot meunier takes its name from the french word for 'miller' due to the shiny appearance of the leaves, which look as though they've been dusted with flour.

To enhance the quality of the end product Mark and the team green harvest, meaning that they will remove up to a third of the grapes to concentrate the vine's energy into the remainder. He is also prepared to sacrifice high proportions of grapes for cattle feed if they are not meeting his high standards.

He freely admits he isn't in the wine business to make money. He just wants the best. The small vineyard makes a maximum of 25,000 bottles each year, and will concentrate on producing vintage sparkling wines only. All Angels operates with 4 guiding pillars and they are evident throughout the tour:

• Quality over quantity

• Patience over profit

• Respect the land and nature

• Honour the history

We left the large vineyard and took a walkaround the smallest. Situated next to the boundary with the Church, it's believed to be the only vineyard planted this close to a Church and its graves. As a good neighbour, Mark likes to take a chilled bottle and 2 glasses to the porch when a wedding is taking place so that the happy couple can toast on their exit.

There was no wedding during our visit, but it was soon time to head into the barn for a platter and tasting.

We started with the 2019 Classic Cuvée, which is newly released this year. It is made (as with all Mark's wines) by the traditional method. It's a blend of 48% chardonnay and 43% pinot noir and spent 6 years on its lees. The bubbles go soaring up the glass and there's a strong hit of crisp green apple on the nose and a high refreshing acidity. This was delicious, but we had a slight preference for our next tasting, which was "No 36".

No 36 was released in 2025 and its name is a nod to Elgar's Enigma Variations (Opus 36). You could say that this wine also acts as a "variation on a theme". It’s beautifully smooth, gentle with softer bubbles and is designed to enjoy through a meal, not just as a toast. Also spending six years on lees, it’s briochy, soft, rounded and incredibly food-friendly. We bought a bottle to try with fish and chips - the classic English sparkling wine pairing!

We moved on to the sparkling rosé wines. The 2018 is an elegant and refreshing rosé with 61% rondo giving volume and subtle red fruit flavours of raspberry and cranberry. Mark described it as a versatile bar-b-que wine and I could imagine the pairing with everything from a hearty sausage to the potato salad.

We were also treated to a sneak peak of the 2019 vintage, which is due for release in June. The levels of rondo are toned down to 30% with 47% pinot gris and the remainder made up of pinot noir reserve. Again, this was beautifully fresh with a hint of spice and subtle berry notes on the palate.

I would thoroughly recommend the vineyard tour and tasting. It's friendly and personal (small groups of up to 20) and gives a fantastic insight into the hard work of the team in producing award winning exquisite wines. Group tours and tasting take place from April to October on Fridays and Saturdays every fortnight. The vineyard also hosts special events, corporate away days and bespoke tours

To find out more about All Angels and to book on a tour, their website can be found at https://www.allangels.com/products/guided-tour

Cheers!

#vineyards #Newbury #Englishwine