10 May Burn Valley Wines: A Toast to North Norfolk
Burn Valley Vineyard is located on Crossway Farm in North Creake, North Norfolk. A Family holding, the Robinson family have lived on Crossway farm since 1989, turning a part of it into a vineyard in 2016.
Laura runs the vineyard daily whilst brother Jack continues to farm the land surrounding the vines, sister Sam and father John help at harvest and functions. Having swapped crops for grapes, Burn Valley is now the proud grower of nine different grape varieties; Early Pinot, Rondo, Regent, and Pinot Noir make up the red grapes whilst Bacchus, Chardonnay, Solaris, Seyval Blanc and Schonburger represent the whites.
Winemaker, Mathew Abbey joined the Burn Valley family in 2019 and has over 20 years’ experience working in the industry. Having started life at Adnams where he achieved WSET level 2 and 3, Mathew then moved to New Zealand for 10 years where he worked in the prestigious winemaking lands of Marlborough, Central Otago & Hawkes Bay. During this time, Mathew not only honed his winemaking skills, but broadened his knowledge of the industry too, mastering the art of viticulture, labelling and wine tourism amongst other vital skills.
Compared to their South East counterparts, Burn Valley’s coastal location has a free draining and flinty soil with a chalk base and a natural stony ground. This retains the heat from the day keeping the vines warm at night. The geographical landscape lends itself particularly well to the Bacchus grape making the Burn Valley Bacchus their best seller to date.
For 2024, Burn Valley has launched a record number of ten new vintages, which include:
Bacchus 23, Schonburger 23, Solaris 23, Marsh Red 23, Solar 23, Chalk Bed Reserve 22, Regent 22, Chardonnay 22, Sparkling Rose 21 and Blanc de Blanc 21
Notable wines to date have been Pinot Gris 22, Solar Late harvest 21, Pinot Blanc 20, Pinot Rose 20, Regent 19, Bacchus 19. They have high hopes for their Chardonnay 22, Wild Ferment Pinot 22 and Chalk Bed Reserve 22.
Available to buy direct from their website, Burn Valley wines can also be enjoyed across multiple locations around North Norfolk including award winning restaurant, Wells Crab House as well as No 29 in Burnham Market.
Beyond a retail business, Burn Valley is also a great place to visit. All year round the vineyard offers a host of activities and entertainment which are available to book via their website. From wine pairing evenings to steak nights, a secret supper as well as a summer jazz party, these are an opportunity to sample the Burn Valley wines and depending on your tipple of choice, purchase them too. All events are bookable via their website.
As an area of outstanding natural beauty, the Robinson’s are extremely proud of their North Norfolk heritage and feel there is no better way to pay homage to the area than to bottle it; every glass of Burn Valley drunk, is a toast to North Norfolk.
