A small London suburban railway station is getting ready to produce a wine made from grapes grown on the property.
Denmark Hill in Camberwell, south London, is set to become the first British railway station to produce its own wines, news hub drinks business reports.
The 30 bacchus vines, planted by the Camberwell Society just metres away from the rail tracks, have yielded enough grapes to make ‘Chateau Denmark Hill’s’ first vintage, a white wine, which is expected to be released next year.
Bacchus is a white grape created by crossing a silvaner x riesling cross with Muller-Thurgau.
The Society’s web page shows it was awarded a grant in November, 2020, and a Community Licence by Network Rail “to care for and develop the non-passenger areas at Denmark Hill station”.
As part of this endeavour, Society members have cleared “obscuring brush” in order to plant more than 10,000 bluebell and poppy seeds, alongside 1,500 crocus, grape hyacinth and daffodil bulbs.
Members also chose to create a vineyard housing bacchus vines, which sits near to “a mini tableau of Provence” in the form of 56 lavender plants.
Winemaker Nick Mair told db: “We are expecting our first proper harvest this year.”
He added that while bacchus is a “very forgiving” grape variety, the viticultural endeavour had not been easy, explaining that he and fellow winemaker Tony Coleman “had to remove bindweed from the slope, terrace it and then dig in holes for the vertical posts - a fair amount of work with no electricity or mechanised agricultural tools available.”
Looks like they are on the right track.
