Ladies Saturday Morning Group

Saturday, August 8th. 2009

A visit to Halfpenny Green Vineyard.

Leaving Goldsmith Street at 9am we had a leisurely and slightly devious journey to the vineyard which was quite close to Wolverhampton. However the weather was very kind so every body was in high spirits. On arrival we were met by Martin who is the owner of the vineyard, and he arranged for us to have coffee prior to looking around. There were forty or so of us so it took a little time, but it gave us a chance to have a natter . Martin then took us to see the vines, and standing there on a warm day it was easy to see why it was possible for the grapes to grow. He explained that the vines generally flower in May and this is when the sunshine is required to set the fruit, once this happens then any rain will not harm the fruit. This year has been good as the rain came later and it looks like there will be a bumper crop. The grapes are then harvested in October. Volunteers wanted!! Next stage is the winery where the grapes are put into a large press. Inside the press are large balloons which gradually inflate and gently squeeze out the juice so none of the pips or skin get into the liquid. None of the trampling with feet!! Once the juice flows it goes into vats where it is left for several weeks to go through natural fermentation. It follows a normal bottling process, this changes when producing sparkling wines. We next enjoyed a very comprehensive slide show. This told us more about different grape varieties, and some other processes. Best of all we now began to sample some of the wines, three white Long Acre, Penny Black and Black Country Gold these were excellent, who would have thought you would say that about English wine!! It was followed by a red wine suitably named Penny Red but this apparently needed to be encouraged! Martin told us that the vineyard started as a hobby with half an acre of vines but has now grown into a thriving business on 50 acres. Lunch was then served which helped to soak up the alcohol but we weren’t driving anyway!! There was some free time to look around the small craft shops and a provisions shop which naturally had wine for sale! Needless to say there were quite a few purchases. It was obviously a very popular venue for local people as the restaurant was full all the time we were there. We left around 4pm and arrived back safely at Goldsmith Street at 6pm. A most enjoyable day!

Future meetings Saturday, September 12th The Organ Grinder Speaker Patrick Cooke Saturday, October 10th Life of a Paramedic Speaker Alan Marwood Saturday, November 14th Door to door Holidays Speaker Martin Laver

A warm welcome awaits all existing and potential new members. For further information contact Chairman, Aileen Wright at ekim01@ntlworld.com

Photo:Aileen Wright with Martin, the owner of the vineyard.