UK winery - Visit & wine tasting at Harrow & Hope, Marlow
Harrow & Hope vineyard in the Chiltern Hills
Last Summer we tried to visit Harrow & Hope in Marlow, Buckinghamshire for a vineyard tour, but they were fully sold-out, much to our disappointment! However, after enjoying their wines over the last few months we decided to order a case of their superb Blanc de Blancs for Christmas and visited them last weekend to collect it. This gave us the opportunity to taste some wines, chat to the team and visit the winery and vineyards.
We will update this blog once we get to experience a wine tour in 2022, but we wanted to share our visit with you, because if you love English sparkling wines, then you need to discover Harrow & Hope!!
Small, family-run UK winery producing top English sparkling wine
Harrow & Hope is a small, single-vineyard, family-owned and managed UK winery, located in the Chiltern Hills, just outside the charming Buckinghamshire town of Marlow, on the River Thames.
It was named Winery of the Year in 2019 by Wine GB and has a reputation for making top-class English sparkling wines.
Wine runs in the blood
Harrow & Hope was founded by Henry Laithwaite, son of Tony Laithwaite the founder of Laithwaites and Wines Direct and his wife Kaye. After time spent gaining experience in France and Australia, they returned to the UK to find their perfect site for producing top English sparkling wines.
The name Harrow & Hope was born out of the sheer hard work and determination involved in realising their dreams, combined with their optimism in creating quality English wines from their site in the Chiltern Hills and Thames Valley.
The focus was always English sparkling wines, made by the traditional ‘champagne’ method and so Henry and Kaye planted only ‘champagne grapes’ - i.e. Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier - and sought advice from top experts in the industry.
10 years later Harrow & Hope is a real success story and testament to the belief that English soils and climate can indeed produce top wines that are respected not just in the UK, but around the world.
Natural approach with organic viticulture and winemaking
Over the years, Harrow & Hope has adopted an increasingly natural approach to farming and winemaking, which has resulted in a greater depth of flavour and complexity to the wines. Organic practices are followed in the vineyard as well as the winery and the aim is to be certified organic in the coming year or so. Harrow & Hope create their own compost on site and waste nothing from the vineyards. Native yeast that exists in the vineyard and winery is used increasingly in the fermentation process.
The philosophy behind Harrow & Hope is to make wines that are as natural as possible, without the intervention of chemical processes - to make wines that are full of character, authentically reflecting the natural ‘terroir’ where the grapes are grown.
Vineyard:
Harrow & Hope’s single vineyard site outside Marlow is made up of 6.5 hectares of steep south-facing slopes, with large deposits of flint gravel on the higher altitude, mixed into substantial clay lying on top of chalk in the lower levels.
These ancient Thames Valley soils, where water used to flow some 450,000 years ago, make perfect growing conditions for the grapes - 40% Chardonnay, 40% Pinot Noir and 20% Pinot Meunier.
Winery:
The winery is situated right next to the vineyards, enabling the team to effectively manage the whole process of making sparkling wine by the ‘traditional champagne method’, from the one site. No expense has been spared in the winery, ensuring the best equipment is available to help bring out the best in the fruit and what Nature has provided.
Harrow & Hope wines
Harrow & Hope make exclusively traditional method English sparkling wines, but that’s not to say they won’t try their hand at a still wine - when the time is right and they are confident in producing a still wine to compete with the best.
Fermenting 30% in aged oak barrels creates a wonderful signature texture and weight to Harrow & Hope wines.
We tried 3 wines during our visit:
Brut Reserve: This sparkling wine is predominantly a 2017 vintage with a blend of 40% Pinot Noir 40% Chardonnay 20% Pinot Meunier. A bright and lively sparkling wine with crisp green apple, lemon, brioche flavours and a refreshing medium toast finish.
Brut Rosé 2018: According to Henry, 2018, an exceptionally hot and dry year, produced a ripe and healthy crop. A 50% Pinot Noir, 35% Chardonnay, 15% Pinot Meunier blend, producing wonderful red fruit flavours. A creamy mousse of tiny bubbles, a beautiful light rose colour, good acidity and medium length.
Blanc de Blancs 2017: A pure expression of ripe, elegant Chardonnay, made from grapes from the best parcel of the vineyard. A honey and dried apricot nose and a round, rich palate with plenty of acidity. Will age well.
Note that Harrow & Hope also produce a highly reputable Blanc de Noirs ‘pinot’ sparkling wine - but the 2015 vintage, which was awarded Gold by Wine GB in 2020, is unfortunately sold out.
Where to buy wines from Harrow & Hope:
Wines can be purchased directly from Harrow & Hope and this is probably the best way to buy. Get yourself on the mailing list for the latest information and offers.
They are also available in the UK via the following retailers: Wines Direct; Laithwaites; Grape Britannia; Jascots; Jeroboams
Wine tours & visiting Harrow & Hope
The official Harrow & Hope wine tours, which involve a tour of the vineyards, the winery and a wine tasting, will commence again in the Spring. See here for dates and booking.
Where to find Harrow & Hope
If you want to visit Harrow Hope, here’s where to find them!
Address: Marlow Winery, Pump Lane North, Marlow SL7 3RD
What to see and do in Marlow
The popular Georgian town of Marlow is one of the loveliest towns on the River Thames and is definitely worth visiting!
See here for suggestions of what you can see and do.
The main high street is full of lovely, mostly independent shops, excellent cafés and restaurants and Higginson Park is a great place to spend an afternoon, relaxing and watching the world go by, or strolling by the river and admiring the stunning suspension bridge.
The equally lovely Henley-upon-Thames is just 20 minutes away from Marlow and Windsor 30 minutes!
Where to stay and where to eat in Marlow
See here for some options for accommodation and dining in Marlow and the surrounding area. You are certainly spoilt for choice, there are lots of great options, especially for foodies!
We can also recommend the following restaurants in Marlow:
The Coach (Tom Kerridge’s one Michelin starred pub)
Suum Kitchen (Vietnamese restaurant)
Other UK vineyards to visit in the area:
If you are planning a wine tour of the Thames & Chilterns region, there are several other vineyards close to Marlow and Harrow & Hope, including the following:
Conclusion
Harrow & Hope certainly know how to make excellent sparkling wines. Not only do they have a fabulous location, with the ideal soils and terroir, but they also have expertise, experience and a whole lot of passion for working with what Nature offers to produce really special wines. The prices may be a little high for some, but in our view it’s worth it, to experience the equivalent of a ‘grower’s champagne’ and not a manufactured brand wine.
We really enjoyed our visit to Harrow & Hope. A small winery maybe, but achieving great things! Lovely team, great sparkling wines!
See here for more information about Harrow & Hope.
Refer to our web pages for more information about UK wine tours and the Thames & Chilterns UK wine region.