MATT GREGORY
ENGLAND, EAST MIDLANDS, LEICESTERSHIRE
Matt Gregory wasn't looking to purchase a vineyard when he called a local farmer in 2019 to see if they had some fruit available to make a bit of wine. Owning three hectares of vines in Leicestershire with no prior farming experience seemed too steep a learning curve. And yet.
Jumping workboot-first into a new adventure after being given an 'offer he couldn't refuse' in early 2020, Matt took custody of the vineyards.
Planted in 2009/10 to Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris and Bacchus (2000 vines of each) and with a mixed experimental parcel of hybrids: Solaris, Seyval Blanc, Regent and Madeleine Angevine (totaling 2500 vines together) - the vineyard sits at 100m above sea level, one of the highest points on the Leicestershire Wolds.
Here, a glacial rubble of limestone, flint and quartz is scattered above 200 million-year-old calcareous limestone and a seam of keuper, with the vineyards gradually sloping down a south-facing hill. Handy if you're in the East Midlands.
Though the surrounding arable farm means pursuing certification would be a wasted effort, Matt farms according to organic principles, and in early 2020 set about employing a regime of cover cropping, utilising every trick he could learn to encourage biodiversity and prioritise soil health for his new project. Four years later, the vineyards are alive with a dazzling diversity of plant life.
Though Matt's journey in wine began as a merchant, later trying his hand at making wine in New Zealand before developing his own winemaking project in Piedmont, now that he's on home turf his philosophy is simple: farming first. Look after the fruit, treat it gently in the winery, and let the wines speak for themselves.
In the cellar- currently a simple stable block packed with a few tanks, a beautiful old Vaslin press in the yard - Matt likes to macerate his varieties under a gentle infusion, teasing out a little more substance and detail. Blends are carefully assembled, he's learnt the varieties that play nicely together, and those that need their own space. Depending on the vintage, some wines will see no additions, and some a small dose of sulphur. Matt never fines or filters, and all movements are by gravity.
We are so thrilled to be working with Matt: a hugely passionate, committed individual, humble and self-effacing, honest in what he's still learning, and quietly producing some of the most confident, elegant wines in this country. It's a joy to see his hard work paying off.
We have the following new wines from Matt available now, the first of his brilliant 2023 vintage:
AVAILABLE NOW
2023 - Fizzy White - Bacchus
*Wildly drinkable with bags of opulent fruit, heady with hedgerow aromatics, clinging to a thrillingly mineral, chalky line throughout. Primarily comprised of carbonic fruit (80%) Matt notes the other small portion of de-stemmed fruit 'brings the skeleton'. *
2023 - Fizzy Pink - Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris
What grows together goes together, and Matt loves to combine his two Pinots: Gris adding some lift and character to his Noir. A perfect pair: the 2023 is a blast of rosehip, raspberry and sherbert - a lively, long acidity that continues to race into hillside thunderstorms after the fruit fades.
2023 - White Field Blend - Seyval, Bacchus, Solaris
The field blend of Matt’s white varieties, everything with varying degrees of gentle infusion maceration to dial in the detail and matter - pithy citrus, blooming hedgerow florals, a light, breezy smasher tethered to the earth with a small portion of the gravity-laden 10 week macerated Solaris.
2023 - White - Bacchus
Elegant and invigorating, with that divining-rod minerality that seems to have your straw plunged directly into the limestone. A green salad of cucumber, melon, lime, bitter herbs from the garden, summer unfurls.
2023 - Orange - Solaris
Skinsy Solaris! Matt’s bona-fides playing with long macerations in Piedmont make themselves known most clearly here: layers of pithy grapefruit, chamomile and wildflower honey, a herbal medicinal hum, gathered together with a nimble running-stitch tannin.
