Nestling close to the Southern edge of the New Forest National Park in a village called Sway grow 2,300 individual vines which produce some 3,000 bottles of red, white and rose wine bottled under the Marlings label. David and Lori Balls moved to Sway with their two children from Surrey and inherited two acres of vines with their house purchase. For the past couple of years David and Lori have devoted their time to project managing complete restoration works on their beautiful forest home. When I visited Marlings, I found David armed with secateurs judicially pruning his way down a neat row of vines. Good wine starts in the vineyard and the pruning, David advises, is an all important part of the wine making process. This begins in December and must finish by March, before the vines reawaken. A resultant pruned T shape, or Double Guyot as it is known, is the desired result for an optimum grape crop. All this activity is conducted under the watchful eye of the Marlings' mascot - an amazing life size red and white fibre-glass cow! Despite being relatively new to the grape growing and winemaking business, David has already secured a national award from the UK Vineyard Association for one of Marlings' white wines. The bronze certificate hangs proudly in David and Lori's study. No small achievement for a rookie vineyard owner fresh from agricultural college! | October is harvest time and this is great fun at Marlings. A group of about forty friends and family set to work picking the grapes. For maximum bouquet and taste this is completed by lunchtime, when the 3 tonnes of grapes are stacked in crates - each one containing 35 kilos. They are then swiftly transported to be crushed and pressed then pumped into stainless steel vats to undergo fermentation at a nearby vineyard, where David houses his equipment. Whilst this is being done, the harvest party back at Marlings gets into full swing, with the children amusing themselves on the bouncy castle and tractor rides, and the adults 'evaluating' the result of last year's grape harvest and tucking into a hog roast. Marlings wine is available for sale at Priory Wines in Christchurch and retails for around £7.25 a bottle. It is also stocked by selected local restaurants and can be purchased from Marlings Vineyard by prior arrangement. Marlings - The New Forest Vineyard |
