The Hattingley Valley founder and outgoing Wine GB chairman talks Hampshire, the Olympics and pink wine

Today’s guest is Simon Robinson, founder and owner of Hattingley Valley in Hampshire and current chairman of Wine GB, which is the national trade association for grape-growers and winemakers in the UK. Next month, he will hand over the Wine GB reigns to Sam Linter, from Bolney Wine Estate. 

Simon was previously a senior partner at city law firm Slaughter and May for 24 years, before he planted his first vines in 2008. The debut vintage was released in 2013 and since then Hattingley Valley has gone on to win multiple awards for its English Sparkling Wines and has quickly established itself as one of the UK’s most successful wineries.

We talk about why Hampshire is such a great county for growing grapes, who’s behind Hattingley’s award winning wines, the Olympics and what made Simon changed his mind about ‘pink’ wine.

To find out more about Hattingley Valley, visit the website or follow on Instagram @Hattingleywines, on facebook @Hattingleyvalley and on Twitter @HattingleyWines.

Thank you for listening to today’s episode of The English Wine Diaries. If you enjoyed the podcast then please leave a rating or review and to hear future episodes as they are released, hit subscribe on your podcast listening platform.