For this week’s episode of The English Wine Diaries, I am joined by two great guests.

Kit Ellen started his wine journey over 20 years ago when he joined the Majestic Wine graduate scheme, where he won the prestigious Gonzalez Be-ass Scholarship before moving to Free Run Wines, where he focussed on supplying grower Champagnes and sparkling wines to the UK market. It was a natural path into the world of English wine and today he is the Managing Director at Exton Park vineyard in Hampshire. 

My second guest is Charles Carron Brown, who is otherwise known as The Natural Sommelier. Charles is Head Sommelier of chef Simon Rogan’s Henrock restaurant, which sits in a beautiful location overlooking Lake Windermere and is one of only a handful of restaurants in that is serving Exton Park’s exciting new range of Reserve Blend wines.

We talk about the relaunch of Exton Park and its library of reserve wines, vintage versus non-vintage, sustainability in winemaking and the multiple different entries into the wine industry.

You can taste Exton Park’s Reserve Blend wines by ordering at extonparkvineyard.com or visiting one of Simon Rogan’s restaurants.

Keep up to date with the goings on at Exton Park by following @extonparkvineyard on Instagram and you can follow Charles @thenaturalsommelier.