Yearlstone in the Press and Media

Jan 2012: Mid Devon Gazette Column for January 2012

Dec 2011: Yearlstone Wine in Tatler's favourite restaurant: Wiltons of Jermyn St

Tatler magazine recently reviewed Wiltons of Jermyn St, saying If we could eat at only one restaurant for the rest of our lives, it would be Wiltons. Of course, we would need very deep pockets because it has never been exactly given away. But hey, you get what you pay for: gull's eggs, the finest langoustines, Dover sole, grouse with all the trimmings, sherry trifle. The hugely experienced and respected Andrew Turner is wearing the whites and GM James Grant runs the show with extraordinary attentions to detail. Tory grandees, heads of state, the odd actor and teenagers on a half-term treat are all served equally at this fine old aristo that has a highly developed sense of noblesse oblige.

The Tatler review goes on to describe Wiltons current pre-theatre menu, which ends with: British wine suggestion: Number 2 Yearlstone's 2010 Bickleigh, Devon "Very pale lemon-green, English garden, very floral and perfumed. Lovely fresh acidity, fair balance and length"

Nov 2011: Vintage Report

Here's Yearlstone's 2011 Vintage Report (PDF).

May 2011: Round-up

BBC Cornwall interviewed Roger for the following news item on the BBC website: Warm April boosts hopes for Devon and Cornwall wineries.

BBC Spotlight regional TV news filmed an interview with Roger a few days ago, will be released on YouTube soon.

Roger's May 2011 column in the Mid Devon Gazette (to be published in the Gazette in a few days) can be found here (PDF).

Mar 2011 Country Column (Mid Devon Gazette)

October 2010 Update

October 2010 Vintage Report

October 2010 Country Comment column (Mid Devon Gazette)

September 2010 Country Comment column (Mid Devon Gazette)

August 2010 Country Comment column (Mid Devon Gazette)

Autumn 2010 Update

July 2010 Country Comment column (Mid Devon Gazette)

June 2010 Country Comment column (Mid Devon Gazette)

May 2010 Country Comment column (Mid Devon Gazette)

Oct 2009: More Yearlstone Courses in 2010

• How to Make a Living from a Vineyard
• Setting up your own Winery

Oct 2009: Roger starts writing regular monthly column in Mid Devon Gazette

Sept 2009: Yearlstone to Feature in New Book on Devon food

Sept 2009: Yearlstone mentioned in DECANTER wine magazine article

Here's the text of Decanter article mentioning Roger and Yearlstone, you can find the whole article here.

'No doubt the industry could benefit from extra training,' said White, who last year offered his own one-day practical workshops in the business aspects of winemaking and vineyard management.  'But the major problem is, for such a tiny industry, we are disproportionately taxed and regulated - duty is now £2 per bottle payable up front. It would make a much bigger impact on those wanting to set up a winery if we were offered something like a 10,000 litre duty-free allowance.' 

July 2008: Yearlstone in English Wine of the Year 2008

In what was described as one of the toughest competitions for a long time, Yearlstone-made wines won 8 out of 52 medals awarded for wines from last year's grapes (2007).

The haul included two silvers and six bronzes. All wines entered got at least a commendation from a panel of Masters of Wine led by Patricia Stefanowicz. Yearlstone's silver medal winners were the 2007 rosé and the barrel aged dry white Number 6 2007.

"To win over 15% of the medals for the 2007 vintage is incredible" said Roger White. The results reinforced the accolade of "England's fastest improving vineyard" in the 2008 Wine Report.

Yearlstone continues to invest heavily in its winery - with 10,000 litres of temperature controlled stainless steel variable capacity tanks due from Italy shortly.

Late June 2008: Mark Hix visits Yearlstone

The well-known food writer Mark Hix (of the Independent) visited Yearlstone vineyard in late June with some friends, and was inspired to write an article in the Independent on Sunday entitled Yearlstone and raspberry jelly, in which he uses our Fizz and local raspberries to make a lovely jelly.

Describing our Fizz, he says: we were most impressed with the 2006 sparkling brut, which would sit happily alongside other international sparkling wines that I've tasted - including some of the great prosceccos.

June 2008: South-West England Catching North-East France

Feb 2008: Roger's Weekly Vineyard Diary in "Western Morning News"

Dec 2007: Roger's Christmas Wine Guide in "Devon Today"

Dec 2007: Western Morning News - the Bright Lights of Home (review of Devon wines) by Susy Atkins

She says: "the winemakers who work with the fruit are now highly qualified and own the same modern equipment used in wineries throughout the great regions of the world" and adds that "many local wineries, such as Yearlstone, Sharpham [etc] are producing attractive dry whites". Our Yearlstone No 1 is one of four "Try These" recommendations, described as "Lemony and fresh, with an appley nose and mineral crispness. Fans of sauvignon blanc should enjoy this".

Nov 2007: Devon Life - review of the Cadeleigh Arms, featuring our wine

Sept 2007: Yearlstone Fizz gets rave reviews from BBC Countryfile with Oz Clarke

The BBC's Countryfile team recently brought TV personality Oz Clarke along to sample Yearlstone's sparkling wine - Vintage Brut 2004. The programme aired on BBC 1 on August 30th. "More like Champagne than champagne itself" was Oz's message - as he waxed lyrical over the quality of a bottle of fizz during the filming of the Countryfile feature on the new Devon Wine Trail. "This is absolutely fantastic fizz" he announced as his fellow presenter Lotte Duncan cracked open our bubbly on the Yearlstone viewing area on a lovely summer's day. Back at the studio, the rest of the Countryfile team sampled the fizz again, and all three of them loved it! Oz was also impressed by Yearlstone's rosé (Number 3) which the TV crew had sampled as Wine of the Month at their hotel - the Best Western in Tiverton - the night before, and by the Number 1 and Number 5 dry whites. Our new 2006 fizz will be ready just before Christmas, priced at £14.50 - and we've sampled it already and reckon it's even better than the fizz Oz and Lotte tasted in June! We can take phone orders, please give us a call if you're interested!

June 2007 - The Decanter's article on New Zealand vs Devon wines

In June 2007, the first Devon vs New Zealand Wine Competition was held at the Devon Wine School in Cheriton Fitzpaine Devon. Devon wines put in a respectable showing against some of the world's best wines - selected and put forward by New Zealand marketers and importers. Yearlstone's Sparkling Vintage Brut led the Devon charge - rated as highly as New Zealand's Montana Chardonnay/Pinot Noir fizz - both were awarded a bronze medal.

Here's the respected wine magazine The Decanter's writeup of the competition by Dominic Rippon.

Nov 2006 - Yearlstone featured in "the Great British Summer" on BBC1

Yearlstone's preparations for the 2006 grape harvest were featured on November 26th on prime time BBC1 television at 8pm, in the final episode of the Great British Summer presented by the indefatigable Alan Titchmarsh. Approximately 15 minutes of the hour long programme were dedicated to Yearlstone! Viewers were treated to a fine display of Juliet and Roger obsessively worrying about sugar content in their grapes, performing the essential hundred-berry test, and deciding exactly when to start picking - and who's available at very short notice.

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