Cotswold Hills White Wine

You don’t usually think of the Cotswolds as a hotbed of winemaking brilliance and yet here we are, sipping award-winning bottles grown on a tiny 2.6 hectare vineyard just outside Down Ampney. Cotswold Hills is planted mostly with Ortega grapes and the range has grown into a bit of a show off.

Their wines are bright, elegant and happily drinkable, the kind you pull out for “just one glass” and suddenly it’s the best evening of the week.

We love that this is packaged in a sustainable paperboard bottle which not only recycled but helps reduce its carbon footprint as these are a lot lighter in transit!

We love it because it’s genuinely good wine but also because of the story behind it. The Royal Agricultural University in Cirencester took on the vineyard back in 2016, turning it into a living, breathing project where students learn the ropes of enterprise and agriculture firsthand.

 £1 of each sale then goes to the RAU First Steps Fund providing student entrepreneurs with small grants to get their own ideas off the ground.

Made from a blend of Ortega, Bacchus and Chardonnay grape varieties, displaying aromas of delicate florals and honeydew melon, and with a delicious palate of fresh cut green apple and peach.

Once harvested, the grapes are transported to winemaker, and alumnus of the RAU, Martin Fowke at Three Choirs in Newent Gloucestershire to produce the wine.