Former Wick couple raise a glass to new vineyard venture
A former Wick couple have popped the cork on a new wine-making business in England.
Alan and Jennifer Calder, along with their daughter Fiona Smith and grandson Tom Smith, have just opened a new boutique vineyard in Yorkshire with the aim of it becoming a tourist destination for wine lovers.
Alan is the eldest son of the late John and Bunty Calder of Murchison Street, Wick. Jennifer is the eldest daughter of the late Sandy and Annie Sinclair of Willowbank, Wick.
The couple left Wick in the 1960s, when Alan was completing a PHD at Aberdeen University.
Nestled in the foothills of the Pennines at Meltham near Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, Helme Edge Vineyard is set over 3.2 acres of land, and was officially opened on April 12 and will be the venue for tours and wine tasting events in a new purpose-built tasting building which looks down towards the conservation village of Helme and a wider vista of the Pennines.
Day to day, the business will be run by Alan and Tom, with Fiona supporting in between her job as director of homecare company Caremark Kirklees. Fiona’s husband Duncan, another director at Caremark, and her mum Jennifer will also be involved in the family business.
Alan explains: “I have been a winemaker for many decades and both Fiona and Duncan were in the wine business before they established Caremark Kirklees, so with the land we have and its south facing position, it seemed natural to create a vineyard.
“We started experimenting in 2017 by planting 70 vines and in 2020 we made a little vintage which was very nice. We expanded in several stages from there and decided in 2022 to turn our hobby into a business.
“We now have several thousand vines which will produce still and sparkling white wines and rosé.”
Vineyard tours and wine tasting at the venue started on Saturday.
Tom was studying filmmaking at university and since graduating has decided to concentrate full-time on the family business. He has recently returned from Australia where he gained experience in winemaking at a large winery in the Victoria region north of Melbourne.
He said: “I enjoyed planting the original vines with my grandad and I love working outdoors so when our hobby became an actual business, I leapt at the chance of being involved.
“Our initial business strategy is to focus on tourism tastings, but we plan to increase our yields so we harvest more grapes, and the longer-term goal is to eventually make the actual wine here too.”
Tom adds: “We want to make coming here a real experience for people, so we will show them around the vineyard and take them through the entire process before bringing them into the tasting room where they can try the wines and have a few nibbles.
“With our outlook on the Pennines, we couldn’t have a better location to do this and with wine being in the DNA of the family, we’re very excited to share the vineyard and our passion for wine with others.”
People wishing to book tasting tours can visit https://helmeedgevineyard.co.uk where they can also find out more about the vineyard.
