I’m tired of saying it, indeed I’ve mentioned it before in these pages: Norfolk is not flat. One of the areas in this ceremonial county that isn’t flat is the downland south of the north-west coast. Gently undulating, and sitting on a bed of Lower Cretaceous sandstones and clays, lies a fertile area east of Sandringham and west of Fakenham. It is here, in between the villages of Docking and Stanhoe, that the nine-acre Cobble Hill Vineyard lies. But like nearby Burn Valley Vineyard, it has predominantly chalk and flint from a seam that runs from Hunstanton cliffs 8 miles to the west.
Owner Robert Perowne farms sugar beet, rape, barley, wheat, onions and potatoes on 2,500 acres of land. Deciding to plant vines in 2016, his farmer’s instincts for what grows well and where led him to cultivate Bacchus, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, reckoning on producing both still and sparkling wine. Up until this year, the operation was really a side project, a hobby. Now Robert and daughter Julia, who works in hospitality, want to turn Cobble Hill into a much more serious business, in particular investing in a rebrand of the livery and bottle design.
They’ve certainly come a long way since their first meaningful vintage in 2019. 37,000 bottles were made in 2023 (in 2022, it was 20,000). Although 2024 was a barren year with no wine at all made from a tiny crop, Robert and Julia have high hopes for their 2025 wine harvest, if not their arable one. Robert is a lover of red wine and he says the dream is to produce a still red from their Pinot Noir. Maybe the 2025 fruit will be ripe enough? However, Julia was keen to stress that they should concentrate on what they do best and poured cold water on the idea of, say, an Orange wine or a Wild Ferment. One innovation is their 187ml mini-bottles of Bacchus and Chardonnay. I spotted these when shopping at Algys Farm Shop in Bintree, near Fakenham. I haven’t noticed any English winemakers producing a similar product and I think it’s a brilliant idea.
Robert and Julia, as well as smartening up the branding, have also upped the ante in the winemaking department: they have appointed Emma Rice as consultant and this is a real coup. Rachel Lee (who has experience in the Loire) starts work as vineyard manager on the 1st of September and will take on a relatively new winery. Winemaking was previously handled by, amongst others, Burn Valley but Robert was delighted when they built their own in-house winery for obvious reasons of convenience and exigency. Stephen Skelton, éminence grise of English viticulture, and Guy Woodward, journalist with Decanter and Club Oenologique recently visited Cobble Hill. They gave them the thumbs-up both for their site and for their winemaking. They also advised that they make less and even better wine, rather than trying to be everything to all people, and to widen their distribution.
The general public are welcome to taste and buy at the vineyard which is open most days until 2.30pm. They also offer tours on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays throughout most of the year and offer vineyard dinners on selected days too. They have been busy showing their wares at local events recently. They took their piaggio (a small Italian vehicle based on a tuk-tuk, built in Wales) to the Aylsham Show in August. This has a bar on board and is a brilliant selling-point in more ways than one. The piaggio also featured at Gurney’s (a Burnham Market fishmonger) oyster-shucking event. In fact, when driving through Stanhoe the following day, I saw it on the way to another event. The Nest Farmhouse restaurant in Docking stock Cobble Hill Rosé as their house sparkling and guests who stay have a bottle in their rooms’ mini-bar. Bure River Cottage restaurant in Horning is another establishment that is selling Cobble Hill’s products fast.
The vineyard is situated on a sheltered south-facing slope with a screen of trees protecting the vines from any cold northerlies. When I visited in late August the grapes were looking very clean, full and blessedly free from mildews downy and powdery. Robert told me that only the bottom row of Bacchus was affected by frost this year and they are expecting a large, high-quality crop. I can’t wait to taste wines from the 2025 vintage but I’ll have to be patient. For now, there are plenty of their wines to try.
I’ve previously tasted six wines from Cobble Hill and none of them have disappointed. Indeed, the Sparkling Rosé 2019 was one of my favourite wines of 2023. Robert gave me a sample of the 2023 Chardonnay. This was much more Burgundian than the 2022 I had before with the oak very well judged and the stone fruit character shining. Next was the Pinot Noir Rosé from 2022 and it was showing very well indeed. I’ve had English rosés younger than this that have been past their best but this one seems to have remarkable longevity with no sign of it entering its dotage yet. Finally I asked for their award-winning 2023 Bacchus Special Reserve. This won a Gold Medal in the IEWA awards of 2024 and it’s not difficult to see (taste!) why. Aged in acacia barrels, there is a notably floral character both on nose and palate, as well as aromas of gooseberry, with pear, lime zest and cream notes on the taste. Other wines currently in their portfolio include a Blanc de Blancs, a Cuvée and an unoaked Bacchus.
When I asked Robert why he went into winemaking, he said whenever anyone asks him this he usually mentions the joke, ‘How do you make a small fortune out of winemaking? Start with a large one.’ My opinion, for what it’s worth, is that Cobble Hill have the potential for being one of the foremost medium-sized vineyards in the UK. And I’m not joking.
All photos with thanks to Cobble Hill Vineyard
