Illustration by Georgie Adam
It’s 20 years since we planted Gusbourne’s first vineyard – it’s a landmark moment, not just in our history, but also for our wines. Here, writer Sophie Thorpe explores why – for fine wine lovers – old vines matter.
When the Sycamore Gap tree was illicitly felled last year, it hit headlines across the country. There was outrage at the monument’s destruction. The lone, handsome sycamore had been planted in the late 1800s, surviving not just wind, rain and thunder, but war, urbanisation and its big break in Kevin Costner’s Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves – yet overnight it was gone, all thanks to a pair of vandals with a chainsaw.
I’d never visited the iconic tree, but I can understand the anger that people felt. I’ve been lucky to stand in some of the world’s oldest vineyards, and it’s hard to put your finger on exactly why these ancient plants evoke such emotion – but they do. Their thick trunks, twisted and gnarled, speak of everything they’ve witnessed; their sprawling forms testament to the years they’ve stubbornly survived, enduring against the odds.
When it comes to wine, there’s more than just sentimental value to vine preservation, however. As vines age, their roots sink deeper into the ground, reaching through the layers of soil, sometimes into sheer bedrock, seeking water and minerals, and the volume of grapes they produce starts to drop. It’s for exactly this reason that vines are often wrenched out of the ground at 20 to 25 years of age. They no longer fit on a balance sheet, so they’re grubbed up, replaced, and the cycle goes on.
For a vineyard to stay in the ground beyond this pivotal age is rarely an accident – and many argue that old vines offer greater concentration, complexity and sense of place, or terroir. Rock-star “master pruner” Marco Simonit has championed old vines his entire career. The platinum-quiffed Italian travels the world armed with his secateurs, advising leading estates on “vine architecture” – and is a firm believer that old vines are key to site expression in wine. “The character, the typicity, the identity of the wines becomes very strong when the vines get older,” he explains. And he’s not the only one to hold this belief.
“Wine is made by the roots of the vines,” says Mathieu Berrouet of Bordeaux’s Château Pontet-Canet, whose vines are an impressive average 55 years in age. He feels that not only do old vines allow them to express their terroir better, but also temper climatic extremes. This latter idea is a common thread among those farming older vineyards. As global warming brings more challenging conditions for vine-growers (and, indeed, all farmers), older vines are better equipped to handle extreme heat and drought – their deep roots able to reach water reserves that younger vines simply can’t access. Chris Cottrell – of California’s Bedrock Wine Co – argues that once vines hit a certain age, they move beyond tantrums and teenage moods, they’re grown-up, less bothered by things and more resilient.
“Are old vines better? Not necessarily,” Dean Hewitson tells me. The Barossa Valley winemaker works with the oldest Mourvèdre vineyard in the world, planted in 1853. For him, age alone doesn’t make a great vineyard – but a vineyard is unlikely to survive if it isn’t producing a high-quality crop, so the two often go hand-in-hand. The aforementioned vineyard, Old Garden, proves itself year in, year out – with quality he can bank on, proving just why it’s lasted over 150 years.
When Hewitson was starting out, he travelled the world to make wine and get to grips with the business – and everywhere he went, producers told him that you really saw the potential of a vineyard at 10 years. After 25 years’ making wine in the Barossa, he’s seen that come true time and again: “Ten years on the hammer and the quality is just a new level,” he says. Just occasionally, however, young vines can produce something special – pointing to the 1973 Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon. Although the vines were only three years old, the wine famously beat France’s best in a blind tasting in 1976 (known as the Judgement of Paris). “Sometimes you just get lucky on that first crop,” Hewitson says.
The United Kingdom can’t lay claim to centenarian vineyards – but, as of this year, Gusbourne will have had vines in the ground for 20 years, a rarity in England’s nascent wine industry. Chief Vineyard Manager Jon Pollard has worked at the estate since the very beginning – planting those first six hectares with founder Andrew Weeber in 2004. Twenty years is significant, Pollard feels. “It takes you 10 years to really know that site – and another 10 years to really know the wine from that site,” he tells me. Over that time, the root system grows from the size of a human hand, gradually stretching up to a metre below the surface in their clay-rich soils. Importantly, the team gets to see and understand how a vineyard manages various conditions. “There are all these different parameters that Mother Nature and the vines can throw at you,” says Pollard. Wet, dry, hot, cold, disease or pest pressures: after a decade or so, a vineyard will have seen it all – and so has its farmer.
For Head Winemaker Mary Bridges, having vines that have made it to two decades feels like a landmark moment for both Gusbourne and the wider world of English wine – proving that it’s not a flash in the pan, but a serious industry. “We’re learning all the time – that’s what’s exciting,” says Bridges. There are so many factors at play – especially in sparkling wine – that she feels it’s difficult to pinpoint exactly what is attributable to the age of vines alone. Comparing two neighbouring vineyards – Boot Hill (planted in 2006 and 2007) and Lower Mill Hill (planted 2014 and 2015), she argues that Boot Hill is undeniably more reliable, offering more consistency in its aromatic profile, and more frequently making it into their top blends. But, with each year, the team gains a deeper understanding of every plot and parcel across the estate, the nuances of their site, the fruit it produces and how to translate that in the winery.
Since Weeber first planted this corner of Kent in 2004, there’s been a growing movement to champion old vines, to see these pockets of living history preserved, the wines they produce valued and treasured. In 2009, the Barossa Old Vine Charter was created; California’s Historic Vineyard Society was established in 2011; South Africa’s Old Vine Project was formally launched in 2016; while 2021 saw the first Old Vine Conference, and leading wine writer Jancis Robinson MW made her international Old Vine Registry official in 2023. Gusbourne’s vines may not feature yet, but perhaps it’s only a matter of time until they do. For now, new vineyards are in the pipeline, and who knows what the team will know, and these vines will produce, with another 20 years under their belt.
Old-vine wines to look out for
- Grenache, Mourvèdre or Shiraz from the Barossa and McLaren Vale – including those of Hewitson, such as the iconic Old Garden Mourvèdre
- Parts of California, particularly Lodi, are home to some special old vineyards, such as those from Bedrock Wine Co
- Southern Chile, especially Itata and the Maule, is a haven for old vines, particularly País and Cinsault – look out for bottlings from De Martino
- The Swartland is the mecca for old vines in South Africa – try Sadie Family Wine’s Old Vine Series for some of the most iconic examples
- Within Europe, the Languedoc-Roussillon and the Rhône has some treasured parcels of bush vines, such as those of Beaucastel or Domaine Gauby
