Gusbourne

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Winery
Gusbourne
About Winery

 

“At Gusbourne we embrace tradition but readily challenge convention, even to make what might seem like very small differences to the finished wine. Attention to detail is often the difference between great and exceptional.”


The original Gusbourne Estate in Appledore, Kent dates back to 1410. The de Goosebourne family crest was made up of three geese and can be found in our local parish church in Appledore – nowadays, each and every bottle of wine crafted at Gusbourne carries a contemporary goose crest in honour of our heritage. This ‘Goosemark’ is a symbol of trust, representing our pursuit of uncompromising quality.


In 2004, Andrew Weeber took over the estate with a sclear vision and a single goal: to create English sparkling wines that would stand up alongside the very finest offerings from across the globe. The first vines were planted that year.


In 2010, our debut vintages of Gusbourne Brut Reserve 2006 and Gusbourne Blanc de Blancs 2006 were released to critical acclaim. Gusbourne quickly earned a reputation as a producer of outstanding quality wines, with accolades from some of the industry’s most exacting critics. Winemaker Charlie Holland joined Gusbourne in 2014 and has produced some of the world’s most celebrated sparkling wines, winning numerous international awards and becoming the only three-time winner of the IWSC English Wine Producer of the Year.


A combination of the best age-old traditions with modern technology and cutting-edge equipment allows us to sit comfortably between old and new world winemaking, while at the same time bringing our own exacting quality standards to the process. Respect for the vineyards, the fruit and the natural elements involved in winemaking means that our approach favours minimal intervention.

Sustainability at Gusbourne

At Gusbourne, we continually strive to ensure our practices are kind to the world around us. As such, we are delighted to be a founding member of the Sustainable Wines of Great Britain initiative set up to encourage English and Welsh wineries to ensure their practices are as sustainable and environmentally friendly as possible. We proud to be one of the first vineyards in the UK to achieve the SWGB accreditation.

This entire initiative sits in line with Gusbourne’s care and growing understanding of the natural environment that we have employed and studied for over 16 years, when the first vines were planted in Appledore. After all, it is crucial that we look after our surroundings given that we are reliant on them to produce great quality fruit every year for our vintage-only wines that we continually strive to be amongst the finest in the world.

In addition to the external audit required for the SWGB accreditation we have achieved, internally we are undertaking our own audit that incorporates all business areas from a sustainability standpoint. This ranges from labels and packaging to marketing materials, distribution and everything in between.

Some examples of our sustainable initiatives are:

Experimentation: the level of experimentation is New World in style & drive for accelerated learning. Gusbourne is one of the key members of the NIAB EMR (East Malling) viticulture R&D consortium, with parts of the vineyard dedicated to industry-wide research & experimentation.

Wildflower blocks are planted near vineyards to encourage biodiversity.

Natural organic fertilisers (composts, seaweed and composted chicken manure) have always been employed in our vineyards to improve soil health and bacterial diversity.

We will continue to evaluate the sustainability of all areas of the Gusbourne business to achieve the most sustainable and environmentally friendly practices wherever we can.

APPENDIX

For a full list of the Sustainable Wines of Great Britain objectives, see below:

Vineyards

  • Maintain and improve soil health
  • Manage vineyard canopies and yields optimally
  • Reduce (and optimise) pesticide inputs
  • Conserve the vineyard (and surrounding) environment and promote biodiversity
  • Reduce vineyard energy input, greenhouse gas emissions and carbon footprint per hectare

Winemaking

  • Improve winery design to reduce environmental impact
  • Increase energy efficiency to reduce the energy footprint per bottle of wine
  • Reduce the volume of water used per bottle of wine
  • Deploy an environmentally responsible wastewater management system
  • Reduce the environmental impact of wine packaging
  • Reduce the level of greenhouse gas emissions and carbon footprint per bottle of wine

For a full list of the practices already employed at Gusbourne, see below:

Planting: The vines were originally planted in vertical rows North-North-East to South-South-West down the hill to help with exposure to the sun, drainage and funnelling the South-Westerly winds, reducing rot.

Experimentation: The level of experimentation is New World in style & drive for accelerated learning. Gusbourne is one of the key members of the NIAB EMR (West Malling) viticulture R&D consortium, with parts of the vineyard dedicated to industry-wide research & experimentation.

Soil density mapping: Takes place every 3 years, to determine targeted (rather than blanket) adjustments for the like of potassium etc.

Herbicides: We moved from 4x annual herbicide applications to 1x in 2017. We now utilise tractor mounted cultivators (roll hacks) to reduce weed competition in the under-vine area. We have phased out the usage of Glyphosate during 2017 and 2018, with none used in our Kent vineyards from 2018 onwards, and in our Sussex vineyards from 2019 onwards.

Fungicides: Since 2004, Gusbourne has utilised tunnel recycling sprayers. Sprayed product that does not come into contact with the vine is captured and recycled back into the spray tank. This technology massively reduces issues of spray drift and recycles approximately 25% of the spray.

Seeded grass and clover: All of our interrow areas are seeded with grass or natural regenerated cover. We utilise cover crops in areas where the advantage may be to increase soil condition, levels of nutrient and decompaction of the soil.

Wildflower blocks: Planted near vineyards to encourage biodiversity.

Natural organic fertilisers (composts, seaweed and composted chicken manure) were introduced from 2004, and we moved over to a base of organic fertilisers in 2019 to improve soil health and bacterial diversity. We will occasionally use synthetic fertilisers for redressing balances of individual elements. It takes 3-4 years for full benefits to show – this is in relation to compost which takes a number of years to be broken down by soil microorganisms and thus be available to the vines.

Marc: Up until 2 years ago it has been composted and spread back onto the vines; since then, pressure from SWD (which use it as a food-source) has led us to send it to composting recycling companies.

Leaf-plucking: Around bunches increases airflow and sunlight. This results in a more open and ventilated bunch zone which reduces the potential for fungal infection. This also aids with ripening and a reduction in Spotted Wing Drosophila (SWD) which is an insect pest becoming more prevalent in the UK.

Green harvests: Promote airflow and reduce botrytis, as well as lead to earlier ripening and less vine stress, and mean the vines have more time to recover through photosynthesis before shutting down for winter; healthier plants are better able to withstand diseases without as much intervention the following year.

Post-harvest dropping: Of reject bunches reduces the drain on energy in the vine, allowing the post-harvest photosynthesis to focus on root and trunk repair and growth before winter shutdown.


 

Charlie Holland

“We are enlightened traditionalists with one foot in the past and one foot in the future.”

With 20 years of international winemaking experience, Charlie honed his skills working in some of the best wine producing regions around the world including stints in Australia, New Zealand, Germany, France and the USA.
In 2009 Charlie returned to the burgeoning English sparkling wine and in 2014, Charlie Holland joined Gusbourne where he has produced some of the world’s most celebrated sparkling wines, winning numerous international awards and becoming the only three-time winner of the IWSC English Wine Producer of the Year.
 

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