How well do you know your wine? I'm afraid to admit my knowledge of wine stretches as far as number 1. They're grapes and number 2. It's tasty liquid.
Thanks to various visits to Liz's amazing vineyard in the quaint village of Rothley, Leicestershire, I now know there's at least 18 more steps that grapes have to go through to become wine. Not just any wine, but English wine! Why does this matter? Well, I want people to know that such an elegant sparkling wine is being created right on our doorstep! How proud does it make you to hear that Leicestershire wine exists? Not only does it exist, it's award winning too.
See for yourselves here: Leicester Mercury article on Rothley Wine Estate.
There's a specific wine that I speak of that is my personal favourite. It's called Spirit of Freedom. It is a splendid sparkling thing of beauty. Spirit of Freedom is pink and bubbly and oh so attractive looking, especially against Liz's grand fireplace that she always manages to keep burning.
Liz's vineyard is snuggled in the village of Rothley, I have experienced the vines at their baby stages from one year ago and have been meaning to return when the grapes are as plump as they can be during the summer months.
This year is going to be the year that I get more involved and help with some of the stages!
Every wedding package that I do will include a bottle of Spirit of Freedom from Rothley Wine Estate, found here on my packages page.
It's local, it's delicious and it's all handcrafted!
I adore the idea of locally sourced wine and will forever be in favour of supporting such a hardworking lady like Liz Robson!
To see Liz and everyone that helps run the intricacies that make the vineyard tick, it truly is a wonderland, from the front gate to the kingfisher's stream at the bottom of the vineyard. It is an absolute joy to walk around the surrounding gardens in rain or shine.
Odd bits of wildlife can be spotted too, and it's these very moments that make you forget you're in the middle of Leicestershire and more in the pith of France.
Liz did say we could've done with some snow and we'd be able to make our own Christmas cards with the two robins keeping us company that morning.
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What I was really doing at the vineyard was taking photographs of Liz's precious wines. Spirit of Freedom, Fearless (a medium dry white wine), King Richard (white wine) and King Henry (red wine GORGEOUS!) and of course, the most incredibly intricate patisseries by Dominic at David North.
I have never in my life seen such detail in cakes before. It was a shame to eat them really. But before satisfaction could be mine, there was photographing to do! And these little patisseries were the perfect supporting props for the wines.
See! Look how pretty it is!
From the newly made conservatory to the wine making lab, I got almost unlimited access to Liz's estate and because of her welcoming attitude I got some real pleasing shots.
Watch this space! There's going to be plenty of things happening with Rothley Wine Estate and I'm just incredibly happy to be a part of it all.
Hopefully you'll hear a lot more of Liz too, she often appears at all sorts of networking events and she's even hosting a tasting event at Gelato Village on Tuesday 28th Feb!
Get your tickets and more info here on Gelato Village's Facebook page.
Follow Rothley Wine Estate on:
If you would like more information on either the bronze, silver or gold wedding packages available, please follow the link here.
A free bottle of Spirit of Freedom is at stake here!
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Sammy
isoelegant@photographer.net