Welcome

Ancre Hill Estates is located in the beautiful Welsh border town of Monmouth.

The Estate is a Demeter certified Biodynamic and Organic producer snuggled in the South-East corner of Wales on the border with England, benefitting from the protection of the Cambrian Mountains and Brecon Beacons to the North and West.

The vines are grown at around 50 degrees Northern Latitude at the limit of a grape variety’s ability to ripen, producing alluring and refreshing wines with crisp acidities and purity of fruit. Production averages some 30,000 bottles of wine a year from the 9-hectare Estate.

Great wine is made in the vineyard and work done in the Winery may only realise the potential at Harvest not increase it. The wines produced at Ancre Hill express the Terroir of ancient mudstone and sandstone soils, giving the wines their character and natural flavours, with no external intervention or manipulation in the winemaking process.

The Independent review of Ancre Hill Orange wine

8 best orange wines to raise a glass to this summer

The Independent | July 2024

Instantly recognisable, thanks to its Clockwork Orange-esque label, this wine is certainly not a case of being all about looks and little substance... What's really pleasing to see is how strong UK winemakers are in this category, with our list including two producers from the UK who are making some really standout vinos. They've quickly become some of our favourite wines, and not just in the orange wine or British wine categories, either.

Matthew Jukes wine review of Ancre Hill Blanc de Noirs

Matthew Jukes praises Ancre Hill Estates' Blanc de Noirs

Vineyard Magazine | April 2024

I adore the four-year-long lees contact and lack of interventions during the entire making of this (Blanc de Noirs) wine. But what I value more than any of these badges is the flavour of this deeply invigorating and resplendent wine. This is not only a decent Welsh drop but also a wildly delicious Pinot Noir that teases all the senses with its restless energy and eventual completeness."

The
Vineyard & Winery

The Vineyard

Producing Biodynamic & Organic Wines

The 9 hectares of vines at Ancre Hill Estates are inspected by DEMETER every year to ensure all cultural practices in the Vineyard go above and beyond Organic standards in line with the full Biodynamic accreditation achieved in 2014.

Ancre Hill Estates vineyard

Biodynamic practices employed in the vineyards allow the vines to find the balance of life forces necessary for healthy growth and quality of production. A regular spray programme based on Organic and Biodynamic principles is employed utilising wild plant tisanes made on the Estate and biostimulants. Insecticides, Pesticides and Herbicides are not used at all.

Extensive canopy management is practiced, maximising air flow through the canopy and sun and light exposure to suit the season. This is further assisted by the Geneva Double Curtain trellising system designed for cooler climates.

A careful programme of composting and cultivation ensures the development and maintenance of a healthy micro-organism population in the soils, negating the need for petro-chemical fertilisers. Co-plantation and the promotion of wild flora and fauna help maintain the balance of the eco-system and biodiversity at the Estate.

The Winery

The building is an extension of the philosophy in the vineyard. Natural materials have been used over synthetic ones wherever possible with the walls constructed from straw bales and a living, green roof, both providing temperature and humidity regulation. Waste water is treated by a series of ecological pools and plantings which also provide many of the plants used in the tisane treatments in the vineyard.

The Estate’s philosophy is that a wine’s essence should reflect its origin, emphasizing terroir’s importance and the rejection of soil-degrading chemicals, thus helping to create wines which are true to vintage and provenance - spontaneous fermentations by indigenous yeasts and bacteria, no fining or filtering, and a long, slow élevage for the wines with extended time on the lees.

The wines, as with the grapes, are fully DEMETER certified, adhering to the strictest production criteria. Working in this way not only creates better wines qualitatively, but wines of greater integrity and sustainability.