Much planning and dreaming has gone into the idea of a small artisan, organic vineyard and ‘community wine’. Professional soil tests and consultations have been done, vines ordered and planting is earmarked for May 2026.

Lynsted Community Vineyard, is a separate entity from Lynsted Community Kitchen Garden, though they sit happily side by side in the 7 acre community field and hold the same ethos of community and sustainability.

In this early stage the research is being done by kitchen-garden volunteers under the guidance of Jeremy. We also have a biochemist, Luke, to advise with compost teas, and other brews to support soil and vine health. We are indebted to Elvis and Kresse for their time and knowledge-sharing (they run a beautiful organic/regenerative agriculture vineyard in neighbouring Painters Forstal).

The idea is to start small and plant about 400 organic, piwi-variety vines … the wine making comes later. Think old fashioned ways; well-scrubbed feet squishing handpicked grapes.

We hope that the vineyard will draw fresh interest and a new group of visitors to the community garden/field. We believe that for those following our journey with organic and regenerative viticulture there will be valuable lessons learnt about sustainable growing. There will be mistakes along on the way and organic vines aren’t easy but we are up for the challenge. Most importantly, we hope to extend the benefits of the community field to a wider group of people and spread the joy of growing collaboratively. If any of this interests you, please get in touch and if you have expertise in vine growing or wine making, we would be grateful for your thoughts.