Ex-hedge fund boss to create one of Europe’s top vineyards

 
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26 March 2012

A former hedge fund boss has moved a step closer to realising his £10 million dream of creating England’s answer to Bollinger.

Mark Driver picked up a spade and began planting the first vines on 400 acres of farmland in East Sussex destined to become one of the largest single vineyards in Europe — producing about one million bottles of sparkling wine a year.

It will be called Rathfinny — after the farm where the vineyard is based —when it starts appearing on shelves in 2016 or 2017.

Today’s milestone comes two years after the 47-year-old from Twickenham gave up a “very stressful” 14-hour-a-day job managing a $6 billion hedge fund for Horseman Capital Management and sank much of the money he had made into the project.

The married father of four said: “This week marks the start of a long journey for us to create a sparkling wine to rival the best on offer from across the Channel. English sparkling wine is already very highly regarded and I hope Rathfinny will be compared favourably with the likes of Bollinger and Pol Roger.

“I want Rathfinny to be sold not just in the best restaurants in London but in Paris, New York, Beijing and Hong Kong as well.”

More than 70,000 vines — producing Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier and Riesling grapes — will be planted in batches of 50 acres every year until 2020 when the entire vineyard will be under vine.

Mr Driver believes the sheltered “terroir” of the Rathfinny site almost perfectly replicates the growing conditions of champagne region. The vineyard lies on a south-facing chalky slope close to the Channel at Alfriston but is protected from prevailing winds by a ridge.

New Zealander Cameron Roucher, estate manager at Rathfinny, said: “You couldn’t really ask for a better location than this for growing sparkling wine grapes. The soil, the climate, the geography — they are all perfect.”

Mr Driver, who divides his time between the London family home he shares with his wife, Sarah, and a cottage near the vineyard, said the wine is likely to go on sale at between £20 and £25 a bottle.

The fulfilment of the first stage of his vision comes at a time when the reputation of English sparkling wine has never been higher. Over the past eight years English producers have won more awards for sparkling wine than those from any other country.

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