Couple set up Rutland Vineyard in Ketton

A married couple is raising a glass to a lifelong dream coming true.

Last year Zoe and Tim Beaver embarked on a mission to transform their farmland in Ketton into a vineyard.

Planting 13,100 seeds in fields off Barrowden Road, the couple aims to harvest grapes which will be turned into British wine.

Zoe said: “It’s always been a dream of ours to do this.

“With the need for farming diversification we decided we have all the right ingredients here already.

“We had a barn in need of some love so we felt it was absolutely ideal.

“We are on an amazing limestone ridge which comes up from Burgundy wine region.”

Tim has been farming for more than 20 years so knows the land well, with Zoe, who has also been doing her research, adding that ‘vines prefer rubbish soil’.

“I’ve always enjoyed visiting wine regions. There has been a revolution of English wine in the past 30 years so we are getting in at the right time.

“The flavours have come on leaps and bounds.

“Perhaps someone who tried it 30 years ago might have been put off. People have been so pleasantly surprised.”

Currently no grapes are being harvested due to the plants needing time to mature, so the wine is being shipped over from Kent.

However in 2024 the business will serve its own produce, grown in Rutland and turned into wine in the south of France.

“We’ve had people very au fait with English wine and had people who didn’t realise English wine was a thing,” she said.

Part of the preparation included the couple taste testing a lot of different types of wines.

“The taste is higher in acidity because it’s got less sun which creates the sugar. It’s more on par with a New Zealand wine. It does have a slightly lower alcohol content.”

With it being a family business and a joint passion for Zoe and Tim, the pair are having to make a conscious effort not to talk about it too much.

The Beaver family isn’t sticking to conventional farming methods.

On the hottest day of 2021, first-time grape farmer Tim used a snow sledge, tied to the back of a quadbike to make his way around all the plants quickly.

To stimulate the soil the family decided to plant 40,000 sunflowers, which was a popular attraction with residents. It will take place again this summer raising funds for Ketton Scouts.

As well as offering wine, a one-kilometre nature walk at the Ketton site has been set up and fossils found in the field are on display.

Boards on the species which live at the farm, such as hedgehogs and hares have been popular with the children, according to Zoe.