Plans have been submitted to build a winery on an agricultural holding at Pleinmont.
Surrounding fields would be planted with carefully selected vines to grow grapes for making quality wine, the first of which are due to arrive in March.
Preparations have already begun to get the first 3.92 acre field ready, and while planning permission is not needed to grow the vines, it is for the buildings the owner argues are so vital to the project’s success.
There is the potential to produce between 7,000 and 18,000 bottles in the first harvest in 2028, with another 10,000 added from a second smaller field due to be planted next year.
The intention is to plant all 13.4 acres of the holding before 2028 and annual production could reach roughly 60,000 bottles, concentrating on white wine.
The site is at La Seigneurie, Rue des Valniquets, Torteval, and the buildings which needs planning permission would cover about 640 square metres but are designed to future proof the project.
They would allow for processing and storage, and also include a tasting area.
“Agriculture requires infrastructure,” a business vision document submitted with the planning application states.
“No buildings presently exist on the holding or in the surrounding area that could be repurposed to meet this need.
“Being able to design this infrastructure from scratch makes it possible to future-proof the building so that no further expansion is necessary, to make the business more cost-effective, and to ensure that the entire operation is as sustainable as possible.”
It adds: “The proposed scale of the structure will allow all of the agricultural holding to be planted, and the crop of wine grapes to be vinified, without further expansion of the building. “The scale of the storage section of this building anticipates the potential inventory when the full agricultural holding is planted. The climate-controlled storage space will also be used to ferment and mature barrels and tanks of wine at the correct temperature before bottling.
“This would be unworkable if the storage space was offsite. Keeping the storage space onsite initially also reduces traffic to-and-from the winery processing space, reduces operating costs, and makes the business more efficient.”
The agricultural land has previously been used to grow hay, but it is argued there is no shortage of this and from an economic view it was a waste of prime agricultural land.
Analysis has shown the soil is very low in nitrogen, phosphates, potassium, magnesium and other minerals essential to most agriculture.
“We must find financially viable alternative crops to rehabilitate the island’s soils or else our protected fields will become valueless as agricultural land.”
Planning has confirmed that vine-growing falls under “agricultural use” and that no change of use is required to grow this crop.
“An often-underappreciated fact about vine-growing for winemaking purposes is that it is not all about yield. Therefore, unlike with most other crops, Guernsey’s competitiveness is not restricted by its limited agricultural space, which cannot support modern bulk farming.”
Why Guernsey?
Guernsey is an ideal location for small-batch quality wine production, it argues.
“Quality wine can be achieved through low-fertility soils, (which Guernsey has,) a marginal climate, (again, this describes Guernsey,) and by making the vines compete for resources (e.g., by planting a cover crop of grasses between the rows that can simultaneously provide a permanent habitat for local wildlife, fix the nitrogen levels of the humus, and reintroduce essential minerals into the soil.)”
Planning usually requires evidence that a holding has been established before considering an application to build a structure to support the agricultural activities.
While that is not the case here, the owner Jacob Cherry said in the business case that he had already made significant commitments, including pre-ordering 6,375 non-refundable vines which will arrive in March.
Lime has already been ploughed into the field to correct the acidity in the subsoil.
“I am engaging with another local business to determine which species of local seaweed may best be used as a pre-planting fertiliser to improve the mineral composition of the soil without overly increasing the nitrogen content. I will add this fertiliser to the topsoil before planting. The use of local seaweed as a mineral-rich fertiliser will be cheaper, is a good story to tell visitors to the winery, and the collaboration supports another growing Guernsey business.”
The initial vines will take three growing seasons from planting to produce their first commercial crop in the summer of 2028.
The first planting in 2025 will be an experiment with 17 premium vitis vinifera varietals (375 vines of each) to discover which of these can best cope with Guernsey’s saline coastal conditions.
A second field will be planted in 2026 based on the trail.
“By the time I have planted all 13.4 acres already belonging to the agricultural holding with productive vines, the annual production could be roughly 60,000 bottles.”
There is said to be a strong correlation between proximity of the winery to the vineyard and the quality of the wine produced.
“This is because grapes break in transit after harvesting, fermentation at warmer than desired temperatures may then be initiated in transit, and bacteria and fungi from the vineyard can enter via the broken grape-skins and taint the grape juice and the wine made from it.
“Additionally, in white wine production, unwanted colour and tannin will leach from the broken skins into the juice and alter the character of the wine. White wine production is predominant in cooler wine regions and will be a major focus of this operation.
“This is the main reason that I am seeking a structure in the proposed location. Further from the vineyard would have a negative impact upon the quality of the wine that I am able to produce. Proximity also keeps the traffic of agricultural vehicles to and from the vineyard to a minimum during the harvest month.”
Growth potential
Warming temperatures is likely to make ripening grapes in Guernsey simpler, the plan argues.
“While the vines mature, as the climate becomes hotter, there will be years in which I can already produce quality wine and years in which this is more challenging. In years where the grapes do not ripen sufficiently to make high-quality wine, my solution is to distil the grape must.
“Both brandy and grape spirit are superior when high acidity (i.e., less ripe) grape must is used. I then intend to blend and fortify some adequately ripened base wine with distilled grape spirit from a cooler vintage. To this, I will add local botanicals to create a unique Guernsey product analogous to Vermouth.”
This is a sector with growth potential for the island.
“There are a number of appropriate sites on the island that could be more profitably and sustainably used to grow grapes for fine wine. I hope to have a first-mover advantage but would welcome, and do my best to enable, imitators by sharing my experience and use of the equipment that I will be purchasing.”
An upheaval in the wine industry as a result of climate change presents an opportunities for Guernsey to fill the gaps in the quality wine market.
“Guernsey can feasibly create a successful brand by acting decisively and quickly while countries with more established wine regions hesitate to adapt.
“I believe that Guernsey as a whole could build itself a very successful brand in fine wine. In the wine sector, small-scale often translates into higher quality, and much more space than is available on the island is required for any producer that seeks to cut costs and make cheap plonk.”
Hospitality, tourism and other sectors could benefit.
“By 2037, the business could be contributing approximately £300,000 to £400,000 to the island’s public finances each year, based on cautious projections.
“If other local growers elected to make use of the equipment in the winery to make their own wine, then the duty and anticipated corporation tax payable by them would represent another sizeable regular contribution, directly stemming from the construction of the proposed structure. By comparison, hay generates very little taxable revenue for the island.”
The full application is available to view at https://gov.gg/liveplanningapplications called La Seigneurie.
