Halfpenny Green Vineyards celebrates 11 awards for its wines
Vineyard owners raised a glass to celebrate sweet victory after winning 11 awards in a prestigious national wine competition.
Family-run Halfpenny Green Vineyards, in Bobbington, near Bridgnorth, took the prizes – including a gold medal – at the Mercian Vineyard Association's annual wine challenge.
The entries, from Gloucestershire, Lincolnshire and parts of Yorkshire, were judged to international standard by masters of wine at a blind tasting.
The Bobbington vineyard won two awards, a gold medal and a trophy, for its dry white wine, as well as a silver medal and eight bronze medals for wines including rosé, red and sparkling.
Martin Vickers, 71, who runs the vineyard at Tom Lane, Halfpenny Green, with wife Tina, son Clive and daughter-in-law Lisa, said: "We enter every year and have been going about 30 years.
"We have picked up a lot of awards but this is the first time we have ever won an award for all 10 wines we entered in one competition. It is just brilliant for the vineyard and brilliant for the area.
"The prizes were announced and our wines just kept coming and coming. We could not believe it, we are absolutely delighted and have set up a display in the vineyard."
He added: "I think the victories were down to the experience we have gained over the years and the knowledge that we have collected. We have got the right variety here, it is a lovely site and the way the winery is set up it has all come together and the hard work is coming to fruition.
"I think it means a lot to the area, it has been a long, hard road and it gives people belief in English wine."
