Simpsons Wine Estate awarded government grant ahead of first harvest

By Erin Smith

Published: 09 May, 2016

Ruth and Charles Simpson, the owners of Simpsons Wine Estates in Kent, were awarded a Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE) rant, which is growth programme that provides grant funding to encourage development.

Ruth and Charles Simpson, the owners of Simpsons Wine Estates in Kent, were awarded a Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE) grant, which is growth programme that provides grant funding to encourage development.

The awarded grant will cover 37.5% of projected total winery conversion and equipment spend needed to get the winery up and running ahead of Simpsons Wine Estates first harvest this year.

"This is a very positive endorsement of our project and the impact that it will have in generating jobs and tourism opportunities in this area. It's going to be a busy summer," said Ruth Simpson.

The Simpsons purchased 90 acres (30 hectares) of viticultural land in Barham, which is situated in the North Downs of Kent in 2012.

"We just saw there was such a huge opportunity for English sparkling wines and the North Downs is the holy grail," said Simpson last week at London Wine Fair 2016. The chalk slopes of the Elham Valley is where the Simpsons' two vineyard sites are located and they planted 30 acres of vines in 2014. They are expected to plant another 30 acres this month and the final 30 will be planted next year.

The money will be used to convert a barn on the property and buy production equipment. While this year is the first year the couple expect to get grapes they don't expect a large crop.

While Simpson saw the possibility that English wine may one day be recognised for their excellence, she did not expect how popular the wines would become. She said: "We supposed one day English Wines would be recognised as high-quality sparkling wines. But we didn't think it would happen so quickly," said Simpson.

This is not the couple's first venture into the wine business. Fourteen years ago Simpson and her husband purchased 46 hectares in the Languedoc and started producing wines under the Domaine Sainte Rose label. The winery produces on average 360,000 bottles per year and are exported in 14 different countries. The wines can be found in Waitrose, Majestic and can be found on the Naked Wines platform.

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