A family journey of quality,
passion and friendship
Yorkshire Heart is an award-winning family run vineyard and brewery based at Nun Monkton in the heart of Yorkshire. The vineyard, near York, started as a hobby for chief winemaker Gillian in 2000 with 35 vines. Now the Spakouskas family lovingly nurture 25,000 vines all year round, producing fine English wine from grape to glass on-site in their winery.
The vineyard is cared for by incredibly passionate and friendly people! The team is headed up by Gillian and husband Chris, son Tim and wife Georgina, plus a wonderful team of staff who dedicate their time to producing drinks loved and enjoyed by many.
In 2011, Yorkshire Heart established a micro-brewery producing craft ales, pilsners and stouts. The brewery is managed by Tim Spakouskas, son of Yorkshire Heart founders Chris and Gillian. With a huge range of beer flavours to suit every taste and preference, Yorkshire Heart Brewery has become widely known and loved by beer drinkers, bars and restaurants across the region.
“It has been slow but wonderful process full of highs and lows due to the good old Yorkshire weather! We envisaged planting just one acre as a serious hobby but have continued planting each year to become the top-quality award-winning vineyard that we are today. When we first began we didn’t need wine making equipment for the first two years, so the initial investment was the vines and trellising. Bit by bit, we bought what we needed and we replaced our original equipment with more modern equipment, at the very start we were always confident that the vines would grow. We were 90 per cent confident the fruit would ripen, and after that it was down to our very own ability, or inability, to make wine from it.”
-Chris and Gillian Spakouskas