Wine from the heart
Yorkshire Heart Vineyard produces wines from grapes grown at our vineyard at Nun Monkton, between York and Harrogate. Our vines are nurtured throughout the year by our passionate team, then handpicked during our Autumn harvest by a wonderful team of volunteers and friends.
The grapes are processed on–site in our winery, overseen by chief winemaker Gillian Spakouskas who carefully monitors the wines during a 12-month fermentation and maturation period. They are then stabilised before filtering, bottling, labelling and packing in-house.
From grape to glass, everything is done on site.
We are immensely proud of our business that creates fine artisan Yorkshire products by our very hard–working team. Through their dedication and passion, we are able to create unique and beautiful tasting reds, whites, rosés and sparkling wines.
Our Grapes
White
Solaris
A white fruity variety specially bred for northern Europe, this is our largest variety planted.
White
Ortega
A German Vitus viniferous, fruity with white blossom flavours.
White
Siegreebe
A German Vitus vinifera, in good summers makes wonderful desert wines.
White
Seyval Blanc
A French variety specially planted to make sparkling wines.
White
Schonburger
A German variety which is being replanted due to failure to grow in very wet conditions of the last few years.
White
Bacchus
This is the typical English wine grape variety.
White
Madeleine Angevine
A French variety which has proved over the years to love the Yorkshire climate.
White
Chardonnay
We have a small parcel in hope that it will ripen and enjoy Yorkshire life!
White
Pinot Gris
A lovely French grape with great flavours.
Black
Pinot Noir
A Burgundy clone which is proving to be an excellent choice.
Black
Rondo
Our main red grape variety; again this is specially bred for northern Europe.
Black
Regent
A quality grape similar to cabernet grape.
Black
Dornfelder
A German grape that has deep colour and flavour.
Black
Acolon
A recent variety bred for good colour and flavour in northern Europe.
Black
Gamay
A lovely Beaujolais grape.
Black
Cabernet Franc
A French variety from the Loire valley.
Black
Cabernet Cortis
A new French variety we are trialling.
Our History
2000
In 2000, Chris and Gillian planted 35 vines in their garden at Green Hammerton.
2005
Our first official bottle of wine was made (to be called wine it has to be made from grapes). This inspired us to look at the possibility of planting on a commercial basis.
2006
After consultancy about site, climate and soil testing, our 7–acre field was selected as having most potential and we planted the very first 1500 vines. We planted a further 1000 to 3000 vines every April that followed.
2010
We reached 12,500 vines, filling the site. By this point, we never envisaged having such a large vineyard. Every year, the vines mature to give even more flavour and soul.
2011
Yorkshire Heart became Yorkshire Heart Vineyard and Brewery, after we invested in a micro-brewery to produce craft ales.
2013
An adjoining field was purchased and another 4,500 vines were planted. These were Rondo (for red and rose wines), Ortega (for quality white) and Seyval Blanc (for our award-winning English Sparkling wine).
2017
If that wasn’t enough, we had already planted a cider orchard in 2013 and the first batch of cider was produced in 2017.
2020
Our total stands at 17,000 vines across ten acres. We are growing 17 varieties of grape, learning every year which are most suited to the Yorkshire climate and topography to allow us to continue to improve our beautiful wines.