 Easter is a time for well-deserved indulgence and we have the perfect place in mind to enjoy a cocktail (or two!) while enjoying the most scenic and stylish locations. Whether you're eager to discover some of the South West's hidden coves and beach retreats, or heading to soak up the vibes in the big city, we know the best place to go! Star & Garter FalmouthA gourmet gastropub in the heart of Falmouth, the Star & Garter is perfect for bottomless brunch, harbour-side dining and a tempting cocktail selection imbued with Falmouth's coastal Cornish heritage. They have an exciting cocktail list full of the county's finest alcohol and classics no bar can be without! Our Favourite Cocktail The deep & fruity 'Plum New Depths' - Gosling's Rum infused with plums & figs and Knightor Rosé Vermouth Doctor Ink's Curiosities ExeterTucked away on Exeter quay, blink and you'll miss this Victorian-inspired cocktail den and winner of Food Magazine's 'Best Bar 2018'. Guided through the secret doorway, a charming and knowledgable team welcome you and are more than happy to matchmake you with the drinks menu - great if you're keen to try something new! Our Favourite Cocktail Try 'Revelations' - a crisp and complex blend of Hendrick's Orbium Gin, Knightor Dry Vermouth and Orange Bitters Salcombe DistilleryNestled on South Devon's picturesque coastline, Salcombe Distillery has become synonymous as a yachting and gin-lovers haven - and for great reason! With an idyllic waterfront location and a calendar of exciting events throughout the year, the distillery is a bursting with activity whatever the time or weather! An impressive cocktail list awaits you, and if you don't have chance to explore the distillery, the large copper stills can still be viewed from the bar. Our Favourite Cocktail Inspired by the South-West coastline and created by Mark Hix MBE, The 'Scallywag' is flavoursome blend of Salcombe Gin Voyager Series ‘Mischief’, Knightor Rosé Vermouth, Sacred Rosehip Cup and Pastis. Abbotshill Wine Shop & BarExperience the Spanish tradition of 'La hora de vermut'/ vermouth hour with Cornish vermouth at Abbotshill Wine Shop & Bar in Ealing, West London. A carefully crafted menu of tapas-inspired dishes is just the place to enjoy a glass of vermouth or a cocktail. Choose from Mediterranean antipasti, bruschetta or organic British cheeseboard, all British, organic & more-often-than-not from small independent farms. Our Favourite Cocktail Try 'Tim's Negroni', a delightful blend of Hepple Gin with Rosé and White Knightor Vermouth Colwith DistilleryCornwall's first plough to bottle distillery is located just a short distance from Knightor Winery at Colwith Farm near Lanlivery. 5 generations of the family have farmed here, utilising their potato crop and Cornish mineral water to create a family of unique gin and vodka. Their distillery bar is fully stocked, serving the finest Cornish cocktails and samples with beautiful country views to boot! Our Favourite Cocktail 'Stafford's Negroni' - Stafford's Gin, Knightor Rosé Vermouth and Campari for a deliciously Cornish cocktail. Knightor WineryOur vermouth is taken from grape to glass right here Knightor Winery and we highly recommend a visit to where the magic happens. See our winery in action, walk amongst our display vines and visit our herb garden, where many of the herbs for our vermouth are sourced. Our bar team will happily guide you through our vermouth and in nearly all cases will have been involved in the vermouth-making process, whether that be harvesting the grapes, bottling or waxing! Our Favourite Cocktail The Cornish Spritz is a light, easy-drinking aperitif that's full of botanical flavour and the finest English wines. With equal parts Knightor Rosé Vermouth and soda with a slice of orange, it's so simple, yet so delicious! The LongstoreSituated in the picturesque harbour of Charlestown, The Longstore have a great passion for steaks, seafood and cocktails with the ultimate seaside location to match! Our Favourite Cocktail Get in there quick and be the first to try a 'Cornish Cobbler', new on the cocktail menu for spring. A complex yet fruity cocktail with Apricot Brandy, Knightor Dry Vermouth and Peychaud's Bitters, this one is made for Cornish evenings by the sea! Where is your favourite place to enjoy a vermouth cocktail? Did your favourite make the list?
Tell us in the comments below With the season wrapped up, thousands of bottles filled and labelled, row upon row of vines tended, pruned and blended, it's time for us - and you - to grab a festive tipple and toast to 2019. This year has been fantastic for the quality and recognition of English wine, with many successful highlights for us here at Knightor Winery. However, it wasn't all smooth sailing, as our winemaker David explains.  From one extreme to the otherIf you had spoken to me in early May, I wouldn't have sounded too optimistic about the coming 2018 growing season and grapes. March and April being very cool, late March was even cold enough for a dusting of snow down here in tropical Cornwall! This cold spring resulted in a late bud-burst for the vines, which were a good 3 to 4 weeks behind usual. From this point you would have to say we would need an exceptional summer to ripen the grapes in what would be a short growing season. Fortunately for us, an exceptional summer was what we got! Early summer temperatures were above average and rainfall well below, this resulted in the vines putting on incredibly fast growth early in the season and flowering if anything around a week earlier than typical. Weather during flowering was perfect resulting in great, even fruit set. The summer remained dry so disease pressure was low and the vines were not as vigorous as in a typical summer. This dry weather was perfect for the grapes but less so for other crops such as the spuds in the neighbouring field of our Portscatho vineyard.  The negatives of a hot summerHarvest began at Seaton vineyard on the 17th September with the Rondo and ended on the 18th of October with Seyval Blanc from our Portscatho vineyard. Across almost all varieties yields were above average and quality and ripeness above average too. One of the few difficulties during the growing season to mention was the odd spell of weather during ripening in September where disease pressure was high due to high humidity. This resulted in some varietals such as Bacchus having a very short window for picking before botrytis set in. Fortunately cases such as these were the exceptions, its disappointing, plus requires a lot more selective picking. A special year for Knightor winesThis year fermentation on the whole has been unusually slow, with many ferments lasting well over a month; some over 2 months! Our last 2 Chardonnay barrels have just finished mid December - this is after 3 months fermenting! There's no rush! It is still early on in the winemaking but is clear the 2018 wines will have more body, structure and texture than you would typically expect of an English wine, they show great potential!
There are a few standouts of the 2018 crop for me, Pinot Noir in general was very good for either rosés or red wines but the most exciting is a great batch of Pinot Noir Précoce from our Portscatho vineyard. In the past we have made both sparkling and a still rosé from this variety but this year seemed the perfect opportunity to push for a red wine given how clean the fruit was and the levels of ripeness. Half of the volume of this has gone in to barrel the other half maturing in tank, keep a lookout for a release in summer 2019! Its looking wonderfully soft fruity and elegant. We can't wait to see what 2019 has in store for us and hope you join us for the adventure!  With just over 450 vineyards in England and the industry steadily growing, winemakers are quite the rarity. We are frequently quizzing our winemaker, David about all things wine, vine, cork and stalk; always asking 'what does this mean?' and 'what would happen if?', but what about his journey into winemaking - how he got into it, where his passion comes from and what his favourite parts are.
We managed to steal him away from the vines to ask a few questions, here's what we discovered - (Do you have a question you'd like to ask David? Comment below) 1. What is one of the hardest things about winemaking, day in and day out? People probably do not realise the amount of time that is spent just cleaning. Whether it be one tank before its used, a pump, a barrel, hoses, bottle filler the list goes on.... its not really that hard, but its just not the most interesting part of the job. 2. If you weren't a winemaker, what do you think you would be? Something Horticulture related I imagine. I still enjoy it, It is what I started with and what lead me in to Viticulture and Wine. 3. Do you have a favourite vineyard, besides Knightor of course? No chance! But so many vineyard areas impress me, mostly for their non mechanised approach and challenging sites, and also just for the wine. Standouts I find Mosel, Rheingau [Germany], Vaud, Valais [Switzerland], Madeira, Douro [Portugal]. I love some of the wines from these areas, but when you add in to the it the people behind the tough work thats mostly by hand it makes the end result all the more impressive and good value. 4. What got you into the winemaking business? I was dragged around Europe on holidays as a child visiting lots of vineyards and wineries in the process. My Sister and I found the wineries and vineyards so dull and boring, Chateau, vine, bottle, repeated again and again mostly looked the same as a child. This eventually all changed one year when offered a sample or two of wine that is! They all tasted so different, and most were quite yummy too! It was amazing. One thing lead to another, a few years later, and a good idea followed. As a 13 or 14 year old I already had an allotment where I spent all my spare time growing all sorts of fruit, vegetables, flowers and random seeds I had collected. After taking a cutting or two off a vine this soon spread to become well over 60 grapevines and over 100kg of grapes each year! Most other plants were soon forgotten about! I needed to try and make the tasty drink found on holidays! A few years after whilst at school I was then fortunate enough to be offered part time work at nearby Nutbourne Vineyards, tending their vines, I loved it.... 5. What is your favourite season for winemaking? When everything is pressed and safely in tank fermenting just after harvest. The smell of happy ferments when you walk in to the winery first thing in the morning is so perfumed, unforgetable. Then blending in spring usually isnt too bad either! 6. What are some of the misconceptions/phrases you hear from people regarding wine that are simply not true (or drive you crazy)? Not much makes me that irritated. Just minor gripes, for example people not tasting with a very open mind, or making broad sweeping statements. Then also the 'wine snobbery' at times. Its just a drink. A very interesting one though! 7. If you were a wine, what would you be? The corked bottle!? I'm no Petrus or Lafite. |
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Knightor Winery, Trethurgy, Cornwall, PL26 8YQ
Call: 01726 851 101 Email: info@knightor.com 
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OPENING TIMES
Wine shop opening: Winter 2020 - Fridays 11-4pm Open by appointment at other times, more info here. Events barn and bar: January 2020 closed for Sunday lunches From 9th February - Sundays 11-4pm, lunch served 12-2.30pm Note the events barn is not open on a daily basis but can open for appointments, feast nights or events. Please call ahead if you wish to view the barn for an event. |
Please note Knightor is a working winery and old farmstead so there are areas of rough ground, uneven levels and steps and thresholds to be negotiated. Visitors and guests need to wear appropriate footwear and take extra care.
This project is supported by the Rural Development Programme for England, for which Defra is the Managing Authority, part financed by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development: Europe investing in rural areas.
Privacy Notice | Refund Policy
This project is supported by the Rural Development Programme for England, for which Defra is the Managing Authority, part financed by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development: Europe investing in rural areas.
Privacy Notice | Refund Policy