There was a strong Suffolk theme as Shotley Vineyard launched its limited edition wine on a special day for the county

Charlotte and Craig Mills ignored the lack of sunshine to host the arrival of the 2020 Bacchus with celebrity Charlie Haylock who entertaining a limited number of guests to mark Suffolk Day, at the vineyard at the bottom of Frogs Alley in the oldest part of Shotley.

It was a fitting day to launch the wine, with the labels designed by Sharon Teague, whose family the Pouldens are from the Shotley peninsula and once owned the pier. The fruity Bacchus wine is bottled at Gifford Hall, near Bury St Edmunds.

"The grapes are grown in Suffolk, they are made into wine in Suffolk and the label is done by a Suffolk artist," Charlotte told Nub News. "Because there are so many strong Suffolk connections we thought why not launch it on Suffolk Day too."

Great wine growing weather last year contributed the vineyard's decision to make the best use of its harvest.

Charlotte explained: "The grapes grow on a really premium part of the site as it is south facing. The rows are wider so the grapes did really well, and we over-yielded. So we decided to have just the 300 made at Gifford Hall."

Suffolk legend, Charlie Haycock, whose partner Ruth lives in the village, is a regular visitor to Frogs Alley and became friendly with the Mills family while out walking.

"He walks past the vineyard a lot and we always talk about wine so he was ideal to help us launch it," added Charlotte. "He knows so much about Suffolk and has helped us a lot about the history round here so it is lovely to get Charlie involved to make it a true celebration of Suffolk."

Author, and presenter Charlie told a Suffolk prayer and told sue amusing anecdotes about his involvement with Ralph Fiennes while helping him master the Suffolk dialect for The Dig.

He also spoke about the history of Shotley Vineyard and joked: "They changed the name of the vineyard from the old Anglo Saxon name that meant 'the meeting of the wise men' - looking around I can understand why Craig and Charlotte changed the name."

Charlie also welcomed the return of wine to the region and said: "England had a thriving wine industry in the 1500s, mainly run by the monasteries before Henry VIIIs dissolution of the Catholic church.

"It has take 500 years to get back, but Suffolk is making a comeback and here at Shotley Vineyard, this is high quality wine because it has the sunshine and the high quality soil."

The £17.95 a bottle limited release Bacchus can be ordered online at the Shotley Vineyard website here.

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