A dreamy Somerset vineyard stay which celebrates the best of the West Country landscape
Not too long ago, the idea that the English countryside could be populated by vineyards might have seemed far fetched: this is the land of the humble root vegetable, after all. But over the past 20 years, climate change combined with diverse terroir and growing innovations have resulted in an increase in the number of grape growers and wine makers establishing themselves in England and Wales. Many are now opening on-site accommodation, offering guests a home away from home and activities that celebrate the landscape.
One such example benefits from a microclimate in south Somerset, sheltered by the Quantock Hills to the north, the Blackdown Hills to the south and the Polden Hills to the east. Thornfalcon Winery & Press is the brainchild of husband and wife Sophie Brendel and Panu Long, a tenacious couple who swapped a busy life in the city for an equally busy but more wholesome one in the West Country during lockdown.
‘We were at a stage when we wondered what would come next for us. Panu grew up in Bridport and I spent my childhood between London and Dorset, so the West Country felt like home,’ explains Sophie, who was at the time the director of audiences, commercial and digital at the Victoria and Albert Museum. ‘About 10 years ago, I started to try a few very special English sparkling wines and became interested in the possibility of making it myself,’ adds Panu, a former drinks specialist and events consultant.
While Panu enrolled in vine-growing and wine-making courses at Plumpton College in East Sussex, Sophie began to hunt for the perfect location. ‘I was immediately in love the day we stepped foot on this farm,’ says Sophie of the 40-acre site, which had been owned and lovingly renovated by its previous owners Sasha and Simon Schwerdt. ‘It felt like a passing of the baton – we were becoming the new custodians of the land and therefore had a responsibility to nurture it.’ They moved in just before Christmas 2022 and have been planting, pruning, pressing and renovating ever since. The result is a farm stay that offers guests somewhere to sleep, unwind and be immersed in nature.
‘We wanted to create something that felt in tune with these surroundings,’ says Sophie. ‘It had to have personality and character. I started leafing through copies of House & Garden before we moved in and, as soon as we did, we had truckloads of deliveries,’ she recalls with a laugh. ‘Seven years at the V&A taught me to appreciate the beauty of materiality. I wanted the guest spaces to feel like an extension of our own house, so we filled them with things I have collected from antique shops, auctions and markets in the UK, France, Morocco and Spain.’ The guest accommodation today comprises the Vine Hut, overlooking the vineyard, the orchard-adjacent Lambing Shed, the Coach House and a vintage gypsy vardo, which can be added to a booking.
Their wines are the result of three grape varieties: Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier and Chardonnay, mirroring those used in the Champagne region. In fact, so suitable is the terroir in this part of southern England that many established champagne houses are buying up land. Pommery founded a vineyard in Hampshire in 2017 and, in Kent, Taittinger planted its Domaine Evremond in the same year. Thornfalcon’s first vines were planted in 2023 and, because they needed time to establish, Panu partnered with local vineyards growing grapes with the same pesticide-free, low-intervention approach that he has adopted to perfect his formula.
‘I want the wines to express the fruit and the terroir,’ he says. ‘There are hundreds of things that you can add to wine, but I use only the wild yeast that arrives on the fruit and I put in as little sulphur as possible. This way, the grapes and the yeast do the work and I shepherd them through to create lovely wines,’ explains Panu, whose first small harvest was in autumn 2025. The farm’s winery is his lab. Inside, the grapes are pressed and the juice is fermented in large stainless steel vats and then matured in old Burgundy wine oak barrels, which lend body and earthy flavours to the wines. The result is a biscuity, fresh and effervescent sparkling wine – which would, in my opinion, give most champagnes a run for their money – and a pleasingly pale but fruit-forward rosé. The cider production is an equally considered process. Panu inherited the apple trees from Sasha and Simon, and was delighted to discover that the Kingston Black, Stembridge Cluster and Porter’s Perfection varieties offer the perfect amount of acidity and tannin to make a complex keeved cider (meaning its fermentation is finished in a champagne bottle). The end product is more akin to a fine wine and miles away from what you’d drink in your local.
‘For us, the whole ethos is what happens when nature and creativity come together,’ says Sophie, who admits the learning curve has been steep. ‘We’d never farmed before or made wine or cider and there were so many things we needed to learn. Almost three years on, we’re still learning every day.’ For this indefatigable couple, being resigned to the vagaries of nature is crucial. ‘You live with the seasons, but also the daily and weekly changes throughout the year. It is one of the things I love most about being here. Life slows down when you are so in tune with the natural world,’ observes Sophie. Cheers to that.
Thornfalcon Winery & Press, Taunton, Somerset, offers accommodation from £160 a night for The Coach House (for a minimum of two nights).
Tom Griffiths1/8Sophie picking lettuce for lunch.
Tom Griffiths2/8Panu.
Tom Griffiths3/8
Tom Griffiths4/8Sophie harvesting.
Tom Griffiths5/8Panu with a glass of Chardonnay.
Tom Griffiths6/8Sophie, Panu and Captain in the vineyard.
Tom Griffiths7/8Captain in the raised beds.
Tom Griffiths8/8Stainless steel vats fermenting grape juice.
