David & Eileen Bell
Hendred Vineyard
Allins Lane
East Hendred
WANTAGE
Oxfordshire
The village of Hendred is one of the spring line villages just below the Berkshire Downs in the Vale of the White Horse. The name originated in Saxon times and means ' The Rill of the Waterhens ' This was corrupted to Hendrill and then to Hendred. Waterhens still live in the rill at the bottom of the vineyard.

Hendred is a 5 acre vineyard planted on sloping ground to the East of Hendred vilage In 1971, thus making it one of the oldest surviving vineyards. The late Mac Mackinnon was one of the pioneers of the English vineyard movement, setting up his original vineyard in 1971. In the early years, he sent grapes to Horam, where they were vinified by Jack Ward. He then set up a small winery and planted a new 6 acre vineyard in an adjoining field. The site, supervised by Biaggio Grillio, enjoys an excellent micro-climate and produces one of the highest yields in England.
In his early days as a wine maker, Mac attended a wine making course which featured a German and a French wine maker. The German covered the blackboard with scientific formulae about the exact way to make perfect wine. The Frenchman, after talking about terroir, grapes, and weather, mentioned only 1 figure concerning the amount of sodium metabisuphate necessary. When questioned on the validity of this figure he replied with a gallic shrug "that is what my father told me- the rest is instinct". Malcolm MacKinnon subscribed to the French view. The wines were made in his small winery were made with the result of 25 years experience and care to treat each year's crop as something different.

In 2006, Mary Mackinnon, who had taken over the management after Mac's death, sold it to the Callaghan family who continued to produce high class wine, including red. In 2014 the Bell family bought it.
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