Our Story.
Our wines capture something ephemeral: the time and place in which they were made. That place is Newbarn Farm, a 300-year-old organic smallholding in the Chiltern Hills that backs onto the ancient and richly diverse Site of Special Scientific Interest, Hodgemoor Woods.
Our Ecosystem.
Newbarn Farm is certified organic – converted by us over recent years under guidance by the Soil Association - creating a regenerative ecosystem that produces exquisite food and drink. Already, the farm is home to honeybees, wildflower meadows, hedgerows, chickens and grazing animals.
And then there’s the larger ecosystem of Seer Green, our village. Almost everything we do is done locally – from families tending to our hens, to local artists creating our labels. Wherever we can, we keep produce, work and money flowing within our community.
Natural Wine.
Our wines are a record of how each year passes through our farm.
The sun, rain and peculiarities of any given year express themselves in the land: soil, vines and grapes. Every element of our ecosystem contributes: there are insects and birds among the wildflowers, manure from the chickens and sheep tending to our meadow grasses and flowers in the old-fashioned way.
We use ancient winemaking techniques. Minimal intervention is at the heart of this. Time leads the process – we’re simply stewards.
Our founder.
Richard is an Earth Scientist by education, with a PhD researching why coral reef ecosystems died out during periods of global warming in the age of the dinosaurs: the Jurassic and Cretaceous.
After 20 years of corporate life, he now runs an ecosystem restoration charity that he founded and which restores and rewilds vital ecosystems in the UK such as forests, peatland, waterways and seagrass meadows.
And when not doing that, he is a self-taught winemaker; starting in a garage with YouTube videos, but quickly connecting with other like-minded natural or low intervention winemakers and benefitting from their experience, lessons and wisdom.
Richard doesn’t want to make any old wine. Only ethically-sourced, nurtured, natural English wine that restores the land on which it is grown, and creates a product people want, that supports its community and that is good for the planet. And that has an emotional story, conveys a deep message and connects people with nature.
Connecting people to nature and others through wine.
Product, Environment, People.
It is more than wine. It has to be more than wine.
