Greyfriars Vineyard open chalk wine cave

Friday 16th June saws the official opening of Greyfriars’ new chalk wine cave on the North Downs in Surrey.

The 18-month excavation and build project created a wine cave that has been carved out of the side of the Hog’s Back near Guildford. The resulting 3,500 square foot cellar will store up to 250,000 bottles of wine.

A huge 9,650 tonnes of chalk was excavated to create space for Greyfriars to expand their business as a boutique producer of English sparkling wine.

Owners Mike and Hilary Wagstaff, together with David Line, their vineyard manager and brother-in-law grow all their own grapes and make all the wine. Mike says the cave will provide a cool, dark space with a constant temperature for maturing wine.

Solar panels have been fitted on the roof to provide a significant proportion of the power requirements for Greyfriars’ winery and the living wall on the front of the cave features 3,106 plants that will help keep the front wall of the cave cool.