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I know the beautiful Bere Peninsula pretty well but I have never before been down this narrow winding road that opens out onto the most stunning view of the Tamar valley and Marcus Williams’ family dream. It has been 60 years in the making, but finally a small vineyard has been planted up on the south facing slopes. It is a thing of beauty with rows of perfectly symmetrical lines set amongst the wild flowers and the stunning backdrop of unhurried river Tamar.
Marcus’ grandfather, Leo Stamm was brought over to the UK as a German POW and sent to work the land around Bere Alston. At the end of the war he was demobbed back to Bonn but struggled to see a future for himself in his ailing homeland so returned to Devon. In the early ‘50’s he decided to set up a market gardening enterprise with his new wife, local girl Thelma, and they bought a 9 acre stretch of steep land in the hope of growing fruit and vegetables. Potatoes, fruit trees and daffodils were successful crops but unfortunately the land was too dry to sustain diverse crops and the garden was subsidised by Leo’s building business and never developed past being a hobby. As a fruitful home brewer he had always harboured a dream of setting up a vineyard on the site but it never came to pass.
In 2004 Leo died and left his estate to his daughter, Paula and her two grown up children Marcus and Emma. The family tended the land, making headway with the overgrown weeds and planted an orchard of local fruit trees, but knew they needed to do more to make the land profitable.
Marcus Williams grew up in Bere Alston and spent many happy hours on his grandfather’s land digging potatoes or picking daffodils. Whilst studying for a degree in Aquaculture Management he worked all around the UK gaining experience. He also volunteered at the National Marine Aquarium, Plymouth and after receiving his degree began working alongside his future wife, Heather, at the aquarium as a marine biologist. He and Heather later moved first to Grand Cayman, then to Ireland where they worked together in aquariums gaining experience. They both returned to the National Marine Aquarium in 2009.
It was around this time that Marcus’ grandfather’s dream of a vineyard began to take hold. The family had discussed many options for the land from Christmas trees to a camping site but after visiting other local vineyards and doing a bit of research the location seemed to have all the potential requirements for a vineyard. The family have strong ties with this community and wanted to conserve and promote the biodiversity of the Tamar valley. Marcus stresses that “It is a unique heritage site and we want to add to the area of natural beauty, not diminish it”. They hope to do a “bio blitz” to assess the plot for wildlife each year and hopefully they will be able to show they have added to the biodiversity.
Marcus has completed a course in viticulture at Plumpton College and sought advice from the vineyard consultant who established Sharpham Winery. They have taken steps to keep out the rabbits and deer and hope to keep the diseases and small pests at bay using a variety of low impact methods. “As a family we are all pretty hands on. We have invested time and money and we want to do this properly, but with limited resources we have relied on friends and family at times”. At the beginning of May 30 volunteers turned up to help finally plant out 1225 “Madeleine Angevine” vines. A month or two on and they are thriving on their slopes and hopefully will be ready to harvest commercially in 2019. Marcus hopes to prepare a second site for a Pinot Noir grape in 2018 and perhaps one day build a winery in order to produce their own label.
I think Marcus’ grandfather would have been very proud of all that the family have already achieved and I admire their determination, energy and most of all focus, to work on these slopes with the glorious view of the valley behind always drawing the eye. I am certain this venture will succeed and look forward to a little tipple in a few years’ time. Bottoms up!
You can find out more about the Williams’ vineyard by following on their facebook page ‘Tamar Valley Vineyard’
Nichola Williams