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Joining me on this week's episode of The English Wine Diaries is British sommelier and entrepreneur Emily Lambert.

Emily was the first female sommelier at The Ritz in London when she was just 19 years old and was affectionately known as the Belle of English bubbles.

She rose to wider prominence after winning BBC Two’s Million Pound Menu in 2018, with chef Ruth Hansom, after pitching their British-only restaurant concept to investor Atul Kochhar.

A year later she met her partner, Danny, at Loxwood Joust – a medieval festival in the heart of Sussex – where they bonded over a shared passion for honey wine.

Together they founded Loxwood Meadworks, a company that is redefining honey wine for a contemporary audience, bringing together heritage craft with modern hospitality.

We talk about what it was like managing old school and outdated expectations as a young female in hospitality, quitting her dream job to go on TV and her hopes that honey wine will soon be seen as mainstream.

You can find out more at loxwoodmeadworks.com and by following @loxmead on Instagram

This episode of The English Wine Diaries is sponsored by Rankin Bros & Sons — trusted suppliers of corks, closures, and packaging solutions to the UK wine industry since 1774. To learn more about how Rankin is supporting the future of British wine, visit rankincork.co.uk.

Thanks for listening to The English Wine Diaries. If you enjoyed the podcast then please leave a rating or review, it helps boost our ratings and makes it easier for other people to find us. To find out who will be joining me next on the English Wine Diaries, follow @theenglishwinediaries on Instagram and for more regular English wine news and reviews, sign up to our newsletter at englishwinediaries.com.

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Joining me on today’s episode of the English Wine Diaries are Ashley and Tom Fahey, owners of The Terrace Rooms & Wine in Ventnor on the Isle of Wight.

Tom was working as an independent restaurant inspector, when in 2020 he and wife Ashley – an ex-superyacht chef and cookery school manager – opened their first Terrace property with Ashley’s family in Yarmouth.

Deciding they didn’t have enough to manage during what was one of the most stressful times in history for hospitality, the couple decided to embark on a second project and in 2021 purchased St Augustine Villa at the edge of Ventnor Bay.

Originally built as a home for the local rector in the 1840s, the iconic property has been a guesthouse, lodge and hotel for over 150 years and is most famous for the visits and sketches of revolutionary Russian writer Aleksandr Herzen.

Since opening its doors as The Terrace Ventnor in 2022, the six-bed guest house, which has an emphasis on destination wine with a 1200-bottle cellar, has won numerous awards including Best UK Rosé List by Star Wine List for the past two years, Best UK B&B from the Good Hotel Guide and Best UK Wine Hotel by Decanter Magazine.

We talk about the challenges of running – and living – in a hotel – what the wine scene is like on the somewhat sleepy Isle of Wight and how the couple are trying to shift the way people perceive and drink rosé.

Keep up to date with Ashley and Tom and events at The Terrace by following them on Insatgram @the_terrace_ventnor or visit theterraceventnor.co.uk.

This episode of The English Wine Diaries is sponsored by Rankin Bros & Sons — trusted suppliers of corks, closures, and packaging solutions to the UK wine industry since 1774. To learn more about how Rankin is supporting the future of British wine, visit rankincork.co.uk.

Thanks for listening to The English Wine Diaries. If you enjoyed the podcast then please leave a rating or review, it helps boost our ratings and makes it easier for other people to find us. To find out who will be joining me next on the English Wine Diaries, follow @theenglishwinediaries on Instagram and for more regular English wine news and reviews, sign up to our newsletter at englishwinediaries.com.

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Joining me on today’s episode of the English wine diaries is Nathaniel McConnell, co-founder and winemaker at Bluestone Vineyards.

With a large part of his childhood spent on the family’s Cholderton Rare Breeds Farm, Nat’s boots are firmly rooted in the countryside.

However, he followed a different career path before returning to Wiltshire to establish Bluestone – one helping to fight cancer.

Following a degree in Biochemistry at Birmingham University, Nat worked with a company who developed a new technique to better diagnose and provide more accurate prognosis for myeloma patients.

His entrepreneurial spirit led him back to the family farm however where, together with his brother, Toby, he established Bluestone Vineyards.

With the land prepared and the vines on order, Nat began studying an MSc in Viticulture and Oenology at Plumpton College. He met the then head winemaker of Hattingley Valley Jacob Leadley, and assistant winemaker Zoe Driver, with whom he worked two harvests and learned about quality sparkling wine production.

Named Bluestone as a nod to the nearby World Heritage Site of Stonehenge, the 10-acre site comprises Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier. The south and south-west-facing vineyards sit on the edge of Salisbury Plain and are made of sandy, clay loam soils.

Nat’s first wine from 2015, was a classic blend made with grapes purchased from Hambledon and since he has produced a number of award-winning sparkling wines from the estate.

We talk about what it was like growing up on a petting farm, winning Platinum at Decanter World Wine Awards and the dynamics or running two very different family businesses side by side.

Keep up to date with the goings on at Bluestone by following @bluestonevineyards on Instagram or at bluestonevineyards.co.uk.

This episode of The English Wine Diaries is sponsored by Rankin Bros & Sons — trusted suppliers of corks, closures, and packaging solutions to the UK wine industry since 1774. To learn more about how Rankin is supporting the future of British wine, visit rankincork.co.uk.

Thanks for listening to The English Wine Diaries. If you enjoyed the podcast then please leave a rating or review, it helps boost our ratings and makes it easier for other people to find us. To find out who will be joining me next on the English Wine Diaries, follow @theenglishwinediaries on Instagram and for more regular English wine news and reviews, sign up to our newsletter at englishwinediaries.com.