‘Late in 2009, Mark Driver gave up his career in the City to pursue not only a dream but also a hard-headed business plan to make sparkling wine in England of comparable quality and finesse to the great wines of the Champagne region. He enrolled at Plumpton College, part of the University of Brighton, to study viticulture.
The task of finding the perfect location for an estate on the South Downs lasted 18 months. Then Mark Driver and his wife Sarah came across a 240-hectare farm in what has long been known locally as the ‘secret valley’ near Alfriston in East Sussex’
It is with pleasure therefore that Mission presents the largest most advanced environmentally sustainable high-tech winery in England at…Rathfinny Estate.
Made up of 600 acres the Rathfinny Estate in East Sussex will eventually produce around 1 million bottles of sparkling wine a year. The first 50 acres of vines were planted in April last year and the first wines will be available to purchase in early 2014.
This estate, born from a impassioned vision, will not only make use of innovative low carbon technologies but it will require employment of a variety from local traders to seasonal specialists. Therefore not only is the Rathfinny Estate going to produce a large amount of beautiful, high quality English sparkling wine, but it will supply a variety of jobs that will help our economy.
See here for a virtual tour of the land:
What is one of the most exciting qualities of the land, is that the terroir at Rathfinny is almost identical to that in the Champagne region. Accompanied by a climate that is perfectly suited for producing high-quality sparkling wines – we may as well call it a secondary Champagne region (if only we were allowed!).
Mark Driver, the founder of Rathfinny, said: “The winery has been designed with high-quality sparkling wine production and environmental sustainability at its core. We have taken an uncompromising approach to ensure that it will be one of the most high-tech and environmentally friendly wineries in the world”
Sparkling wine is a lively and festive wine, traditionally consumed all around the world. Symbolically, it overflows in times of abundance and joy. The Rathfinny Estate will be the birthplace for the perfect accompaniment to great occasions Worldwide, and we at Mission are certainly proud to be promoting it.
