History of the Vineyard

Today, Dryhill is situated on land which formed an integral part of an ancient Roman “Villa Rustica”, an agricultural villa dating back to 76 AD. The nearby market town of Cirencester was the second-largest city in Roman Britain known as Corinium.

In 1615, King James I decreed that no English oak trees should be felled in our nearby Forest of Dean since he was keen to preserve them for building his warships for the British navy. Local glassmakers were thus forced to use the coal that was abundant in this Forest, to create glass bottles with impurities of iron and manganese. These dark glass containers were significantly stronger using this process.

In 1632, Sir Kenelm Digby, a Gloucestershire glassmaker from Newnham-on-Severn (a small town not far from Dryhill), was able to create stronger and darker bottles for the nearby cider industry, which helped preserve cider from the harmful effects of UV light. These bottles also featured a long neck, an indentation in the bottom for added strength and a collar or “string rim” for securing the cork.

Locally, cider makers including Silas Taylor perfected the art of adding a little sugar to each bottle of cider to create a secondary fermentation. This was bottled, corked and then left for 2-3 years to develop a superior flavour and depth.

In London, Christopher Merret applied this technique to wines imported in barrels from Northern France and he presented this method to The Royal Society in London, some 30 years before Dom Perignon was credited with creating sparkling wine in the Champagne area of Northern France.

Some, therefore, say that the county of Gloucestershire had a pivotal role in the evolution of the Champagne wine we enjoy today. To learn more about the history of Champagne in Gloucestershire click here.