Reflecting on my conversation with Amanda Engstrom, one half of the father-daughter partnership behind Ark Wines in Suffolk, this quote has really stayed with me. To quickly progress from planting their first vines in 2018 to winning the Best Red Wine trophy at the 2022 Wine GB East Awards for their Pinot Noir 2020 is remarkable. Especially considering that Amanda nearly poured it all down the drain before deciding to bottle it. Indeed, recognising when to go slow and give things time to develop is an important part of Amanda and her father Hans’ winemaking philosophy. That and a willingness to experiment without fear of making mistakes. With a clear sense of what they are trying to achieve, Ark Wines are producing an incredible range of small batch wines. The kind that will stand out at a dinner party and juice your street cred among your wine-drinking friends.

Amanda left her TV career in Bristol to join her father in setting up the vineyard. Juggling a Wine Production course at Plumpton, Amanda threw herself into it. Learning valuable practical lessons in the vineyard ahead of the theory in the classroom. Amanda and Hans initially planted Chardonnay, Pinot Meunier, and Pinot Noir as they considered whether to go down the English sparkling wine route, together with Pinot Gris given their love of blush-style Rosé. As a sign of the exciting things to come, they also each chose a “wildcard” variety – Amanda going for Riesling and Hans, Gamay. Fast forward to today, they have just over 20,000 vines in the ground, adding Acolon and Bacchus to their repertoire. As the family do not have a farming or winemaking background, Amanda admits to feelings of imposter syndrome at times, but how well their wine has been received is strong motivation. “It feels like we’re riding the wave, which has got us here today.”

With three harvests now under their belt and 2023 their biggest yet, Amanda and Hans have built an impressive platform, in large part due to their deep respect for their terroir. “Our ethos has always been to be sustainable and to have as little impact on the surrounding wildlife and plants as possible.” This is evident from the changes they have made around the vineyard. To offset their water usage, they have drilled their own bore hole and any wastewater is treated before being fed back into their man-made reservoir. To address their energy consumption, the winery roof is now home to 58 solar panels which supply 20 kw of power a day to the winery building and machinery, two car charger stations, and the neighbouring residential buildings. On the farming side, they are working on using only organic / sustainable plant protectors and seaweed for nutrition, in order to restore their soil and encourage a diverse ecosystem. Rather than targeting being certified organic / sustainable at this stage, Ark’s low impact approach is about doing what they can as a small family business to make wine for years to come with as little effect on the environment as possible.