By Jill Stocks
There are 19 vineyards in Yorkshire and happily one of those is on our doorstep.
Situated in a quiet corner next to Horsforth Vale and on the border with Rawdon is a little piece of wine heaven that started with a curious lockdown scroll through social media.
Friends, and now business partners, Laura Clare Tillotson and Sophie Elizabeth Ellis founded Knotfield Vines in 2022, taking their place as one of only a handful of female led wine businesses in the UK.
Laura said: “It started during Covid when everyone had a little bit more time on their hands! Sophie and I conceived the idea in 2020, we founded the business in 2021, and in May 2022 3,127 vines were planted.
“Sophie is the creative one of the two of us. It’s her land that she got left by her late father when he died sadly about ten years ago. It’s greenbelt, it’s a conservation area, there’s not a lot you can do with the land other than agriculture.
“Sophie wanted to do something a bit different. She was scrolling through instagram and found an article about wine, about the UK wine industry being the fastest growing industry in the UK at the time. It sparked her interest. She loves wine. I love wine. And together we decided to plant a vineyard. Just like that!”
After a lot of research on the UK wine industry, and with help and advice from local and national wine producers, it was decided to concentrate on producing sparkling wine.
Laura added: “It’s Sophie and I’s favourite wine to drink so we wanted to plant something that we knew we’d enjoy ourselves. That would make it easier for us to work in the business, work on the business and just enjoy being part of it. So we decided sparkling wine was the one.
“There are lots and lots of fantastic still wine producers in the UK. They do it very well. Sophie and I have got a tiny patch of two acres so we want to do what we do really well. We don’t want to diversify and try and do lots and lots of things not very well so we’re sticking with one good thing.
“The vines take ten years to establish so it’s a very slow start. You’ve got to be very patient. We did take a small crop in 2022 but it takes two years to produce the wine because it’s made in the traditional way which is the same as champagne. So those two years in the tank and in the bottle are creating the beautiful wine that you’re drinking today.”
If you want to take an active role in the process Knotfield Vines often need volunteers to help them with various parts of the wine making process. Volunteers are needed for bud rubbing, pruning and at harvest time.
Laura told us the best ways to keep up to date with goings on at the vineyard and with events and opening times:
“We knew we wanted to share this place with people. There was no way we were doing that up until this year when we built this tiny cabin so people could come and enjoy the space. For example until December last year we didn’t have a loo on site so if you came it was a wild wee!
“Obviously now we’ve got a facility and we want to share it with people and people have been delighted to support us. We’ve seen some really great footfall.
“The best way to keep up to date with what we’re doing is on our instagram. Our website also will have a list of events that you can book on to.
“We are not open as a walk in bar at the moment because it’s Sophie and I’s very extravagant part-time business at the moment. We both work full time so we just don’t have the capacity to be open all year round or all day. So check the website for details of our events and we’d love to see you there.”
Knotfield wines are available to purchase online but a couple of Horsforth businesses have also added them to their wine list; Bavette on Town Street and Hoc Loco.
Laura said: “We’re very lucky that Bavette love our wine as much as we do so we’re on Bavette’s wine list if you go for a meal there. And Emma at Hoc Loco on New Road Side is brilliant.”
Clement Cousin from Bavette said: “At Bavette, we always try to include as many local products on our menus. When we heard that there was a vineyard less than a 30-minute walk from the restaurant, it was a no-brainer to include Knotfield wines on our wine list. The wine had a great reception.
“Sophie and Laura are very passionate about their project, just like us, they love their food and wines and have been at Bavette many times.
“It is great to be able to support them and love being part of the local community. We visited the vineyard with the team and even helped with this year’s harvest.”
Emma Kerrawn runs Hoc Loco and told us how proud she is to support Knotfield Vines: “Sophie and Laura make incredible English sparkling wine and being able to visit a vineyard in your doorstep is something really special.
“The events they’ve held in their new tasting cabin this summer have given the local community another incredible female founded business to be proud of.
“Their passion for Knotfield is infectious and I am honoured to be able to stock their wines in Hoc Loco, always shouting about how amazing they and the women behind them are.”
Laura was keen to take the opportunity to thank the local community for their support: “We just want to say thanks to everybody locally for the support for our start up business.
“We’ve been overwhelmed with how much people are enjoying being here and how supportive people have been of us in this new venture. So thank you to everyone that’s supported us so far.”