Herefordshire’s Two Beacons Vineyard, based at the foot of the Malvern Hills, has reported its largest-ever harvest by volume.

The producer said that pickers are still harvesting the crop by hand this week, but that it was already clear volumes were the highest since the vineyard was established in 2018.

Part of UK-wide optimism among English growers, Two Beacons joins a slew of other producers in anticipating a high-quality 2026 vintage.

Earlier this month, Nyetimber in West Sussex also commented that it expected the harvest to be exceptionally high in quality, with 2026 likely to be a vintage year.

Likewise, WineGB officials predicted a healthy harvest for producers across the UK, despite some early frost in the spring which impacted a small percentage of grapes.

On the harvest, Ceri Phipps, co–founder of Two Beacons, said: “While this harvest is a week or so later than last year due to the summer heatwaves, it is still earlier than usual and the heat and dryness contributed to lack of wasps, fruit flies and botrytis and as a result we’ve seen an exceptional yield.”

Meanwhile, Tim Dutton, fellow co–founder, added: “I’m expecting outstanding sparkling wines and very good still wines – our Pinot Noir Précoce crop was so big we had to do a record amount of green harvesting to ensure the remaining fruit reached full ripeness, and so the crop has been incredible.”

At the same time, the duo revealed that Two Beacons will be releasing its first Blanc de Noir, made with 100% Pinot Noir from the 2023 vintage.

On this, Dutton added: “This is a pure, clean and focused Blanc de Noirs with complexity of red fruit, citrus and some enticing spice and autolytic characters, with real breadth on the palate. A smart, classy wine.”

Image credit: Caters Photographic