Bancroft

For Immediate Release: Lyme Bay Winery joins the Bancroft Portfolio

Jon Worsley, CEO of Bancroft Wines comments: “We are thrilled to be expanding our English wine portfolio with the addition of Lyme Bay Winery. There is no question in my mind of a rising interest and demand for English still wines and the Lyme Bay team’s unique approach to winemaking ensures consistency and quality across each vintage. These are refreshingly individualistic wines.”

Paul Sullivan, Head of Sales & Marketing of Lyme Bay Winery comments: “We are delighted to have partnered with Bancroft Wines for distribution of our still wines. Lyme Bay Winery has always enjoyed a strong presence in the West Country and we see this partnership with Bancroft as an opportunity to build awareness of our wines across the UK.”

The company was set up by Nigel Howard in 1993 in Devon with the ambition of making high-quality cider. With a burgeoning interest in winemaking, he soon began searching for a location to plant vineyards. Fast forward 16 years and Nigel found the right plot and the right team to fulfil his ambitions, though it would be another six years before the first wines would be released under the Lyme Bay Winery brand. This proved to be well worth the wait – since its inception, the Lyme Bay team has gone from strength to strength and gone on to win hundreds of awards. Lyme Bay Winery’s signature blend, Shoreline, scooped up medals at the Decanter World Wine Awards four years running from 2014 to 2018, and the Chardonnay 2017 vintage received a silver medal in both the International Wine Challenge & Decanter World Wine Awards 2021, thereby promoting English wines at home and abroad.

Lyme Bay Winery continues to be one of a growing number of English wine producers spearheading a shift towards still wines rather than sparkling wines, though they do produce both. The winery, led by winemaker and MD James Lambert, looks to achieve consistent excellence – no easy feat on account of England’s marginal climate. 

James and his team have developed long-standing partnerships with some of the UK’s best grape growers. Lyme Bay Winery have continued to tread their own, unique path within the English wine industry, by sourcing fruit from five different areas across the south of England. The Lyme Bay range is broad, from entry point wines to single vineyard wines which represent the highest quality of fruit within a given vintage. The availability and varieties depend on the characteristics of the vintage, but are typically from Bacchus, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Sauvignon Blanc vineyards.

For more information, contact:
Hannah Van Susteren
Head of Marketing
[email protected]
+44 (0) 7714 850 130