Vineyard helps Berkshire farming family cope with climate change

Georgie, Tom, Will, Sandra and Peter Carlisle decided five years ago to diversity their farm due to the warming climate.But before a vine even went in to the ground in West Ilsley, Berkshire, they had to monitor the weather across the farm for three years to find the perfect spot.Their vineyard now spans 6.5 hectares, the equivalent of 10 football pitches. Once it is in full production the family hope to produce 100 tonnes of grapes a year, which equates to approximately 100,000 bottles of wine.
The vines have been in the ground for two years and they have had to deal with some harsh conditions. A drought in 2023, a very wet 2024 but so far this year the family says the weather has been good to them.
Anecdotally, the Carlisles say they have seen farmers across the country adapting to the warming climate and that growing grapes seems to be becoming more popular in the farming community."We wanted to make the most of the changing climate. It's getting warmer and warmer. We have the perfect soil for growing grapes," said Georgie Carlisle.Her brother Will adds: "The French climate is getting a lot warmer and where we currently are now, soil wise, we're exactly the same soil type as like the Champagne region."Climate experts say that the general weather trend, with a warming climate, will see winters become warmer and wetter and the summers hotter and drier.
So far the weather this year has been good for the vines but they have had the ups and downs of the typical British weather since they were planted as Georgie explains: "We've had their frost fans on for about six or seven nights in total, which causes sleepless nights. We have to check their temperature all the time."The temperature varies from the top to the bottom of the field. "We had -1.8C at the bottom of the field and four to five degrees at the top. It is quite tricky to try and manage."Even the planting is taking the conditions into consideration and in the 6.5 hectares of vines they have three varieties of grape.Bacchus, which is more frost hardy, is grown at the bottom of the field where it is cooler and towards the top of the field is Pinot Noir and Sayval.
The farm produced 12 tonnes of grapes in 2024 and the family are hoping for more this season."This year it could be double what we had last year. Then double again next year, we'll see," said Georgie.Time will tell as to whether the warming climate will be beneficial for making wine on the Berkshire Downs but the Carlisle family, for now, don't plan to expand the vineyard."Obviously, it's quite a big investment upfront. Every year that the yield will grow and grow with the age of the vines", said Tom.
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