OS Vineyard Tour

19 September 2015

On Saturday, 19 September 2015, we held our first event for Old Stoics living in the South West of England, kindly arranged by our OS Representative from the area, Andrew Thomson (Temple 65). The Langham Wine Estate is nestled amongst the undulating hills of the Dorset countryside, near the ancient Roman town of Dorchester. Andrew arranged a tour with the owner, Justin Langham, who is the uncle of an Old Stoic.

Thirty five Old Stoics and guests gathered for the tour, which started with a walk around the impressive and beautiful vineyard, learning about the decisions Justin made when starting up the business, including the types of vines he chose, the layout of the vineyard and the harvesting methods. His wine maker, Daniel, then shared more secrets about how their sparkling wine is produced, after the grapes are picked.

The sun shone as guests meandered through the beautiful estate back to the winery to sample some of the fruits of Justin’s labour. We tried three varieties of sparkling wines and saw the equipment used to produce this excellent tipple. After the tasting, the group gathered for a picnic overlooking the vines and chatted happily long in to the afternoon.

I would like to thank Andrew for finding such a wonderful venue for us to visit, all of our guests for joining us for an excellent day out and Justin and Daniel for making us so welcome. We hope to hold an OS event in the South West every year, so suggestions of where to venture to next are very welcome.

Anna Semler (Nugent 05)
Old Stoic Director