The Gladwin Family Christmas Journal
Snapshots, Reels and Observations from 2025, by Peter Gladwin
A year of global economic hardship, fierce political rivalry, war zones, international atrocities and wide criticism of how all these things are both reported and handled.
Aren’t we fortunate that Nature doesn’t bother with any of these issues - of course there are natural disasters and climate change is bringing some terrible weather events, but the beauty and tranquility of the English countryside remains largely the same. We watch the seasons change, each with their own appeal and colour palette.
With so few daylight hours, I inevitably end up walking the dogs in the dusk. The moon creating shadows on the brow of a hill; wise old trees swaying in the wind (these trees were there before us and will hopefully remain long after); sheep quietly grazing. All living creatures work hard on their own survival - there is a mole in our lawn determined to make his own statement on the landscape, but I can live with that and I celebrate his endeavours.
Let's look back on some of the highlights from our 2025 Journal:
Journal Highlights from This Year
1. A Winter Champion
We started the year with Three Cornered Leeks, Oliver Gladwin’s champion wild ingredient for January. A delicate, herbaceous baby leek, it can be served raw, straight from the grill or in a tangy green salsa.
2. Artistic Inspiration
For those of you who don’t know Bridget, it may be difficult to understand that refusal is not an option. Daughter-in-laws, friends and grand children were drawn into a new form of creativity in February – freestyle painting on the inside of oyster shells! The garden now has splashes of unexpected colour all year round.
3. Putting Down Roots
THE WORST TIME TO PLANT A TREE IS... TOMORROW
"The best time was several years ago, and the second best time is today!”
In March, Gregory moved mature vines and planted young trees on the estate, looking ahead to the future of the land.
4. The Ultimate Providers
The vineyard chickens are now housed in a “luxury” mobile home that can be towed to any part of the farm. All the while Lani's little lovelies are producing an abundance of eggs and with an eventual slot booked on the restaurant menus in the Autumn – what more could we ask for!
5. A Menu for Each Season
Our Local & Wild restaurant menus are constantly changing - Oliver creates innovative new dishes to match the season, using the best produce available. The bright colours of Spring salads bring joy to pretty plates.
6. Olivia in Champagne
Olivia crossed the Channel to Champagne to join our old family friends the Lagache family in the village of Pierry. She helped with their 2024 bottling, at a fantastic rate of 5,000 bottles an hour The days started at 6.30am but don’t feel too sorry for her - the Lagache routine is to kick off the day with a refreshing glass of an older vintage.
Pictured is Olivia with Claude Lagache
7. Sincere about Sancerre
20 years ago people used to say “I don’t like Chardonnay, I only drink Chablis”. One didn’t have the heart to put them right. Is the same thing happening now with Sauvignon Blanc?
Richard Gladwin put a standout Sancerre from the clay-limestone slopes above the Loire on the menus in London. Bright, expressive, and just the right amount of roundness, it is made in a vineyard that, like Nutbourne, celebrates terroir and thoughtful winemaking.
Watch a video of Richard introducing his Sancerre in our Sussex vineyard →
8. Turning Out Day
It was wonderful to see our cows skipping out of the trailer and into the fields for Summertime on the Brooks.
9. Octopus on the Menu?
Oliver’s fish suppliers along the South Coast are complained that the Octopus population has grown so big they are causing a shortage of Native Lobsters by raiding the pots.
Inspired, he painted a colourful English Octopus.
10. A Glow Worm in the Dark
Out with the dogs just before bed I saw a bright greeny-yellow light in the undergrowth well off the beaten track! Investigating further, I discovered a glow worm using all its female charms to attract a mate. We have not seen this for several years - Nutbourne is becoming a haven for wild species.
11. Chilled Pinot Meunier
Richard is hooked on it! Our chilled Red Pinot Meunier combines youthful fruit with an earthy depth. Exclusively available at our Local & Wild restaurants, by the carafe or glass, while stocks last.
12. New Vineyard Workers
The task of stripping leaves from around the grape bunches is normally done by hand but look - 70 new workers are lending a hand!.
13. Summer Solstice Farm Feast
We were blessed with three glorious days for our pop-up this Summer. Over 220 people joined Oliver, Richard and Gregory to dine among the vines and enjoy the very best produce the season had to offer, including tomatoes and melons from the vineyard polytunnel and cherry blossom vinegar with flowers from our orchard. The Harvest Farm Feast in September also featured apples from our own trees for dessert.
14. Art in the Vines
Bridget is a great supporter of a wonderful initiative led by Pallant House Gallery in Chichester called “Partners in Art”. It is a community project to create new opportunities for artistic endeavour and fulfilment. They visit the vineyard each Summer to paint or just relax in the glorious setting.
15. OUT TO CATCH A MUSHROOM
Oliver's ode to the treasure of the woods:
"Deep into the woods, past the acidic ground of the pine trees, up through the unbeaten animal pathways, through the brambles, over the whale shaped fallen oak tree. The rain slows and the sun pushes through the tall branches of the beech trees, the smell of bracken and chestnuts fill the air, now high up on the hill, and there she is - a 2.2 kg cauliflower mushroom. This is something only a dedicated forager could only spot - dark brown and hidden. My senses go electric with excitement, and the smell of this mushroom is as deep as chocolate but as savoury as bubbling brown butter!
On the way round, down the hill, I peel my eyes and find pearly ghost white, oyster mushrooms, then a beefsteak mushroom, bleeding from the bark of a dead tree stump. Even at the bottom of the hill, a chicken of the woods blooms with yellow florescent colour. I get back to my car laden with wild foods, and feeling part of nature - lucky to explore, to forage, to prepare and to then cook and serve... What a privilege."
16. A Harvest to Remember
This year's harvest started earlier than ever before, on 2nd September. The wonderfully 'clean' fruit with high natural sugar levels will mean it is truly a vintage to celebrate and remember.
Watch a snapshot of harvest action with the Gladwin brothers, out in the vines and in the winery →
Gregory explains the pressing process for Bacchus and Sussex Reserve, from grape to glass →
17. Harvest Festival & Awards on the Way
We don’t like to boast (or do we?) Richard was shortlisted in The Caterer as “Restauranteur of the Year” and The Countryside Alliance named Nutbourne Vineyards as “Best Rural Enterprise in the South East”.
Gregory and Olivia went to the Houses of Parliament to collect the award and then I was invited to The National Harvest Festival service at Westminster Abbey in the presence of HM Queen Camilla. I am sharing with you this delightful poem celebrating harvest, written by the poet laureate, Simon Armitage:
18. The Vine Painting
Bridget Gladwin’s painting of “The Vine in Winter” is always featured on the label of our iconic Sussex Reserve blend. To
celebrate this iconic wine we have produced a timeline to tell the story of our "taste of the English countryside".
19. Tasting the Ferments
We say it’s a hard job, but someone's got to do it!
See a video of brothers Richard and Gregory Gladwin tasting Sussex Reserve from tank together →
20. The Peter Pan Effect
"At nightfall in Kensington Gardens when all visitors have left and the gates are firmly locked, the park is transformed into a magical place where fairies dance and a little boy can fly."
When the cellar door shop closes and visitors have all gone home, Nutbourne is once again at peace. As dusk settles there is the occasional chomp of a grazing sheep or cluck of a chicken, a moor-hen’s soft splash as she skips across the lake, or the vines gently rustle in the breeze now free of their heavy crop - natural, tranquil, and beautiful.
21. "Slow Wine"
- Vines taking root for first 3 years
- Patience and hand picking
- Gentle pressing and gradual ferment
- Maturation in oak barrels
- Recycled glass, authentic corks
- Years on the lees
- Opened with care
- Look, smell, taste, then savour
22. Common Sorrel
Oliver headed out on the banks of the river Arun on the Pulborough Brooks in search of the (not so) Common Sorrel. Try his recipe for a delicious Sorrel Salsa Verde →
23. Solar Winemaking
The winery roofs now glisten with modern technology - at last we have our full solar renewable energy system in full play. Over the year we now generate the full amount of energy required to meet all our winemaking and associated energy needs!
24. Sustainability in the Vineyard
Gregory only gets more passionate about the environmental sustainability of the vineyard - from Wild Flowers to Livestock to Solar Energy, read his latest summary of all the wonderful things that are happening with our regenerative farming.
This Month's Food Champion: BRUSSEL SPROUTS!
We had a moment in an Airport lounge the other day. They served a brussel sprout salad that brilliantly recreated all our worst misconceptions about this darling miniature cabbage - the smell of old socks forgotten in a Wellington boot; the colour of sludge; the texture of rotting fabric; and the flavour - I won't even go there!
BUT I still insist that a sprout can be a delicious thing - lightly blanched then sautéed with chestnuts, tossed in butter with a sprinkling of crispy bacon and breadcrumbs; or shredded in Oliver’s legendary sprout salad...
What's in Season?
-
IN THE WILD
• Winter Chanterelles
• Wild Duck, South Downs Venison, Pheasant & Partridge
• Flowering Nettles, Common Sorrel• Pine Needles & Juniper
-
FROM THE COAST
• Wild Turbot & Dover Sole
• Mackerel, Herring & Tuna
• Oysters & Lobster -
FROM THE LAND
• Russet, Bramley & Braeburn Apples, Conference & Commis Pears
• Kalettes, King Cabbage, Cavalo Nero, Leeks, Baby Celeriac, Parsnips, Sweede and Salsify
So, what's on the horizon in 2026?
New dishes for a New Year
No peace for the wicked! Oliver, Antonio and the wonderful chef teams from our restaurants have already been creating new dishes for our menus in the New Year. Have a look at these enticing images from their recent outdoor photo shoot.
The exceptional 2025 vintage goes into bottle
Wine making requires patience and care. We know that the 2025 was a great harvest but the wines still have to be finished and then bottled. The Nutty Vintage, traditional method sparkling, will mature on its lees for another 5 years before we release the finished product. For some of our still whites the process is much quicker but still we must wait in anticipation.
Hogget on the Menu
Our sheep work hard throughout the season, leaf plucking, grazing and fertilizing among the vines, wild flowers and cover crops. However, come the Spring they must fulfill their destiny when delicious hand reared hogget will appear on our restaurant menus.
Local & Wild is coming home to Sussex
After much speculation and local rumour we can confirm that we will at last be opening a location in Sussex early in the Spring. We are taking on an 16th century Inn with bedrooms, bars, restaurant and delightful gardens, a short distance from Nutbourne and at the foot of the South Downs.
We very much look forward to welcoming you there and in the meantime, we once again wish you a very happy Christmas.
A Grace for Christmas
God give us grace, so in this race
There isn’t just one winner
But fat or thin, we all can win
And share this lovely dinner
Amen
Photography by: Simon Wheeler, Ed Dallimore, Catherine Frawley, Holly Farrier, and Olivia Thomas. Illustrations by Peter Gladwin.