Norfolk


<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1000" height="1000" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/norfolk/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2023/03/Burn-Valley-Vineyard2-1.jpg" alt="Sisters Laura and Sam of Burn Valley Vineyard" class="wp-image-39573" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/norfolk/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2023/03/Burn-Valley-Vineyard2-1.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/norfolk/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2023/03/Burn-Valley-Vineyard2-1-800x800.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/norfolk/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2023/03/Burn-Valley-Vineyard2-1-400x400.jpg 400w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/norfolk/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2023/03/Burn-Valley-Vineyard2-1-768x768.jpg 768w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/norfolk/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2023/03/Burn-Valley-Vineyard2-1-525x525.jpg 525w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/norfolk/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2023/03/Burn-Valley-Vineyard2-1-500x500.jpg 500w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /></figure>



<p>English wine is all the rage these days and in Norfolk we are blessed with the ideal climate and ground conditions to produce some truly stand-out wines, particularly star varieties such as Bacchus.</p>



<p>Sisters Laura and Sam have been making award-winning wine for four years from a vineyard and winery located on their family&#8217;s working farm, just south of Burnham Market. They also offer tours, tastings and six-course supper clubs with paired wine flights (count me in!).</p>



<p> Don&#8217;t miss the opportunity to win&nbsp;<em>SIX bottles</em>&nbsp;of Burn Valley wine in our Reader Treats (<a href="https://norfolk.muddystilettos.co.uk/reader-treats/win-case-six-bottles-wine-from-burn-valley-vineyard/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">enter here</a>).</p>



<p>But first, over to Laura to share their story &#8211; which all started with a challenge from Dad! </p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-long-you-have-been-running-the-vineyard-together">How long you have been running the vineyard together?&nbsp;</h2>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1000" height="666" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/norfolk/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2023/03/Burn-Valley-Vineyard2-copy.jpg" alt="Burn Valley Vineyard vines with blue sky above" class="wp-image-39572" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/norfolk/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2023/03/Burn-Valley-Vineyard2-copy.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/norfolk/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2023/03/Burn-Valley-Vineyard2-copy-800x533.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/norfolk/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2023/03/Burn-Valley-Vineyard2-copy-768x511.jpg 768w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/norfolk/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2023/03/Burn-Valley-Vineyard2-copy-788x525.jpg 788w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /></figure>



<p>Our 12 acre vineyard was planted in 2016 and our own winery completed in 2019. It&#8217;s based on our family farm, Crossways Farm in North Creake.&nbsp;Our brother Jack runs the farm with our dad John, producing traditional Norfolk crops of cereals and sugar beet. It was Dad&#8217;s vision to plant a vineyard, so us ladies took the idea and ran with it. We were given a field (south-facing with free-draining flinty soil and a chalk base &#8211; ideal conditions) and the rest is history!</p>



<p>We’ve been running wine-tasting sessions, delicious lunches and supper club evenings ever since! It&#8217;s&nbsp;scary how&nbsp;time has flown. We are on our fifth vintage&nbsp;(the fourth that we have made ourselves onsite) and have&nbsp;expanded each year to try to cope with demand. We are so proud of the quality and popularity of our wines and what we have achieved in such a short space of time.&nbsp;</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">What was life like before you became award-winning wine makers?</h2>



<p>Sam and I both lived abroad before returning to Norfolk in our 30s. I worked in forensic science for several years before meeting my partner Steve and together we worked in catering in Norway and Austria. Today Steve and I also run a local catering business, <a href="http://burnvalleycatering.co.uk" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Burn Valley Catering</a>, and have 9 year old twins, Molly and Max. Sam has a passion for languages and spent five years teaching English in Vietnam and Sardinia. She lives locally with her partner Jimmy and 4 year old daughter, Maya.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">You work closely with your sister &#8211; any bickering?</h2>



<p>We know each other&#8217;s strengths so we leave the majority of the customer-based projects to Sam, who is more of a people person, whereas I am the practical one, so I deal with the day to day running and ensuring the wine gets in the bottle! We are chalk and cheese but are also very close for which we feel very fortunate.&nbsp;</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1000" height="1000" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/norfolk/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2023/03/Burn-Valley-Vineyard3.jpg" alt="Marquee and bar at Burn Valley Vineyard for tastings and secret supper events" class="wp-image-39575" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/norfolk/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2023/03/Burn-Valley-Vineyard3.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/norfolk/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2023/03/Burn-Valley-Vineyard3-800x800.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/norfolk/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2023/03/Burn-Valley-Vineyard3-400x400.jpg 400w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/norfolk/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2023/03/Burn-Valley-Vineyard3-768x768.jpg 768w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/norfolk/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2023/03/Burn-Valley-Vineyard3-525x525.jpg 525w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/norfolk/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2023/03/Burn-Valley-Vineyard3-500x500.jpg 500w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /></figure>



<p>It&#8217;s not just the&nbsp;two of us though &#8211; we have a great team.&nbsp;These days we have&nbsp;two winemakers, a&nbsp;head of tastings and my partner Steve in the kitchen delivering delicious food for tastings and supper clubs.&nbsp;I don&#8217;t think much would be achieved without the help of our mother Lucy, who is always on hand to babysit when required!&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">What have been the highlights for you?&nbsp;</h2>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1000" height="1000" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/norfolk/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2023/03/Burn-Valley-Vineyard1-copy-2.jpg" alt="A pile of rose wine bottles, before being labelled, from Burn Valley Vineyard" class="wp-image-39568" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/norfolk/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2023/03/Burn-Valley-Vineyard1-copy-2.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/norfolk/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2023/03/Burn-Valley-Vineyard1-copy-2-800x800.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/norfolk/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2023/03/Burn-Valley-Vineyard1-copy-2-400x400.jpg 400w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/norfolk/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2023/03/Burn-Valley-Vineyard1-copy-2-768x768.jpg 768w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/norfolk/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2023/03/Burn-Valley-Vineyard1-copy-2-525x525.jpg 525w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/norfolk/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2023/03/Burn-Valley-Vineyard1-copy-2-500x500.jpg 500w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /><figcaption><a href="https://www.instagram.com/matt_abbey84/">@matt_abbey84</a>&nbsp;</figcaption></figure>



<p>Getting our first fizz bottled was very exciting,&nbsp;but every&nbsp;vintage is a new highlight. We are bottling our next one in April so there will be six new wines to try. Seeing our wines on the shelves of much-loved shops and delis across the county is very pleasing.&nbsp;</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">And the not-so glowy moments?</h2>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1000" height="1000" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/norfolk/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2023/03/Burn-Valley-Vineyard2-copy-2.jpg" alt="A close-up of grapes on the vine at Burn Valley Vineyard" class="wp-image-39571" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/norfolk/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2023/03/Burn-Valley-Vineyard2-copy-2.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/norfolk/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2023/03/Burn-Valley-Vineyard2-copy-2-800x800.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/norfolk/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2023/03/Burn-Valley-Vineyard2-copy-2-400x400.jpg 400w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/norfolk/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2023/03/Burn-Valley-Vineyard2-copy-2-768x768.jpg 768w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/norfolk/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2023/03/Burn-Valley-Vineyard2-copy-2-525x525.jpg 525w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/norfolk/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2023/03/Burn-Valley-Vineyard2-copy-2-500x500.jpg 500w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /></figure>



<p>There&#8217;s been lots of stressful times, especially last year when the extension to our winery and cellar was being built.&nbsp;We weren&#8217;t&nbsp;sure if would be up in time for harvest. Plus the wine press broke down mid harvest &#8211; that was a scary moment!&nbsp; It&#8217;s all about just keeping calm and carrying on with business. I think I picked that up from our father, and it&#8217;s why we are still going strong today. Harvest time can be long hours but it&#8217;s good fun. We put out a call on social media to invite locals to help. We usually get a merry band, who are rewarded with lunch provided by Steve and a glass of wine, while watching the fruit being processed before going into the press.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">What values are important to you?&nbsp;</h2>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1000" height="1000" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/norfolk/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2023/03/Burn-Valley-Vineyard4.jpg" alt="Laura holding a bottle of Burn Valley Vineyard red wine" class="wp-image-39576" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/norfolk/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2023/03/Burn-Valley-Vineyard4.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/norfolk/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2023/03/Burn-Valley-Vineyard4-800x800.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/norfolk/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2023/03/Burn-Valley-Vineyard4-400x400.jpg 400w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/norfolk/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2023/03/Burn-Valley-Vineyard4-768x768.jpg 768w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/norfolk/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2023/03/Burn-Valley-Vineyard4-525x525.jpg 525w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/norfolk/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2023/03/Burn-Valley-Vineyard4-500x500.jpg 500w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /></figure>



<p>Creating the best possible (award-winning!) wines that&nbsp;can be enjoyed alongside the fantastic food to be found in our area.&nbsp;Being sustainable as possible in our approach to vineyard management, and of course having a friendly, positive atmosphere for our small team to work within.&nbsp; &nbsp;</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">The theme of International Women&#8217;s Day is #EmbraceEquity. What does gender equity mean to you in your business?</h2>



<p>All staff should be treated fairly and equally. This is the way we run our business and it works for us and should work all over.&nbsp;</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">What are you future plans?</h2>



<p>We are keen to grow to become a destination&nbsp;winery with café/restaurant amongst the vines. There has been a significant investment so far, so we&nbsp;have to concentrate on making a viable business and then go from there! It&#8217;s key to maintain the amazing momentum we have had in the last few years.&nbsp;</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">How do you let off steam outside work?</h2>



<p>I am the more outdoorsy one and enjoy playing hockey for the Evergreens, a very inspiring group of ladies.&nbsp;We are very lucky to have Wells beach just five minutes down the road from us. I love the circular walk along beach and back through the pinewoods. You can always find a quiet space there, and the kids love the rope swing. Sam&#8217;s more outgoing and sociable than me. She enjoys travelling and good food and wine. Her favourite local haunt is Jarrold&#8217;s wine bar.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">What would be your top tip to anyone wanting to start up a business?</h2>



<p>Be realistic and determined. Be confident and proud of your product &#8211; and make sure to always get the right work/play balance!&nbsp;</p>



<p><em><a href="https://www.burnvalleyvineyard.co.uk">Burn Valley</a>, Beacon Hill Road, North Creake, NR21 9LN</em></p>



<p><em>Don&#8217;t miss the opportunity to <a href="https://norfolk.muddystilettos.co.uk/reader-treats/win-case-six-bottles-wine-from-burn-valley-vineyard/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">win a case of six Burn Valley wines</a> in our Reader Treat giveaway.</em> </p>



<p><em>Burn Valley&#8217;s amazing wines are stocked in shops and delis throughout Norfolk or can be ordered from their <a href="https://www.burnvalleyvineyard.co.uk/shop.html">online shop</a>. Find out more about the wine tasting and secret suppers events <a href="https://www.burnvalleyvineyard.co.uk/events.html">here</a>. </em></p>



<p></p>


Muddy meets: The sisters behind Burn Valley Vineyard

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