Picture Gallery

A selection of our self catering accommodation...

Barafundle Barns	The Old Granary
Freshwater Bay Holiday Apartments	The Cottages at Patch Caravan Park

100% DEDICATED to promoting holidays and short breaks in Carmarthenshire, The Vale of Glamorgan and The Heritage Coast & Pembrokeshire, South West Wales

PEMBROKESHIRE | CARMARTHENSHIRE | SWANSEA BAY | TENBY | GOWER PENINSULA |THE VALE OF GLAMORGAN AND THE HERITAGE COAST| CARDIFF & MORE

Cwm Deri Vineyard

Click images to enlarge Cwm Deri Vineyard The fruit can be seen maturing into tightly-packed bunches of wine-making grapes ready for harvesting in late Autumn before the first Winter frosts. Leaf burst is quickly followed by the appearance of thousands of tiny clusters of grapes. Wine tasting at Cwm Deri The Restaurant at Cwm Deri offers relaxed fine dining on Friday and Saturday evenings Map of Pembrokeshire

Area Guides: Martletwy Attractions: Wine County: Pembrokeshire Region: South West Wales Telephone - please mention Let's Stay South West Wales: 01834 891274 Email: Click here to email the vineyard! Holiday Accommodation: Click HERE for details of holiday accommodation for Pembrokeshire Details: Cwm Deri Vineyard A chance to stroll through a vineyard in our home climate is rare, and to be able to do it surrounded by the beauty of the Pembrokeshire National Park makes Cwm Deri a unique attraction. Cwm Deri Estate is a working smallholding, which first opened to the public in 1992 and the vineyard is now one of Wales' foremost visitor attractions. For the very best of Pembrokeshire produce, whether it's wine, liqueurs, alcohol-free wines, preserves, cheese, cakes or ice cream, Cwm Deri has something to appeal to all the family, whatever their age. Enjoy a tasting of our wines and liqueurs, either in our shop or on our patio and terrace, with a commanding view over the vineyard, animals and beyond to the National Park. If you enjoy superb freshly prepared and home-cooked food then you must try our stunning conservatory restaurant. Relax with your drink and take a leisurely lunch or afternoon tea, secure in the knowledge that Cwm Deri's younger guests will be happily occupied in Pets' Corner. Wine Tasting You can try our wines and liqueurs before you buy them! Wine tasting costs 25p per product, or you can try 5 for £1. A full tray of tasters (16 products) costs £3.25. Tasters of wines and non-alcoholic drinks measure 2cl whilst those of liqueurs measure 1cl. All products are on sale in the vineyard shop. The Vineyard Walk This is generally open to the public but access may be restricted if maintenance or spraying is underway, or if the ground is particularly wet and muddy. Pets Corner On your way to the Vineyard Walk you will pass through our 'Pets Corner'. There, you will find our collection of chickens, rabbits, guinea pigs, goats and sheep. We usually have rabbits and guinea pigs for sale, as well as being able to sell our own delicious free-range eggs (subject to availability). Pets corner is fun for all the family, but especially for the younger visitors whilst their parents are enjoying the wine tasting! Cwm Deri Restaurant Whether it is a simple cup of coffee and cake, a cream tea or a full meal, the restaurant and café at Cwm Deri can satisfy your needs. Using only the finest quality local ingredients from Pembrokeshire and West Wales wherever possible, our chef Daniel can cater for the food requirements of individuals or for parties of up to forty or more. Lunch is served 7 days a week from 12.30pm until 2pm. Why not try our relaxed 'Fine Dining' experience on a Friday or Saturday evening, choosing from our delicious and imaginative a la carte menu? All our food is homemade, freshly prepared and served to order. Meals are served in our stunning new conservatory with it's commanding panoramic view over the vineyard and beyond to the Pembrokeshire National Park. Alternatively, in fine weather, you may prefer to eat on our sunny terrace. Bookings for Sunday Lunch and Friday & Saturday evenings essential - please call us on 01834 891274. Are you planning a family celebration such as a wedding or special anniversary? Perhaps you have a social group event to organise? We can provide a menu to suit your budget and taste, and can even offer a wine tasting, tour and talk to your group before, during or after the meal. For parties of 15 or more we will open exclusively for you Monday-Thursday evenings! Please contact us for a bespoke quotation to meet your requirements. Wine Making The 3000 vines at Cwm Deri were planted by hand by John & Lyn Hamilton Cowburn in late 1990/early 1991, as nine-inch long two year old rooted cuttings. It took 3 years after planting before the vines could support their first small crop of grapes. Every ten rows Grey Alder trees were planted to act as Windbreaks. These trees form part of the 650 trees planted on the Cwm Deri Estate since 1990. 2.5 miles of plastic mulch was placed around the young vines, and John put up 16 miles of wire and 700 posts to support the vines as they grew. In 2004, Mike and Danny undertook the renovation of the first three sections of vineyard, replacing several hundred posts and wires. The vineyard post renovation continued into 2005, replacing the remainder of the original ones placed by John, which had rotted. As well as the renovation of the vineyard, Mike & Danny have invested heavily in other areas. John took all his wine-making equipment with him to New Zealand, necessitating a total re-equipping of the winery. The result is a modern semi-automated production plant capable of bottling the 30,000 bottles per annum produced on the Estate with ease. The main components of the bottling process can be viewed in the bottling room viewed from within the shop The Vines The white grape vines planted at Cwm Deri are 'Madeleine d'Angevine', 'Seyval Blanc', 'Gold Riesling', 'Phoenix' and 'Orion'. The Estates' red grapes are 'Leon Millot' and 'Triomph d'Alsace'. Cwm Deri is about 100' above sea level and the vines are planted north to south on a gently south facing slope. The winds can attack from the North and South-West, and Willow whips have been planted in several rows to form a windbreak on the northern boundary to try and produce a better meso-climate to protect the vines. Our soil is clay loam and calcified seaweed is added bi-annually to improve the quality. The alder windbreaks have been pruned back hard in early 2005 to allow more sun into the vineyard. In a good year, such as 2003, the vines at Cwm Deri can produce as much as 10-15 tonnes of grapes. Cwm Deri has adapted over the years, to produce a fine range of fruit wines and liqueurs, which require a smaller quantity of grapes and more fruit, nuts and flowers. The vast majority of these ingredients can be found growing on the Cwm Deri Estate. The Winemaking process starts by crushing the fruit in the destemming and crushing machine, which removes all the stalks etc., and breaks the skins to let the juice out. The pulp is then put into the Hydro-press where it is pressed from a rubber water bladder, which expands and squeezes the juice out. It is then pumped into the holding vat where it settles for 24 hours. The "must" is then pumped into Fermentation Vats. Fermentation takes place during the winter months in stainless steel tankage, for as long as possible to enable the full fruity flavours to develop. The Wine is stabilised and tested, filtered, then finally tasted, blended and fine-filtered before bottling. Our range of liqueurs is fermented with fine spirits to achieve their characteristic strong, full-bodied flavour. The Bottling Room As you view the bottling room from the shop/tasting room you can see: The 'Hydro-press'. This is the wooden-slatted barrel-shaped object, which is used to squeeze the grapes to produce the grape juice. Through the right-hand doorway is the laboratory table where the various tests are carried out on the wines. Tests are made to ascertain the acidity, sulphur levels, sugar levels and alcoholic content of the wines prior to bottling. On the far right of the Bottling Room are three 'Holding' Tanks. The wine from the fermentation tanks in the winery building is pumped into one of the Holding Tanks prior to bottling. At this stage, the wine is tested and the flavour, acidity level and sulphur levels are all assessed and adjusted according to requirements. The wine is then pumped to the 'Plate Filter' which is a coarse filter made up of a series of filter plates. The number of plates used varies according to the type of wine being filtered. From the Plate Filter the wine is pumped through a series of two 'cartridge' filters. By the time the wine has passed through the second filter the wine is totally sterile, which gives it a very long shelf life. The wine is then pumped to the 'Bottling Head' where six bottles at a time can be bottled. Two bottles at a time are taken from the pallet of bottles on the left hand side of the Bottling Room and placed upside down on the twin heads of the small sink which can be seen on the left hand side of the table housing the 'Capping Machine'. Powered by the compressor underneath the table, the Bottle Washer squirts a sterilising solution into the bottles to ensure their cleanliness. The cleaned bottles are placed underneath the arms of the Bottling Head (stored off the machine in a sterilising solution) where six are filled at a time. The filled bottles are then placed individually on the 'Screw-Capper' machine, which is capable of capping 600 bottled per hour, although Mike is only capable of some 300 per hour! The capped bottles are then quality-checked and labelled prior to being placed in crates and transferred to the winery where it is stored in large metal cages until sold Labels are produced at Cwm-Deri using pre-printed backgrounds, which are then over-printed with the individual wine details. This enables any quantity of label from 1 upwards to be produced as and when required. The labels are applied to the bottle using a specially-designed label-applying machine Cwm Deri Estate, situated in the heart of the Pembrokeshire Countryside, and surrounded by the outstanding natural beauty of the Pembrokeshire National Park, is a privately-owned small-holding of 25 acres carved out of the 'Royditch' (Rowditch) Estate, first recorded in 1684. The modern domestic property was built in 1982 and was occupied by a local farmer until 1988, when it was purchased by the vineyards' founder. Open to the public since 1992, the vines were first planted in 1991/2. The 3000 vines cover several acres of the valley which stretches down to the shores of the East Cleddau tidal estuary. The current owner offers customers the means for buying wine online in the UK through ecommerce. The vineyard is a well-established tourist attraction, boasting visitor numbers in excess of 40,000 per annum. Just 45 minutes from J49 of the M4, we are conveniently located and well-signed just 3 miles from 'Oakwood Park' The village of Martletwy itself is ideally situated between North and South Pembrokeshire, making this an excellent base for exploring the many attractions of this area. Since changing hands in 2003, the Estate has seen major improvements made. These include the complete renovation of the vineyard, the building of a large conservatory restaurant with panoramic views across the vineyard and an animal attraction for the younger guests. With ample car parking, good disabled access and facilities, wine tasting, vineyard walk, superb food, pets corner, local Pembrokeshire produce and a Caravan Club-approved 5 berth CL, there really is something for everyone at Cwm Deri. (id: '60') This listing has been viewed 146 times Another South West Wales Tourist Guide listing created by Let's Stay South West Wales