Valuation Day At Saffron Grange

Sworders is very pleased to be working in partnership with Saffron Grange Vineyard to host a free valuation day on Wednesday 24 May, to help raise much needed funds for the Creating Nature’s Corridors charity.   

The valuation event will take place at Saffron Grange Vineyard, Saffron Grange, Rowley Hill Farm, Little Walden CB10 1UZ between 10.30am – 4pm, where our specialists will be on hand to view and value your items, including anything from jewellery, Asian art, pictures, antiques and collectables to wine and coins.  

Here we speak to Nick Edwards of Saffron Grange and Vhari Russell of Natures Corridors to find out more about their orgainsations and the story behind it. 

Here we have the chance to catch up with Sales Manager, Nick Edwards, who gives us an insight into the brand's history and their future offerings. 

What is the history of Saffron Grange and your ethos? 

Saffron Grange is a family-run vineyard nestled on the gentle sloping chalk hills just outside of the historic, market town of Saffron Walden. Saffron Grange produces delicious, award-winning, premium quality English Sparkling Wines from grapes grown on their 40-acre site.

Saffron Grange sits on the same chalk seam that runs all the way from Northern France’s renowned wine regions, up through Sussex and Essex towards Cambridge.

All Saffron Grange’s sparkling wines are produced in ‘the traditional method’ – also popularly known as the ‘Champagne method’. This method of winemaking creates wines with a greater complexity of flavours, and the vineyard has three distinctly impressive sparkling wines - the Classic Cuvée, the Seyval Blanc Reserve and a Sparkling Rosé.

Tusks and teeth of woolly mammoths were found in the brook which runs along the bottom of the vineyard site. These iconic giants once roamed the very land on which the vines now stand. The woolly mammoth, lovingly named ‘Brut’ is Saffron Grange’s logo and represents the incredible history which still plays its part today in creating the unique land on which the vineyard now grows.

What can people expect on the day, flight of wines, walking around the vineyard etc?

On the day guests will be able to visit the Saffron Grange coffee shop which serves a selection of teas, coffees and cake. Saffron Grange sparkling wines will also be available to buy by the glass or even sample as a sparkling wine ‘Try Flight’ which offers a taste of three of their most recent releases. Guests will be able to sit outside on the picnic tables with views across the vineyard or in the café / bar area. A Bar Snack Menu will also be available featuring British Cheeses from Rennet & Rind, Charcuterie from Norfolk’s Marsh Pig and Saffron Fish Co’s freshly prepared seafood dishes. 

Why are you associated with Creating Nature's Corridors?

Saffron Grange partnered up with Creating Nature’s Corridors last year as their chosen charity and together they have planted over 1,000 trees at the vineyard to date. Creating Nature’s Corridors were in search of available land and ‘Tree Guardians’ to support their planting as part of their ongoing campaign to ‘rewild nature’s corridors’ and it seemed like the perfect fit. Supporting and promoting the local ecosystem has always been a priority at Saffron Grange so a partnership was born to help fulfil the charity’s mission to plant over 10,000 trees and hedges across the UK each year.

The charity’s goals align closely with those of Saffron Grange: to encourage biodiversity and carbon capture and create an improved environment for wildlife and the local community.

Any other events/tours on the horizon? 

Saffron Grange has recently launched the sales of Vineyard Tours and Tastings which will commence in late April and run through to the end of September, in line with the growing season. The Tours and Tastings take place on Thursdays and Saturdays and are available to book via the website: https://www.saffrongrange.com/product/vineyard-tour/

The vineyard also runs a number of events onsite throughout the year including pop-up dinners featuring local chefs who create delicious plates to pair with their sparkling wines and ‘Mammoth Day Out’ - a family-fun day in September with local food, live music and of course plenty of delicious fizz! To be the first to hear about their popular events, you can subscribe to their newsletter at https://www.saffrongrange.com/join-our-mailing-list/ 

Founded in 2018, Creating Natures's Corridors, have already planted over 1,000 trees, here we speak to Vhari Russell about the charity's ethos and how to get involved.

Who are Creating Nature's Corridors?

Creating Natures Corridors is a charity that is on a mission to plant 10,00 trees and hedging plants per year in the UK. Entrepreneur Vhari Russell had always enjoyed the great outdoors and loves nature.  In October 2018 her brother tragically died of Sudden Adult Death Syndrome at the tender age of 37. Rory was a carpenter and created amazing structures from green oak.  The shock of Rory’s death led Vhari to question what she would leave behind, what would be her legacy when she left this life. 

How can people get involved?

We always love a donation or two as they help to fund our plantings. We are also always keen to have extra volunteers when it comes to planting days. Please get in touch via the website. If you have land and would like to be a tree or hedge guardian we would love to hear from you. We can fund the trees/ hedging and get volunteers to help plant them too, we just need the land to plant on. 

What are your plans for the future? 

We are collating our list of projects to start planting in October. So we estimate that we will need funding and help to plant over 75,000 trees/ hedges. 

We will be rolling out plantober which is our initiative to get people out and about and collecting tree seeds and planting them to grow own and bring back to create community woodlands. 

Wednesday 24 May | 10:30am - 4:00pm

Saffron Grange Vineyard | Saffron Grange | Rowley Hill Farm | Little Walden |  CB10 1UZ

EVENT DETAILS

For further information contact events@sworder.co.uk |  01279 817778