We loved walking around the island and eating oysters, even if we did nearly get stranded on a broken bridge, had to wade through the sea to the other side, and then make a mad dash back to the car before the high tide swallowed the only road off the island.
Rathfinny only produces vintage wines, choosing to reflect the character of each year rather than blending across multiple vintages for consistency like the big Champagne houses do. It gives their wines a bit more personality, even if it means each release is slightly different.
My grandfather Peter Hall, who has died aged 82, was one of England's best known winegrowers. The writer Andrew Jefford described him as the father of the contemporary English wine scene a significant feat for anyone, let alone a man who taught himself winemaking from a paperback, and whose self-planted vineyard totalled six acres. Breaky Bottom Vineyard, near Lewes, in East Sussex, was Peter's passion. For five decades he worked meticulously on it: tending the vines by hand, labelling each bottle.