Black Mountain Vineyard: An Off-Grid Organic Winery in Herefordshire
Black Mountain Vineyard: An Off-Grid Organic Winery in Herefordshire
Tucked into a quiet south-facing slope near the village of Turnastone, in the wilds of Herefordshire between Hereford and Hay-on-Wye, Black Mountain Vineyard is one of the smallest, most quietly distinctive producers on the English wine map. Founded in 2009 by Laura and Mark, the eight-acre organic site sits in the shadow of the Brecon Beacons National Park and gives rise to a tiny, hand-crafted range of low-intervention wines made in an off-grid winery that produces around 3,000 litres a year.
The project began almost by accident. As the team tell it, the mother of one of their friends inherited a field in the Herefordshire countryside and asked if they were interested in planting vines. On their first visit they found a generous south-facing slope, an 8-acre patch of clay loam over old red sandstone, and - as they put it - "the rest is history." The vineyard has been in constant evolution ever since, with new varieties, new methods and a deepening commitment to farming the soil rather than fighting it.
Location and Setting
Turnastone is a tiny settlement in the west of Herefordshire, sitting just inside the eastern fringe of the Brecon Beacons. The vineyard is planted on a "beautiful south facing slope," an orientation that catches early morning sun across the rows and still holds the last rays of evening light before the sun drops behind the rolling hills. The soil is a clay loam over an old red sandstone bedrock - a free-draining combination that suits cool-climate viticulture and helps vines push their roots deep in dry summers.
The wider landscape - between Hereford and Hay-on-Wye, overlooked by the Black Mountains themselves - is part of what gives the wines their character. Cool air drains down the slopes, rainfall is reliable, and long summer days give hybrid and classic varieties alike a chance to ripen in years when the weather behaves.
The Vineyard
The original block was hand-planted between 2009 and 2010 with a thoughtful mix of classic cool-climate varieties: Pinot Meunier, Pinot Gris, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. These remain the backbone of the vineyard, capable - in a good year - of producing everything from a delicate still pink to a traditional-method sparkling wine.
In 2020 the team extended the planting with a second generation of vines, this time favouring disease-resistant hybrid varieties bred for the wetter, cooler conditions of the British climate. The new plantings include Phoenix, Solaris and Cabernet Cortis - varieties chosen specifically because they ripen reliably and shrug off the fungal diseases that can otherwise plague an organic site.
The vineyard entered organic conversion through the Soil Association in 2018 and is now fully organic. Beyond certified organics, the team also practise Korean Natural Farming methods - a system focused on building a living, microbially active soil that can support the vines with minimal outside intervention. The aim, in their words, is to have "minimal impact on our and the wider environment."
The Winery
The winery was built in 2013, in time for the first proper harvest. It is deliberately small and rustic - and importantly, completely off-grid. Many of the day-to-day jobs are done by hand rather than by machine, which shapes both the rhythm of the working year and the style of the wines.
Capacity is around 3,000 litres a year. Grapes are gently pressed in small batches using a 90-litre hydropress, and the juice is moved between vessels in stainless steel buckets - never pumped. Fermentations take place naturally in a mixture of stainless steel tanks, old oak barrels and plastic vessels, and the wines are given the time they need rather than the speed a larger winery could impose.
Winemaking Philosophy
Black Mountain's winemaking is best described as low-intervention, in the most literal sense of the word. Across the entire range of wines:
- No commercial yeasts are added - fermentations are always wild.
- No fining agents are used - the wines are unfined.
- No filtration - the wines are bottled unfiltered, with the team openly noting that "we're comfortable with a little sediment."
- No sulphur is added. A tiny amount of sulphites can occur naturally during fermentation, often leaving the wines at or below 10 mg/l - the threshold at which many wines would be labelled "sulphite free."
The only addition since 2017, and even then only occasionally, is a small quantity of sugar at bottling for secondary fermentation - used historically on sparkling wines, and more recently replaced in some cases by local honey. Every wine is vegan-friendly as a result of these choices.
Contract Winemaking
Because the winery has slack capacity within its 3,000-litre annual production, Black Mountain also offers contract winemaking, specialising in providing this service for small producers who want their own wines made without investing in their own facility. It is an unusual offering for a UK winery of this size and a useful entry point for hobby growers or micro-producers looking for a hand-crafted alternative to a large contract winery.
The Wines
The current range runs to five wines. Most are sold online on a release-by-release basis, and several sell out quickly.
Black Mountain Pink 2024 - £19.00
An elegant still pink from the organically certified vineyard. The blend centres on Solaris and Cabernet Cortis grown in the middle of the field - the part that catches the earliest and latest light. 2024 was a punishing growing season, and the wine is explicitly described as "a testament to continual hard work in the vineyard and never giving up when it felt like the outcome would be bleak." Solaris was picked in late September, crushed with 20% whole bunches, and began fermenting in stainless steel before being pressed at ten days and finished in old oak. Cabernet Cortis, picked in mid-October after a sharp frost, was held on skins for 48 hours before being added back to the fermenting Solaris for a co-ferment. The wine spent 10 months in barrel before bottling in summer 2025. 9.5% ABV. Black Mountain Pink 2024.
Black Mountain Piquette - £12.00
A piquette made from the 2024 harvest, blending Siegerrebe from the Black Mountain vineyard with Rondo from friends at Whinyardrocks. Piquette is the historical "little wine" of French vineyards - made by re-fermenting pressed grape skins in water, then pressing and bottling before fermentation finishes to create a dry, lightly sparkling drink, usually around 5% ABV. Here the skins of each variety were fermented separately, then pressed and blended; the blend was bottled with just enough residual sugar for a light fizz, and then riddled and disgorged. Light red in colour, serve chilled. 4.6% ABV. Black Mountain Piquette.
Running at Rabbits Pet Nat 2025 - £27.00
This pet-nat comes from a small, separately managed plot of around a thousand vines just outside Ross-on-Wye in south Herefordshire, taken on by the team in 2024. The vineyard contains a mix of varieties including Madeleine Angevine and Pinot Noir Précoce, the two grapes that go into this blend. Some of the Madeleine vines were planted in 1991, making them among the oldest the team have worked with. The 2025 growing season was an unusually kind one in the UK - frost-free flowering and a long, dry summer - and the wine was bottled just before the end of fermentation to give its characteristic gentle sparkle, before resting over winter and disgorging in spring 2026. The vineyard's lively rabbit population gives the wine its name. 11.8% ABV. Running at Rabbits Pet Nat 2025.
Shouting at Weather Col Fondo NV - £24.00
A non-vintage skin-contact sparkling from the "Shouting at Weather" range - Black Mountain's label for wines made from Herefordshire grapes sourced from neighbouring growers. The blend brings together hand-picked Seyval Blanc from 2021 and Phoenix from 2022, each fermented on skins for 21 days with twice-daily cap punching, aged in old oak, then blended 50/50 late in 2022 and bottled in spring 2023 with 8 g/l organic sugar. The wine is unfined, unfiltered, undisgorged and contains no added sulphur - a classic col fondo style, complete with a little sediment in the bottle. 8.5% ABV, 750 ml. Shouting at Weather Col Fondo NV.
Shouting at Weather Orange '24 - £21.00
The second iteration of the Shouting at Weather orange wine, made from Solaris grapes grown at a small unsprayed vineyard in Little Dewchurch. 2024 was another challenging year - cool, wet, disease-pressured - but the disease-resistant Solaris stood up to the weather and ripened cleanly in late September. Eighty per cent of the grapes were crushed and destemmed with 20% kept as whole bunches; fermentation was in steel for 14 days with twice-daily cap punching, then racked into a single old oak barrel to finish. After a further rest in stainless steel in spring 2025, the wine was bottled by gravity under natural corks. Expect a savoury wine with dried apricot, orange peel and a touch of salinity on the finish. Serve slightly chilled. 9.5% ABV, 6.5 g/l TA, unfined, unfiltered, wild fermentation, no added sulphites. Shouting at Weather Orange '24.
Tours and Tastings
Vineyard tours and tastings are offered at Black Mountain, and tours are set to restart. Visits are booked by emailing blackmountainvineyard@outlook.com or via the contact form. The small scale of the site - just eight acres of vines and a single off-grid winery - means visits are necessarily intimate and personal.
The Secret Wine Bar 2025
Alongside vineyard visits, Black Mountain run a pop-up "Secret Wine Bar" series in and around Hay-on-Wye, an annual pilgrimage for fans of the winery's low-intervention style. For 2025 the announced dates are:
- Saturday 24th and Sunday 25th May 2025 - the secret garden on Oxford Road in Hay-on-Wye.
- Saturday 23rd and Sunday 24th August 2025 - the brand-new garden of Belmont House, Hay-on-Wye.
Both weekends are pitched as a chance to "come and celebrate the bank holiday weekends with us," with the wines poured by the people who grew and made them.
Buying Black Mountain Wines
The full current range - Pink, Piquette, Running at Rabbits Pet Nat, Shouting at Weather Col Fondo and Shouting at Weather Orange - is sold direct through the winery's online shop, with prices ranging from £12 for a bottle of piquette to £27 for the Pet Nat. All orders are packed and shipped by the team themselves, with a stated aim of dispatching within 48 hours via Royal Mail Tracked 48.
Because production is limited to roughly 3,000 litres a year and individual bottlings are deliberately small, several wines often sell out. Subscribing to the winery's email list gives first refusal on new releases and exclusive offers.
Frequently Asked Questions
How quickly will my wine arrive?
Everything is packed and shipped by the Black Mountain team, with an aim of dispatching all orders within 48 hours. Orders go out via Royal Mail Tracked 48.
Is the wine vegan?
Yes. No fining agents are used; instead the wines are given the time they need to stabilise naturally, and the team are comfortable with a little sediment in the bottle.
Is the wine organic?
The main vineyard at Turnastone is certified organic through the Soil Association. Where grapes are bought in from other vineyards - as with the Shouting at Weather range - this is noted for each wine.
Does the wine contain sulphites?
No sulphur is added to any Black Mountain wine, although a small amount of sulphites can occur naturally during fermentation. Often the finished wines test at or below 10 mg/l, which is the threshold at which many wines would be classified as sulphite free.
Plan a Visit
Black Mountain Vineyard is an ideal stop for anyone touring the Herefordshire wine trail, combining a tiny organic vineyard, an off-grid winery and the literary town of Hay-on-Wye all in one short drive. The vineyard itself sits in Turnastone, near the Brecon Beacons; tasting events are hosted in Hay-on-Wye; and tour enquiries can be made by emailing blackmountainvineyard@outlook.com or via the contact form. Releases are limited, tours are intimate, and the wines tend to sell out soon after release.