Minerva Wine: A Family-Run English Vineyard on Bath Limestone
Minerva Wine is a small, family-run English vineyard and winery rooted in the rolling limestone hills just south of Bath. Planted in 2015 by Emily Addicott-Sauvao and her family on land that has been in their care for three generations, the estate grows Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier over ancient Mendip limestone - the same geology that gives every Minerva bottle its structure, length and quiet mineral authority.
From the first vintage in 2019, made with celebrated English sparkling winemaker Emma Rice of Hattingley Valley, Minerva set out to produce Bath's first luxury sparkling wine since the Romans. The 2019 Sparkling went on to win a Decanter Award in 2023, and the cellar has since grown to include still Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Rosé - each a faithful expression of the same Bath terroir.
Beyond the wines themselves, Minerva is known for something quite unlike any other English estate: a world-first Sound & Wine Pairing, in which each cuvée is matched to a specific musical genre - jazz, classical, blues, folk, soul and rock - and guests experience wine and music as a single, intertwined sensory language. That idea now sits at the heart of the estate's small-group vineyard experience.
A Family Vineyard on Bath Limestone
Minerva Wine sits at Corston Vineyard Estate, in the parish of Corston just south of the World Heritage city of Bath, about ten minutes from the city centre. The vineyard lies in the rolling countryside south of the city, on land that the Addicott-Sauvao family has cultivated for more than forty years and where Emily grew up working the soil alongside her parents, Gerald and Ros.
The farm itself has long been a quiet fixture of the local landscape. Emily's parents were granted special status for the holding by the wartime government, and over the decades the farm became a hub for charity fundraising - open gardens, music festivals and, most significantly, the formative years of the charity Send A Cow, an idea developed by Gerald and Ros and directed from the farm for its first six years before it grew and moved on to larger premises, eventually becoming Ripple Effect.
In 2017, Emily - already the first farmer in the South West of England to grow quinoa - took over the tenancy of the family farm. With the same hillside, the same Mendip-derived soils and the same instinct for audacious planting, she turned her attention to vines. Two years later, the first Minerva vintage was in barrel.
Why "Minerva" - A Roman Inheritance
The vineyard's name is itself a declaration of intent. Minerva was the Roman goddess of wisdom, the arts and strategy - the most revered of the Roman deities, and one whom Marcus Terentius Varro considered to be "ideas and the plan for the universe personified." Her usual attributes are a tall, athletic figure in armour, accompanied by her sacred Owl, a symbol of wisdom and knowledge.
The name is not merely decorative. The Romans grew vines in the very fields where Minerva's ten thousand vines now stand, and the estate takes that inheritance seriously. By taking on the patronage of Minerva, the family has set out to inspire the next generation of farmers, artists, winemakers, innovators and creators - in particular women and girls - through a viticulture Centre of Excellence that is being built on the estate.
The long-term vision for that Centre is twofold. First, it will empower young people from the local community with the skills and confidence to thrive in a changing rural world. Second, it will lay new "Viti-Pathways" to partner vineyards in New Zealand, Australia and Chile, allowing young people from the Minerva community to travel, learn, and return with new skills and lifelong friendships - just as the migratory birds that visit the farm each year travel, learn and return anew.
The Terroir: Bath Limestone
Beneath the vineyard lies the asset that defines every Minerva wine: Bath limestone. The same Jurassic limestone formation that gives the city of Bath its honey-coloured architecture and its thermal waters also runs through the soil at Corston, and it is this geology - porous, mineral-rich, free-draining - that convinced Emily that the site could make serious sparkling wine.
The realisation came on a trip to Beaune, in the Burgundy winemaking heart of France, in 2011. Walking through the vineyards after a morning's tasting at the renowned Le Cellier de la Cabiote, Emily noticed that the famous Burgundy limestone looked strikingly similar to the soil on the family farm. The remark was almost throw-away - "perhaps we should plant a vineyard along with the quinoa" - but it was the seed of everything that followed.
Four years later, in 2015, the family took the audacious decision to plant ten thousand vines over Bath limestone, in fields where the Romans had once grown theirs. "A few thought we were crazy," the estate remembers, "but the Romans had grown vines in these very fields, and we had taken it upon ourselves to carry on their legacy." Nurturing ten thousand vines while juggling the day job, and trusting that the site could produce quality sparkling wine, has been, in the estate's own words, "exciting, scary, and a long lesson in patience."
The Values: Terroir, Craft, Community, Legacy
Minerva articulates its winemaking philosophy in four principles, and the language on the labels is unusually direct. "Every vintage is an act of listening," the estate says, and the four values flow from that idea.
01 - Terroir: Rooted in the land
The limestone beneath Bath has been quietly building something extraordinary for millennia. "We did not choose this soil - it chose us," the estate writes. Each vintage is an act of listening to what is already there, of letting the vineyard's voice come through rather than imposing a winemaker's signature on it.
02 - Craft: Every bottle is intentional
Nothing at Minerva is accidental. From hand-harvested clusters to riddling and disgorgement, each step in the cellar is a considered decision. The winemaking is slow, because, as the estate puts it, "good things always require it."
03 - Community: Grown by many hands
Minerva exists because of the people who believed in it before there was anything to taste - the farmers, the founding members, the neighbours. The wine is as much their story as the family's.
04 - Legacy: Building to last
Minerva is not in the business of chasing trends. It is in the business of making something worth inheriting: a vineyard, a community, a way of thinking about land and what it can give back.
Milestones in the Making of Minerva
- 2011 - The idea takes root. After a morning's wine tasting in Beaune, Emily remarks that the Burgundy limestone looks strikingly similar to the family farm at Corston. A throw-away comment plants the seed.
- 2015 - Ten thousand vines. The audacious decision: ten thousand vines planted over Bath limestone, in fields where the Romans once grew theirs.
- 2017 - The farm passes down. Emily - a third-generation farmer, and the first in the South West of England to grow quinoa - takes over the tenancy of the family farm.
- 2019 - First vintage. Fruit from the Corston vines is entrusted to winemaker Emma Rice, twice UKVA Winemaker of the Year. The result is Bath's first luxury sparkling wine since the Romans.
- 2023 - The Decanter Award. The Minerva Sparkling 2019 wins a Decanter Award - recognition for the soil Emily first spotted in Beaune, twelve years earlier.
- 2024 - Beyond sparkling. The cellar grows. The 2024 vintage brings Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Rosé, each a still expression of the same limestone terroir.
The Wines
Minerva's cellar is small, considered and tightly focused on what Bath limestone does best. The range currently comprises a single vintage sparkling, a still Chardonnay, a still Pinot Noir and a still Rosé, with the 2024 vintage of the three still wines being the newest release.
Minerva Sparkling Wine 2019 Vintage - £190.00
The 2019 Sparkling is the wine that put Minerva on the map - the wine that won the Decanter Award in 2023, and the last batch to be released from this celebrated harvest. The wine is grown on the estate's most prized vines at Corston and made using sustainable practices, reflecting everything the family learned in a decade of making English sparkling.
The blend is the classic cool-climate sparkling trio - Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Pinot Meunier - and the character is one of citrus, crisp green apple and fine acidity, with a rich, refreshing, complex finish. The wine is sold in three formats:
- Single bottle - Minerva Sparkling Wine 2019 Vintage, £190.00
- 2-bottle pack - Minerva Sparkling Wine 2019 Vintage (2 x Pack), £360.00 (a saving of £20 on two single bottles; the natural choice for buying one to drink and one to keep)
- Limited Edition Case of 6 - Minerva Sparkling Wine 2019 Vintage - Limited Edition Case (6 Bottles), £1020.00
2019 was an exceptional growing season - long, warm summers and a slow ripening period produced grapes with natural depth and balance, ageing gracefully in bottle and drinking beautifully now. The estate is explicit that once these bottles are gone there will be no more from this vintage, and stock is extremely limited. Free delivery is offered on orders over £50.
Minerva Chardonnay 2024 - £39.00
The Minerva Chardonnay 2024 is, in the estate's own words, "our quiet tribute to Corston" - a still wine shaped more by place than by process. Fermented entirely in second-fill barrels, which the family describe as "a gentle frame rather than a heavy hand," it picks up texture and poise without ever pulling focus from the fruit.
Winemaking here is minimal intervention: the juice is guided from grape to bottle without being overworked, letting the vineyard speak in its own accent. The result is clean and resonant - pure fruit, a soft creamy line through the mid-palate, and a grounded, stony finish that feels distinctly of here. In a landscape once cultivated by the Romans, this is the estate's way of bringing that legacy back to life - not by recreating the past, but by capturing what this land is saying right now. The wine is dry, still, clean and unmistakably mineral.
Minerva Pinot Noir 2024 - £39.00
The Minerva Pinot Noir 2024 is all about restraint - a still red made with a light touch so the fruit stays luminous and the wine stays honest. The must is fermented on skins for ten days, with one gentle punch-down each day, and there is no chasing of colour and no heavy extraction; the winemaking is, in the estate's words, "a slow, steady coaxing of aroma, fine tannin and shape."
Once fermentation is complete, the wine is pressed, allowed to settle naturally, and moved to barrel for nine months to soften, knit and find its calm. The result is Pinot with clarity and poise: bright red berries, subtle spice, a silky line of structure, and a finish that feels quietly confident - "more conversation than performance, and unmistakably of our vineyard." This is the estate's first release of a Pinot Noir, and it sets a high bar for what comes next.
Minerva Rosé 2024 - £39.00 (releasing August 2026)
The Minerva Rosé 2024 is the purest expression of fruit in the cellar - bright, precise, and made to feel effortless. Fermented entirely in stainless steel to protect freshness and clarity, it is crafted with the same minimal-intervention philosophy as the Chardonnay, keeping the spotlight firmly on the grapes rather than the vessel.
The result is clean and vivid: crisp summer berries, a gentle citrus edge, and a dry, refreshing finish that invites another sip. The wine is pale salmon in colour, with delicate aromas of wild strawberry, rose petal and a flinty, dry finish. The 2024 vintage is listed as releasing August 2026, so customers who order now are reserving the next release.
The Sound & Wine Pairing
Where Minerva departs most clearly from the conventions of English wine is in its treatment of sound as a serious part of how wine should be served. The estate believes that wine is never tasted in isolation: light, temperature, conversation and music all shape perception. Sound can soften tannin, sharpen citrus, extend a finish, or make a familiar aroma feel newly legible.
The method is rigorous. "Every Minerva pairing begins with the wine: acidity, weight, finish, aromatic lift and the way it changes temperature in the glass. Only then do we listen for sound that can hold the same shape." The idea is not to build a playlist to play beside a bottle, but to build an atmosphere around the moment when flavour, memory and rhythm begin to overlap. Tempo carries freshness, tone carries texture, and silence leaves room for the space a wine leaves behind.
The Six Listening Rooms
The pairing library organises Minerva's wines into six "listening rooms," each defined by a musical genre and a signature cuvée.
- Jazz - Late night. Complex. Dry. Paired with So What by Miles Davis and the Minerva Chardonnay 2024 (£39.00). "The structural complexity of jazz mirrors the layered minerality of our Chardonnay - both reveal themselves slowly, note by note."
- Classical - Structured. Timeless. Pure. Paired with Clair de Lune by Debussy and the Minerva Sparkling 2019 (£190.00). "Classical music's formal architecture finds its mirror in a traditional method sparkling - both products of discipline, time, and the pursuit of perfection."
- Blues - Raw. Soulful. Unhurried. Paired with The Thrill Is Gone by B.B. King and the Minerva Pinot Noir 2024 (£39.00). "Blues carries its sorrows beautifully - and so does Pinot Noir. Both are honest about their depths, and both improve with the right kind of silence."
- Folk - Earthy. Intimate. Honest. Paired with Pink Moon by Nick Drake and the Minerva Rosé 2024 (£39.00). "Folk music finds beauty in the unadorned - a single voice, an honest lyric. Our Rosé does the same: nothing hidden, nothing forced."
- Soul - Warm. Deep. Transcendent. Paired with (Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay by Otis Redding and the Minerva Pinot Noir 2024 (£39.00). "Soul music carries warmth that reaches somewhere unreachable by words alone. Our Pinot Noir does the same - a wine that gets under your skin and stays there."
- Rock - Bold. Fierce. Unfiltered. Paired with Paint It Black by The Rolling Stones and the Minerva Sparkling 2019 (£190.00). "Rock demands presence. Our Sparkling arrives the same way - direct, unapologetic, with an energy that fills the room before the first note sounds."
The full pairing library can be explored via the Find Your Pairing page.
The Immersive Vineyard Tour & Sound & Food Pairing - £120.00
The signature experience at Corston is the Minerva Immersive Vineyard Tour & Sound & Food Pairing, priced at £120.00 per person. Billed as a "world first," it is an intimate afternoon at Corston Vineyard Estate, just outside Bath, on a site with Roman roots and now home to Minerva's award-winning sparkling wines.
The experience is hosted by Eddie, who has spent nearly a decade reviving this land - once cultivated by the Romans - and building Minerva into a wine that reflects Bath's terroir and history. This is a personal, small-group experience, not a packaged tour.
What is included
- A guided walk through the Corston Vineyard Estate and the Minerva creation story - from Roman soil to Decanter Award
- A tasting trio: Minerva Sparkling (the Decanter Award winner 2023), a still white and a rosé
- Food pairing with local cheeses, artisanal charcuterie and freshly baked bread
- The world's first wine & sound pairing experience
Booking is taken directly via the Minerva experiences page, and discounted private tours are available for birthdays, anniversaries, hen and stag parties, family celebrations and corporate events - enquiries should be sent to eddie@minervawine.com. The tour is currently rated 5 stars across TrustPilot and Airbnb Experiences.
A Centre of Excellence
Beyond the cellar and the tasting room, Minerva is building a viticulture Centre of Excellence on the estate. The aim is to help empower the next generation - and in particular the next generation of women and girls - to embrace a changing world with open arms. Just as the migratory birds that visit the farm must travel to learn and return anew, the Centre will send young people from the Minerva community out to partner vineyards in New Zealand, Australia and Chile, to build new skills, lifelong friendships and a richer sense of culture.
This is, in the estate's own framing, "practical wisdom" - the Aristotelian idea that wisdom is not a single virtue but a whole way of living, impossible to separate from kindness. "It's what we've found out in the vineyard," the family writes, "that spending time with friends and family brings the best opportunities for kindness out of all of us."
Visiting Minerva Wine
The vineyard sits at Corston, just south of Bath and around ten minutes from the city centre. The estate is open to visitors through the Immersive Vineyard Tour experience (booking via the experiences page), and the wines are available to order directly from the Minerva cellar, with free delivery on UK orders over £50.
The cellar currently offers six SKUs: the Minerva Sparkling 2019 Vintage in single bottle, 2-bottle pack and limited-edition case formats; the still Minerva Chardonnay 2024, Minerva Pinot Noir 2024 and Minerva Rosé 2024 - each at £39.00 per bottle. For general enquiries, private tours, group bookings or press, the direct line is eddie@minervawine.com. Minerva is also active on Instagram as @minerva_wine and on LinkedIn.
For anyone who loves English sparkling wine - or who simply wants to stand in a vineyard where the Romans once stood, glass in hand, with the Mendip limestone under their boots and a Miles Davis record in the air - Minerva Wine at Corston is one of the most quietly distinctive stops on the English wine map.