Hands Off Vineyard & Winery: A Regenerative Vineyard on the Wye Valley
Hands Off Vineyard is the smallest, oldest and arguably most romantic enterprise on Townsend Farm, the 224-hectare regenerative demonstration farm near Ross-on-Wye run by agronomist Ben Taylor-Davies and his family. Tucked into a sunny, hedge-framed corner of the holding called Upper Hollow, the vineyard sits on a south-facing slope of sandy-loam soil and has now produced grapes without a single fungicide or insecticide spray for more than a decade.
A vineyard planted for love of wine
The Hands Off Vineyard was planted in the late 1990s by Ben's father, William Davies, who had previously established a vineyard at his old wedding-venue farm near Worcester and sold the resulting bottles to guests at his weddings. When the family moved to Townsend Farm in Brampton Abbotts in 1974, William missed having vines close at hand, so he set about creating a new one in an awkward corner of Upper Hollow, a south-facing field bounded by three mature hedges. A fourth hedge was planted up the open side to enclose the block.
Grape varieties and trellising were chosen after consultation with the nearby Three Choirs Vineyard at Newent, on similar soil types and aspect. Initially eight rows were established:
- Regent (red) - two rows
- Rondo (red) - two rows
- Phoenix (white) - two rows
- Seyval Blanc (white) - two rows
These were trained on a Geneva Double Curtain trailing system, a divided-canopy trellis that suits vigorous varieties on fertile sites and allows plenty of airflow and sunlight into the fruiting zone. A further two rows of Pinot Noir and a handful of table-grape vines were added at the lower end of the slope, although the Pinot Noir in particular never established well and replanting was planned for spring 2021.
From hobby to contract, to abandonment, to revival
For many years the grapes were picked in early autumn and delivered to Three Choirs Vineyard, who processed them on a 3:1 contract: Three Choirs kept three quarters of the fruit and returned one quarter as finished still or sparkling wine. The arrangement worked beautifully and produced wine of very fine quality, but it came to an end when Three Choirs expanded their own vineyard into full production and no longer needed outside fruit. Suddenly the family were looking at an £80,000-a-year bill to make the crop commercially - a hobby rapidly becoming a business.
Around the same time William became unwell and the vines slipped down the family priority list. For several seasons the vineyard was effectively abandoned, although Ben and his team still managed to prune some years and pick a few rows, selling the fruit to other producers who were short. Then, during the spring 2020 lockdown, Ben's friend Matty decided the vineyard deserved another chance.
The 2020 harvest and a new direction
On 26 September 2020, Ben, Matty, Nicola, Helen, Tegan, Cody, Erin, Summer and two friends of Nicola started picking Regent at 7am and finished at 5pm, gathering 1.75 tonnes of fruit by hand. Tired, bruised and with several secateur-nicked fingertips, Ben and Matty delivered the grapes to Halfpenny Green Vineyard in exchange for sparkling wine. Over the following days, with the help of strawberry pickers borrowed from EC Drummond, they delivered a total of six tonnes of grapes. Had they started a few days earlier, they would have doubled that figure, as the Rondo and Phoenix had already passed their peak.
The fruit was destined for an altogether more ambitious project. Ben had been introduced to Tillingham Wines in East Sussex, run by co-founder Ben Walgate. Tillingham combines regenerative farming, biodynamics and what Walgate calls low-intervention winemaking to produce natural wines fermented in qvevri (clay vessels buried in the ground) and other traditional vessels.
Why organic wine is so hard to make
Ben was surprised to discover that producing organic wine in the UK is almost impossible - not because of how the grapes are grown, but because of what winemakers are permitted to add during fermentation. For more than twelve years the Hands Off vines have received no fungicides or insecticides; the glyphosate sterile strips under the rows have even been replaced with narrow-leaved white clover. From a vineyard perspective the fruit is as clean as it gets.
The problem is in the winery. Conventional UK winemakers can use a long list of permitted additives and processes that organic certification rules out. Tillingham's approach - minimal intervention, native yeasts, qvevri fermentation and little or no sulphur - aligns exactly with what Ben wants for the family grapes.
The carbon balance of regenerative wine
Delivering grapes from Herefordshire to East Sussex and returning the bottled wine is not carbon-neutral, but the maths are favourable. A carbon balance sheet calculated for the vineyard shows that a no-till, no-pesticide, no-fertiliser vineyard at 0.72 ha sequesters 2,832 kg CO₂ per hectare, or roughly 2,039 kg CO₂ across the whole block. A single lorry round-trip from Townsend to Tillingham produces about 238 kg CO₂, meaning more than eight such trips could be made before the transport footprint cancelled out the vineyard's sequestration. With only two grape deliveries and one wine collection planned per year, the net climate impact remains strongly positive.
Tasting Hands Off wine on the farm
Today, visitors can taste the vineyard's output alongside other homemade produce on Ben's guided walks. The Nature Walk and Fodder Evening runs every Thursday from May to September and combines a tour of Townsend Farm with food cooked over the big green-egg barbecue, in the wood-fired Unni pizza oven or in a paella pan when the Pembrokeshire fishermen have been. Drinks include wine from the Hands Off Vineyard, cider from the farm orchard and homemade fruit juice.
Booking and prices
- Adult: £20 (includes one drink and food)
- Child: £10
- Family ticket (two adults and up to four children): £50
- Vegetarian option available; additional drinks can be purchased on the night
- Minimum six, maximum twelve per tour (unless agreed otherwise)
- Private tours for individuals, families, groups or schools by prior appointment
Bookings are taken through the Farm Walks & Fodder enquiry form, with arrival times confirmed ahead of each walk. Walks take place between 1 May and 30 September.
The wider farm: a 224-hectare regen-ag classroom
Hand-picking Regent for nine hours straight is enough to make anyone understand why vineyards of any scale need professional labour, but it also helps explain why Ben is happy for the Hands Off Vineyard to remain a small, demonstrational block. The wider farm is his real laboratory.
Townsend Farm grows wheat, rye, spring barley, oilseed rape, potatoes and grass across 224 hectares of arable land, alongside an expanding mob of herbal-ley livestock: Highland and Hereford cattle, Ryeland, Leicester Longwool, Teeswater, Kerry Hill and Dorset Down sheep, Gloucester Old Spot and Saddleback pigs with a modern hybrid boar called Adrian, Boer goats, Alpacas, a Suffolk Punch horse, a Flohive of bees and three rheas all called Chris.
The five principles of soil health in action
The Hands Off Vineyard sits inside a wider system that Ben applies across the whole farm, built around the five principles of soil health:
- Soil armour - keeping soil covered at all times. The strips under the vines are now sown with narrow-leaved white clover rather than left as bare herbicide strips.
- Living roots - roots feed soil biology by exuding sugar-rich carbon. Cover crops and herbal leys across the farm keep a living root in the ground year-round.
- Limited disturbance - no plough, no synthetic fertilisers, no hydrocarbon pesticides.
- Diversity - mixtures of plants and species reduce pest, weed and disease pressure. The vineyard's mix of red and white varieties, the chaos garden's mixed-seed plantings and the herbal leys all follow the same principle.
- Integrated animals - mob-grazed livestock and their manures drive nutrient cycling. Mob grazing replicates the predator-controlled tight bunching of wild herbivores that built the planet's most fertile soils.
Bokashi, Johnson-Su bioreactors and vermiculture
In the corner of the kitchen sits a Bokashi bin, fermenting organic waste using anaerobic microbes and molasses. In the yard sits a scaled-up Johnson-Su Bioreactor - an old tipping trailer stripped to its chassis and lined with gale-breaker curtain and 32 perforated drainage pipes - producing fungal-dominant compost that can be applied at 40 kg per hectare as a soil inoculant. Nearby, a continuous-flow wormery turns packaging waste from the Little Meal House farm shop into vermicompost and worm tea for the chaos garden.
The Hands Off Vineyard story in numbers
- Planted: late 1990s by William Davies
- Site: Upper Hollow field, south-facing, sandy-loam soil
- Size: 0.72 hectares
- Original varieties: Regent, Rondo, Phoenix, Seyval Blanc, with Pinot Noir and table grapes
- Trellis: Geneva Double Curtain
- No fungicides or insecticides applied for over 12 years
- Annual CO₂ sequestration: around 2,039 kg across the block
- Winemaking partner: Tillingham Wines (regenerative, low-intervention, qvevri)
Visiting Townsend Farm and the vineyard
Townsend Farm sits in the Wye Valley SSSI between Ross-on-Wye and Hereford, with 2.5 km of River Wye frontage. The land carries Bronze Age, Iron Age and Roman archaeology, was surveyed in 1941 by MAFF under tenant J. Snell, and has been farmed by the Taylor-Davies family since William and Sue bought it in 1974.
Visitors can combine a vineyard tasting with the wider regen-ag experience by booking a Nature Walk and Fodder Evening through RegenBen. The walks are led by Ben himself and cover everything from the chaos garden and herbal leys to mob grazing, the bug hotel, the river meadows and, of course, the Hands Off Vineyard.
Frequently asked questions
Where is Hands Off Vineyard?
The vineyard is at Townsend Farm, Brampton Abbotts, Ross-on-Wye HR9 7JE, on the edge of the Wye Valley in Herefordshire.
Are the wines organic?
The grapes are grown without synthetic fungicides, insecticides or fertilisers, but UK organic wine certification is constrained by what winemakers are allowed to add in the cellar. Hands Off wine is made in a low-intervention, regenerative style by Tillingham Wines in East Sussex, with minimal sulphur and native yeasts.
Can I buy the wine?
The wine is currently served on the farm's guided walks and at the Little Meal House farm shop. Wider retail availability is being developed through the partnership with Tillingham Wines.
How much does a farm walk cost?
£20 per adult, £10 per child or £50 for a family ticket of two adults and up to four children. The price includes one drink (wine from the vineyard, cider from the orchard or homemade fruit juice) and food.
How do I book?
Complete the Farm Walks & Fodder booking enquiry form. Submitting the form does not guarantee a place - the team will confirm by return email.
Can I get married at Townsend Farm?
Yes - Townsend Farm runs as a wedding venue through RegenBen Weddings, with vineyard wines served to guests.
The future of Hands Off
Ben is in no hurry to scale the vineyard. The block remains a demonstrator for what low-input, no-spray regen viticulture looks like in the UK, and a teaching tool for the consultants and visitors who come to the farm. The Tillingham partnership produces regenerative, low-intervention wines from grapes grown on a Herefordshire farm that has not seen a fungicide for more than a decade.