The Vineyard at Castle Coch, handwritten copy by Andrew Pettigrew of his lecture to the Royal Horticultural Society, 1891

The Vineyard at Castle Coch. Perhaps I should at the outset say a few words on the introduction of the Grapevine into this country, and of the visit of inquiry I paid to the French vineyards . The majority of writers on the vine are uncertain as to the exact period it was first introduced to Britain. There is evidence, however, to prove that vines were planted early in the Christian Era . The Venerable Bede in his "Ecclesiastical History of the English Nation, from the coming of Julius Caesar into this island, in the sixtieth year before the incarnation of Christ till the year of our Lord, 731" says in Book 1 Chapter 2

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1:- "The island [?] for grain and trees, and is fit for feeding of beast of burden and cattle. It also produces vines in places." We read repeatedly in Doomsday Book of so much land being set apart for vineyards, which seem to have been common at the time it was written. It is supposed by some that the introduction of the vine took place under the first Roman Governors, while others are of opinion that the religious fraternities of the Middle Ages spreading out from Italy in all directions were the first to introduce it, as vineyards seem to have been common to all monastic establishments

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in the southern parts of the island till the time of the Reformation. Vineyards have been planted in England in modern times, and good wine produced. At Arundel Castle in Sussex, the Duke of Norfolk had a vineyard in 1763 that produced excellent wine. [following text crossed out] I remember some years ago having a conversation with the late Lord Howard, of Glossop, on vines and vineyards, his lordship thus informed me that his father remembered tasting some of the wine made from the vineyard at Arundel, which he said was very good and resembled Burgundy. There were several hogsheads of

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it in the cellar at the time. The vineyard is not cultivated now, but, I beleive, some of the original vines were to be seen recently growing on the old site. Loudon states that a gentleman of Watt-ham [Waltham?] Green made wine for 30 years from a vineyard planted in a common field garden. That, of course, is a garden without walls, and would resemble the vineyard at Castle Coch. There were several other vineyards in the neighbourhood of [London?] in comparatively modern times that produced great quantities of wine. [end of crossed out text] I have no doubt whatever that vineyards have

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succeeded in various parts of the country, and produced good vine in favourable season, such as 1887; but, I am afraid, it will never be profitable to grow vines in the open air in this country, even in the best of seasons, when wine can be had so cheap from other countries. It is now eighteen years since my noble employer, the Marquess of Bute, told me he purposed planting a vineyard somewhere in the neighbourhood of Cardiff, on the French system, and named Castle Coch as being a most likely situation for trying the experiment. I was in Scotland at the time,

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and his Lordship delayed definitely deciding till I had seen the proposed site and given my opinion of it, and of the suitability of the soil for growing vines. [crossed out word or phrase] I had at that time had no experience of the climate of South Wales, but I was pleased with the soil and situation, and reported so to his lordship. The ground selected lies to the left of the Castle at a somewhat lower level, with a gentle slope to the south, and from the nature of the ground it requires no artificial drainage. It is protected from the north by a large plantation, which covers the breast and summit

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of the hill behind. It is also protected from the east and west by smaller hills at some little distance off, and lies quite open to south, overlooking the Bristol Channel, which is four or five miles distant. The soil, which is two feet deep, is a light fibrous loam, resting on a broken limestone rock - just the kind of soil that vines like to grow in. The plan proposed at first was to get an intelligent young man from some of the well known vineyards in France to assist me in selecting the varieties and in planting the vines, and, perhaps to remain to dress the vineyard and make the wine. After some correspondence we

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learned that it would be extremely difficult to induce a person of the class wanted to leave his home and friends to come here on any consideration. I was accordingly instructed to go to France myself and visit the principal vineyards in the Medoe and elsewhere, and pick up all the information I could. It was a rather perplexing duty to one totally unaquainted with the French language, but, furnished with letters of introduction to wine merchants and the principal vineyard proprietors in France and others, I set out on the latter end of September in time to see the vintage of the year. After

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presenting my letters of introduction in Paris to Mssrs Vilmorin Andrieux & Cie, Luai di la Megicserie, the principal kindly sent one of their men, who could speak a little English, with me for two days to show me the vineyards around Paris and other objects of interest. In visiting the vineyards my guide was at a great pains to explain everything the vineyard proprietors told him respecting the different modes of culture, I was amused at times by the minuteness with which the smallest details were gone into - propagating, pruning, planting &c. My practical experience of the vine in this country enabled me readily

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to grasp the facts my teacher meant to convey, which he did more by his actions than by his words. [following section to end of page crossed out] The general treatment of the vines, as practised in the small vineyards in the neighbourhood of Paris, is somewhat different from the treatment they receive in the South of France, and quite different from the mode of vine growing followed in this country. Many of the small vine proprietors cannot afford to keep a wine press for themselves; but every village in the wine district has a public press, the use of which can be had on payment of a small fee. Here the juice is extracted from the grapes, run into barrels and taken away and fermented at

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leisure. The small proprietors, as a rule, are an industrious, hardworking class, who make the most possible of every inch of ground. The vineyards are neatly kept, and when young vines are planted the spaces between them are filled with some other crop till the vines are old enough to occupy the ground. After learning all I could in the vicinity of Paris, M. Vilmorin gave me a letter of introduction to M. Jaqueson Châlons-sur-Marne, the proprietor of one of the largest Champagne manufactories in France. Unfortunately I learned on my arrival that he had gone to Paris, but his manager kindly

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showed me through their enormous cellars, which are cut in the chalk hills. Lines of rails are laid through the principal passages, and railway trucks are taken in and loaded, and dispatched to all parts direct from them. Openings are cut from the surface in several places in the cellars, and strong reflectors placed under them to give light. My guide could speak very little English, but he showed me everything that he thought would be of service to me, and explained all sufficiently for me to understand him. He informed me that they had a stock of

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five million bottles of champagne on hand. The treatment of the vines here was much the same as that practised in the vineyards near Paris. M. Jaqueson, besides having a vineyard of his own, is a large buyer of grapes from the vine growers in the district to make into champagne. M. Vilmorin told me that M. Jaqueson's father was a Scotchman, and a great enthusiast in the culture of the vine. He said that at one time he went to great expense in making straw mats to protect the vines from the cold winds and chilling frosts in the early part of the season, with the idea of improving the crop,

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and making a better class of wine, but the expense was so great that the scheme had to be abandoned. I next visited Bordeaux and delivered a letter I had to a large firm there, the head of which showed me great kindness. He placed one of his clerks at my disposal-a young Scotchman, who could speak French like a native-to introduce me to the managers of some vineyards in the Medoe, and to act as interpreter. We visited several vineyards, and I was fortunate in arriving in time to see the vintage of three of their principal Châteaux in full operation.

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These were Châteaux Latour, Lafitte and Margaux. Châteaux Latour contains 103 acres, Lafitte 165 acres, and Margaux 197 acres. The conformation of the country here is that of a vast plain, with a gentle incline towards the river Gironde. The soil has to all appearances been covered by the sea at some time. The surface is sprinkled with small waterworn stones and sand, but the soil varies in places. The manager of one of the vineyards said that the variation of the soil caused a variation in the wine, so that in some places the best and most inferior wines grew

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side by side. As the vines are the same variety and the culture identical, the soil alone can explain the difference. The vineyards are intersected by roads of just sufficient width to add admit of a cart or wagon passing along each conveniently without interfering with the vines. These roads lead to the principal approach to the chateau where the grapes are pressed. The vines are planted in rows about three feet. apart each way, and the rows are as nearly at right angles to the roads as possible. When the vintage begins, a cart with two half-hogs on it, drawn by two oxen, is taken to the

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section of vines to be gathered. Women and children cut the bunches, and men carry the full baskets from the cutters and empty them into the half hogs-heads on the cart, and when they are full they are carted to the press-house, where they are converted into wine. The upper floor of the press-house at Chateau Lafitte is on a level with the top of the vats. The hogsheads are lifted from the yard below by machinery similar to that in use in granarys here, and the grapes emptied on a boxed-in platform, containing a machine for separating the grapes from the stalks. The berries pass through

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wire netting, and the stalks are thrown on one side. The platform runs on rails which encircle the whole set of vats. When the cart with the grapes arrives the platform is run to the door the hogsheads hooked on, raised and emptied, and the grapes passed through the machine, and shovelled into the vat. The grapes are not trodden with the feet here as I have seen done at some places I visited. When the vat is full a cover is put over, and it is hermetically sealed. A siphon is then introduced

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through the centre of the cover of the vat, and the other end of it placed in a tub of water, which allows the gas to escape, while the water in the tub prevents the air from coming into contact with the wine. After fermentation, which generally takes place in four or five days in good seasons, though a great deal depends on the temperature and the state of the weather, the wine is drawn off and transferred to enormous barrels in the store-house. When the wine has been all run off, the pulp is put in the press and the juice extracted. [end of crossed out section] The vineyard at Castle Coch

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was planted in the spring of 1875, on the French system, as practised in the neighbourhood of Paris, Burgundy, and in the Champagne country. The ground in the vineyard had been thoroughly trenched and levelled the previous winter. The vines are planted in rows from north to south, three feet apart, and the plants are three feet apart in the rows, and trained to stakes as four feet high, and pruned to within two buds of last year's growth every year. A great many varieties of vines are grown in the vineyards of France, but some of the best varieties grown in the south do not succeed when planted

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in colder districts. I was strongly recommended by the vine growers in the vicinity of Paris to try the varieties, planted at Castle Coch (Gamay Noir and Mille Blanch [Le Miel Blanc]), as being two of the varieties most likely to suit our climate. They are extensively grown about Paris, in Burgundy, and in the colder wine producing districts of France. The plants have a strong constitution, they produce fruit freely, and make good wine. We had three or four good seasons in succession after they were planted. They grew well and made strong canes, which ripened thoroughly. Gardeners and others who come

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from a distance to see the vineyard were surprised at the luxuriance of the vines growing in the open air, and simply trained to stakes in the way Raspberry plants are trained in this country. The sight about the end of July is a novel and interesting one. Long rows of vines, as straight as a line, in a curved shape down the hill, and the tops of the vines neatly stopped at the height of four feet from the ground, with their large dark-green glossy foliage almost meeting in the rows, was a sight not to be seen anywhere else in this country. During these fine seasons

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the vines on the castle wall at Cardiff produced heavy crops of grapes, which ripened well. Indeed, some of the bunches that were thinned were as good as the grapes that are generally to be found at the Tables d' Hote in France. Taking all things in to consideration, I felt sanguine that the experiment at Castle Coch would be a success in good seasons. The vines were growing vigorously, and there were no signs of the dreaded Phylloxera so common in many places in this country now. The only pest that attacked them was a kind of fungus called

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Oidium tuckerii, which was soon got rid of by picking the affected leaves off and burning them. We made the first wine from the vineyard in 1877. The crop was not a heavy one, but sufficient to enable us to make about 40 gallons of wine. In 1878 the crop of grapes was better, but still far from being a full crop. The vines were, however, gaining strength, and I expected to get a full crop soon, if the seasons kept favourable. The vines broke well in 1879, and showed an abundance of fruit in the latter end of May, but with the cold and sunless wet summer that followed the

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fruit all dropped off, and we did not gather a bunch of grapes from the vineyard . This was not much to be wondered at in a season in which farmers could not get their corn to ripen. In passing I may say with respect to the cultivation of the vine, that one bad season in which grapes will all ripen means two bad seasons in succession. If the grapes will not ripen the wood will not ripen either, and it is upon well ripened wood that a crop of grapes, or any other kind of fruit, mainly depends. The vineyard was a failure in 1880 on account of the wood not being ripened

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in the previous year. There was a very good crop in 1881, which made excellent wine, and, I might say, the whole vintage was sold readily @ 60/- per doz. bottles. Then followed two bad seasons in succession, in which no wine was made. The vines on the Castle wall at Cardiff failed to ripen their fruit during that period. In 1884 we made 4 hogsheads of wine, and the same quantity in 1885, but the crop in 1886 was a complete failure. The vines, however, ripened well, and in 1887 (Jubilee year) the grapes ripened thoroughly, and we made 10 hogsheads of good wine. The crop in 1888 was a failure,

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and the following year, (1889) we only made 1 hogshead. In 1890 we made 6 hogsheads, and this year (1891) 3 hogsheads. The above is a brief summary of the history, and experimental time of the vineyard at Castle Coch, and the results to be observed from the trial, in a pecuniary sense, cannot be pronounced satisfactory. But the experiment has proved beyond doubt, that good wine can be made from grapes grown in the open air in favourable situations in this country. There is nothing in the conditions of the soil or climate to hinder the healthy growth

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of the vines, but the absence of sun heat has prevented the development or ripening of the fruit. Lord Bute is so far satisfied with the results of the experiment, that he has begun planting a large vineyard on his estate at Swanbridge, and a smaller one at St Quentin's, near Cowbridge, with the idea of further experimenting upon the soil and situation best adapted for the cultivation of the vine in the open air in South Wales.

A. Pettigrew
Castle Gardens,
Cardiff.

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