2 weeks Ago
Tony Dean and wife Sharron, the owners of Great Wheatley Vineyard, have been handed the keys to the former Barrington Grill as they plan to overhaul the Hockley Road building into a space to sell their wines and host tasting events. Mike Sutton closed the Hockley Road restaurant in July after nine years, as the Rochford councillor for Wheatley ward moved away from hospitality to focus more on his family and political career. Tony said: “The Crouch Valley, where we grow our grapes, has become a significant wine region for the UK and there are now hundreds of acres of vineyard planted throughout the area.
“With this new venue, we're hoping to take things a step further and create an outlet where we can showcase our wines and host tastings and more formal events.” Great Wheatley Vineyard was planted in 2021, with Tony recently collecting his first harvest. He believes in the coming years the Crouch Valley, which lies both north and south of the River Crouch, has the potential to become a globally recognised name in the world of wine.
“The Crouch Valley has a unique microclimate that makes it one of the mildest and driest parts of the UK – it’s actually very similar to Burgundy,” he added. “At the moment, a lot of British winemakers grow their grapes in Essex and export them out for production. We think we can make a positive impact on the region by keeping our process in-county.
” Tony hopes the ‘cellar door’ venue at the former Barrington Grill, which he hopes will by open by the end of 2025, will offer Great Wheatley Vineyard the chance to showcase their range of wines. Tony stumbled into the winemaking industry after acquiring some land in Rayleigh. He said: “We were in the fortunate position to acquire some land and as we’ve always had an interest in wine, began looking into planting a vineyard.
“We had a number of experts come down to have a look and found out that the land would be ideal for wine growing.”.
