the obligatory meteorological preamble
T.S. Eliot wasn’t talking about viticulture when he opened The Waste Land by saying that “April is the cruellest month”, but no doubt many winemakers have these words in their minds for much of the transition to spring, because it is a time of real trepidation in the English winemaking calendar—the vines are at their most vulnerable, as the first buds burst with the risk of frost (and generally unstable weather) looming.
On a related but perhaps less existentially concerning note, there is also a certain risk to organising an event in April. You’ve got to make sure you’ve calculated Easter and school holiday dates correctly, and then you’ve got to convince people that it really is spring, so the weather will almost certainly be lovely.
Fortunately, we’re a pretty hardy and risk-tolerant bunch, and we knew from experience that, even if the weather that day turned out not to be warm and sunny, the welcome at Oastbrook most certainly would be. And, as it happens, we were fortunate enough to have a gloriously sunny day.
the tour
Now that we’ve extracted as much metaphorical juice out of talking about the weather as we possibly can, let’s talk about the event!
Oastbrook Estate Vineyard is nestled in Robertsbridge, East Sussex—just over an hour by direct train from London Bridge. It is owned by Nick and America Brewer, who are also the winemakers. We discovered Oastbrook by accident when Chris went on a stag weekend that featured a tasting there, and returned home laden with cases of their Sparkling Cuvée and Sparkling Rosé. When we started talking about founding The Society of the Silver Sword, it was immediately clear to us that we should ask Nick and America to be founding partners, as we were so impressed by their wine, their story, and their authentic, welcoming vibe.
Upon arriving, we were greeted by the now-legendary sight of America driving over from the vineyard to the car park in her tractor, and emerging dressed in an immaculate jumpsuit and a surprisingly practical pair of Christian Louboutin heels. She welcomed us enthusiastically, and took us on a tour of the vineyard, telling us animatedly about her methodology for selecting the right vines, and for preparing for unwanted changes in the weather. This involved a highly entertaining and informative explanation of the importance of using the right rootstock, which had several attendees linking arms and pretending to be grafted vines.
When we left the vines, we met up with Nick, who took us for a tour of the winery, explained their winemaking philosophy, and gave us a bit more background about the Oastbrook story so far.
the part with swords…
We then made our way up to the tasting room, and engaged in an exceedingly satisfying quantity of sabrage from the balcony. We presented Nick and America with their brand-new custom silver sword (engraved with the Oastbrook logo on one side and ours on the other), and they immediately put it to use, the former opening a Sparkling Cuvée, and the latter opting for a Sparkling Rosé.
Several guests then performed their first acts of sabrage and became Apprentices, against a backdrop of cheers and clinking glasses. Then others who had become Apprentices at previous events came forward to try their hands at the second stage in their membership journey—demonstrating that they can perform it without instruction, thereby becoming Practitioners.
…and a drone
This was also our first time using the drone that Chris impulse-bought in the middle of winter, and was then unable to use properly for several months! We wanted a novel way to get great footage of the first time people perform sabrage, as it’s such a memorable experience. We also thought we should make the most of the fact that several of our events will take place in beautiful vineyards around England, so buying a drone to capture footage of sabrage at wineries seemed like an eminently sensible idea. Neither of us knew how to fly a drone, but fortunately, one of our dear friends (and fellow sabrage instructors) has experience with far larger aerial devices, so agreed to lend a hand. We’re thrilled with the footage, so the drone will certainly be featuring at future events with an outdoor element.
the tasting
Once we had opened all our bottles, it was time to get to the serious business—enjoying what we had opened! We made our way inside to enjoy a delicious selection of local cheese and charcuterie, and a tutored tasting of the two aforementioned sparkling wines, and two superb and very different still wines: the 2023 Chardonnay and the 2022 Chardonnay Reserve. We learnt a bit more about the Oastbrook journey, including their surprise and delight at winning multiple gold medals for their sparkling wines at the Independent English Wine Awards, as well as the prize for best still wine for their 2020 Pinot Noir.
the rest of the afternoon
The remainder of our day at Oastbrook was every bit as joyful and fizz-filled as one might expect. More bottles were opened. There was some dancing (of which, mercifully, there is no photo or video evidence). And some of us enjoyed ourselves so much that we joined the wine club, and left with car boots full of wonderful wines.
All in all, we had a fabulous day out, and we are beyond grateful to Nick and America for their hospitality and partnership. We can’t wait to go back!
Photo credits: Dami Babalola, Dani Nowakowska (👀 if you attended this event and have more photos to share, please get in touch, because we were too busy having a brilliant time to remember to take many ourselves!)
Video credits: Andrew Pearce-Nunn