Family pays tribute to 'inspirational' Staffordshire winemaker after his sudden death
The family of the founder of an award-winning vineyard in the heart of the region has paid tribute to an "inspirational man" and much loved dad, grandad and friend.
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Martin Vickers passed away suddenly on Friday at the age of 82, leaving behind a legacy of more than 40 years as a pioneer in the English wine industry through the grapes and wines of Halfpenny Green Vineyard in Bobbington in South Staffordshire.
Mr Vickers began work in 1983 by planting 400 wines on a tiny patch of land on his farm and, through his own forward thinking and indefatigable spirit, grew that land into a 30-acre site where hundreds of thousands of bottles are produced each year.
The estate is one of the top 20 producers of English wine in the country and the different types of grape produced there came from the cooler climates, creating a freshness in the wine, which includes the Bacchus white, its Classic Cuvee Brut sparkling wine, the Penny Black and Penny Red and the English Rose.
Mr Vickers even helped plant a new vineyard at Harper Adams University in Shropshire in 2023, in an attempt to safeguard the English wine industry by developing a new generation of talent in viticulture.
