The estate
Our Story
What began as an idea is now an award-winning, flourishing ten-acre vineyard in the Stour Valley, producing estate-grown English wines from one of Suffolk's most distinctive landscapes.
2021
The First Challenge
The first challenge was to grow quality grapes in sufficient quantities to produce several thousand bottles of sparkling rosé.
The summer of 2021 brought difficult conditions for Higham's first harvest. By the middle of October, however, sugar levels had risen enough to pick the fruit destined for sparkling wine. A couple of weeks later, the vineyard was picked again, this time with the aim of gathering around a tonne of grapes for a trial barrel of still red.
The ground
Stoney Croft
The land had lain fallow for as long as anyone could remember, and was therefore ideal for the low soil-intervention viticulture they wanted. The fields were known locally as Stoney Croft because the soil is flint and stone.
The grape
Why Pinot Noir
The choice of grape was influenced by personal taste as much as by commercial considerations: the family enjoy red Burgundy and Provence rosé. Subsequent soil tests and advice indicated that the land was suitable for Pinot Noir.
The planting
Eight acres, then ten
Eight acres of Pinot Noir formed the original vineyard. Higham has since expanded to ten acres, with a further two acres planted with Chardonnay.
Winemaking
From Suffolk to bottle
The wines are crafted from hand-harvested Pinot Noir from Suffolk and bottled by partners in Kent. The red Pinot Noir is aged for six months in French oak barrels, then lightly fined and filtered. Sparkling wines mature for two years on the lees, then are disgorged, labelled and corked.
Today
The wines, and Gold
Higham Pink is made exclusively from estate-grown Pinot Noir. Beside it stand Cuvée Brut Sparkling Rosé and the Single Estate Pinot Noir from rows 59 to 90.
Independent English Wine Awards 2026 awarded Gold to Higham Vineyard Pinot Noir 2024 — Best Still Red.
Our wines →