Tommy Grimshaw is not your traditional winemaker. At aged just 24, Tommy broke new ground by becoming the UK’s youngest head winemaker having worked his way up from labelling wine when he left school after his first year of A-levels.
Now 27, he continually strives to be creative in his winemaking, not bound by technical ‘rules’ with a focus on a low intervention approach, and the results he achieves are outstanding. He achieves this at Langham Wine Estate, which won the coveted Best Sparkling Wine Producer award at the International Wine and Spirit Competition (IWSC) in 2020, beating some of the best French champagne houses as well as sparkling wines from around the rest of the world.
From finding out what his typical day looks like to his favourite wine and future plans, we sat down with Tommy to find out a little more.
What’s your favourite time in the winemaking year?
This has to be harvest. Our harvest runs for a few weeks, usually in October each year and it is the culmination of a year’s worth of hard graft. I always feel that the harvest is a celebration, although it seems odd to celebrate something with relentless work hours and a distinct lack of social life! Yet here we are, loving every second of it and watching new wines begin their journey.
What does your typical day look like?
This is a really tough one to answer because there is no typical day for a winemaker. Perhaps that’s why I love it so much, it occupies my attention span. It isn’t all tasting and having fun, the role encompasses a lot of cleaning, admin, logistics and sales as well as the production itself.
What music do you listen to while you work? Do you ever sing along?
We listen to a wide range of music depending on who is in charge of the tunes at any given time. Personally I tend to lean towards The Beatles, a hip hop mix or some ska. Singing (badly) is often the best way to get through a long harvest stint.
Do you ever talk to your wines?
Not usually, I find that the conversation can be a bit dry but the occasional word of encouragement from myself to them is often needed.
What is your life motto?
‘Have fun’. I don’t really have a life motto but if you’re not having fun, you won’t be able to work, love or create to your full potential. Life should be about having fun and making the best out of every situation.
What is the best advice you’ve been given?
This has to be the advice that my parents gave me to leave school after I failed my first year of A-levels and to start working full time. I wasn’t that suited to the academic system but I have a passion for learning. Once I left school, I was able to learn and gain experience how I wanted to, a lot of the time this was through failure (which is another good bit of advice in itself). It’s what started my career in wine.
What would be your desert island wine?
A grower Champagne for sure but there are so many to choose from. If I had to choose at this very moment, I would say Ulysse Colin Les Enfers.
What would you be doing if you weren’t making wine?
Growing up, I always wanted to be a pilot. I have flown solo so that would be another dream job. I also love to cook, so the idea of being a chef is a bit of a pipedream but I’m not sure I’d want the chef hours that go with it.
What would be your last meal/sip?
If it was now, I’d opt for a nice seafood platter from one of the many beach hut cafés in Devon or Cornwall with a grower Champagne, such as the one named above. However, I’d like to live long enough that my last meal and sip will probably be something puréed and a tepid cup of tea.
What wine producers do you look up to?
I have a few for a number of reasons. Purely for wine style and creativity, I look to top grower Champagne producers such as Jacques Selosse, Pascal Agrapart, Jerome Prevost, Larmandier Bernier and Egly-Ouriet amongst others. I also love Felton Road. I admire how they were at the forefront of an emerging region and still are today with excellent wines, good pricing and a focus on biodynamics. Sandridge Barton and in particular, Duncan Schwab is somebody I will always look up to in the wine industry. He taught me how to use wine making to help the local community and build relationships, this is hugely important.
Tell us about some of the wine listings that you’re proud of
We’re fortunate enough to be listed at some excellent restaurants around the country, as well as abroad. Lea and Sandeman are our London distributor and we’ve worked so closely with them for the past four years which has been a joy. Noble Rot has always been a special place for me, I discovered so much about wine in general at their bars/restaurants. Therefore, being on the list across all three sites is hugely gratifying for me.
We’ve also been on by the glass at Andy Beynon’s restaurant (Behind) from the early days. This is one of the best restaurants I have eaten at and one of the fastest Michelin stars in English history, so that is fantastic. The Unruly Pig has been named the UK’s best gastro pub twice in the past three years, so this is another by the glass listing that we are all so proud of as a team. We’ve recently started working closely with The Pig hotel group. They are really pushing English wine and to be listed by such a reputable hotel group is wonderful.
What do you do to relax?
On a daily basis, I love to cook as a way to wind down. Almost every evening I’ll happily decompress with a pan, chopping board and a knife. Food is a huge passion for me, so I like to cook or dine out in my spare time. I also have a huge passion for the coast. Sea swimming is something that I have always loved and over the past couple of years I have been walking the South West Coast path with a close friend. The path is uninterrupted from Poole in Dorset, all the way around to Minehead in north Devon which is over 600 miles around Lands End. At the time of writing, we’ve walked from Poole to Looe, although I had to have last year off with a broken leg.
Any exciting plans for the future?
I have a few exciting ideas, whether or not they all become plans is yet to be seen. Later this year we will be releasing a still Chardonnay from 2022 which is really exciting.
In 2025, we may well release our first ever edition of our long anticipated perpetual cuvée. This has been in the works for a number of years now and I cannot wait to show it to the world (although I really do have to wait one more year). It is a rolling blend of the best Chardonnay from 2017, 2018 and 2019 which was bottling in 2020. We will disgorge it this year after four years on lees and then release it next year after a year on cork.
The base wine is now in our 2000L foudre and is now a blend of 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2023. We bottle four barrels worth (about 880L) as the Perpetual Cuvée blanc de blancs before blending the best four barrels from the most recent vintage to top it up. Essentially it’s a mini solera system that nullifies vintage variation and showcases Chardonnay form our small part of Dorset. It’s delicious.
