BBC listeners mourn English winemaker

It was with great sadness that the drinks business learnt of the death of Nigel Pargetter, a pioneer who did much to raise the profile of English winemaking.

News of Pargetter’s death was announced by BBC Radio Four, following a tragic fall on 2 January from the roof of his home, Lower Loxley Hall, in the Borsetshire village of Ambridge.

Born in 1959, Pargetter was educated at Rugby, where he found that neither academia, sport nor music offered him the chance to excel. He struggled to find his path in life, until the death of his father in 1988.

Suddenly confronted with the costly upkeep of his family home, Pargetter threw himself into various fundraising schemes, including the planting of a vineyard in 2004.

This vineyard was just one of the initiatives to emerge from Pargetter’s growing awareness and concern for the natural environment, which was awakened when he began travelling the local countryside by bicycle in the wake of a drink driving conviction.

On his modest enterprise of a couple of acres, Pargetter took the decision to plant Madeleine – a white variety more commonly found in the Loire – and Seyval, an early ripening white hybrid variety which has proved well-suited to the English climate.

In 2008, Pargetter’s efforts received a welcome profile boost when Lower Loxley wine was awarded “Regional Wine” status.

Following his untimely and sudden death, it remains to be seen whether Pargetter’s vision for his vineyard will be continued by his widow Elizabeth. Updates will be announced via daily weekday bulletins on Radio Four, with further information on the station’s website

db, 19.01.2011