Bancroft adds Norfolk winery to portfolio

By Hamish Graham

Published: 07 March, 2025

Bancroft Wines has added South Norfolk-based winery Flint Vineyard to its portfolio. The partnership means Bancroft will now become the exclusive UK distributor of the East Anglian winery’s two sparkling wines, a Charmat and a Charmat Rose.

Founded by winemaker and owner Ben Witchell (pictured) in 2016, the winery was the first in the UK to produce sparkling wine using the Charmat method. This method involves carrying out the secondary fermentation in stainless steel tanks rather than inside individual bottles.

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Buyer at Bancroft, Jilly Kinnear, is buoyed by the prospect of working with Witchell.

She said: “The wines speak for themselves. The Charmats are fun, energetic and incredibly drinkable and our team is really pleased to be able to offer quality English sparkling at an affordable price. These are fantastic examples of what can be achieved from English soils when in the right hands.”

This positive outlook regarding the new partnership is shared by Dan Kirby, Flint Vineyard’s head of sales and marketing.

“Bancroft Wines are the perfect partner to help bring our Charmat sparkling to a bigger audience. They get what we’re doing and share our passion for quality and innovation. More people drinking Charmat? That’s something to celebrate,” he commented.

Flint Vineyard, which has over 35,000 vines at its Norfolk home, is situated in one of the driest and sunniest regions of the UK, affording it a unique winegrowing climate. The winery was founded after Witchell approached local Norfolk landowner and entrepreneur Adrian Hipwell in a speculative email from which this project bloomed.

At present, a new winery expansion is underway to allow for more vineyard plantings.

Ben Witchell, alongside his Flint Charmat and Charmat Rose, will be in attendance at Bancroft’s Spring + Summer Edit tasting at Great Scotland Yard Hotel on Monday 24 March. To register to attend you can do so here.

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