Local sommelier hopes to build vineyard and winery in Torteval

Jacob Cherry has submitted plans for the construction of buildings in a field along Rue du Banquet, near Pleinmont.

The proposed winery would include processing, fermentation and bottling facilities for red, white and sparkling wine, as well as a tasting room.

If permission is granted, more than 6,000 grapevines pre-ordered from European nurseries are set to be planted this spring ahead of the site’s first harvest in 2028, with the first bottles being sold in 2029.

Mr Cherry got the idea for the project after spending time in the Hunter Valley wine region in Australia, where he learnt about the effects of climate change on the global wine industry.

‘Global temperatures have grown by 1.5C since 1990, if and when that figure reaches 3C, every single wine region is going to have to replant their vines to cope with the temperature change,’ he said.

‘For instance, winemakers in Bordeaux in France have already started planting Portuguese and Greek grapes, while some champagne houses have moved their growing to Kent in the UK because it has similar soil and it’s that bit cooler.’

He said that sparkling wines produced by UK growers were now regularly beating champagnes in blind wine tasting competitions, and they were now branching out into still wines.

‘There is a growing acknowledgement in France that their wine quality is declining because of the warmer temperatures, especially in the south,’ he said.

‘Guernsey is already there when it comes to the ideal climate, we are a bit further south than the UK so are a little bit warmer, and Jersey through the La Mare wine estate has shown that this area of the world can produce quality wine.

‘Reducing climate change is vitally important as if temperatures reach 3C higher than 1990 then no one will care about wine as we know it anymore, but we shouldn’t be held back from the moral qualms surrounding climate change, it’s about adaptation as well as mitigation.’

Environmental concerns about the project have been raised by a group of anonymous conservationists, who have claimed in a letter to the Guernsey Press that the new site would lead to the removal of ‘essential’ food sources for wildlife.

The site is adjacent to sites of special significance, which have varied bird populations and native plant species.

Separately, Andrew Whyte, who lives in a neighbouring property along Rue du Banquet, said he was worried about the potential noise that could emanate from the site and how busy the surrounding narrow lanes could get with traffic.

Mr Cherry said the planting of vines and the subsequent growth of flora underneath them would attract insects and ultimately improve the area’s biodiversity offering. Additionally, he said that species would be able to further flourish due to the insertion of an additional hedging bank, as well as specialised grass mowing techniques that would leave a mix of long and bare grass patches.

He insisted that herbicides and insecticides would not be used on the site, with the grapes being sprayed with ozone and hydrogen peroxide, which would break down into oxygen and water.

Addressing concerns regarding increased traffic around the site, Mr Cherry said the business would not do walk-in visits, with his intention to implement a booking system whereby he would pick up groups of up to 12 people from a pre-determined location and take them to the site using a vehicle he planned to purchase.

He added the site would be a ‘one-man’ operation, with noise levels no louder than what the area already experienced.

‘It wouldn’t be any louder than tractor noise, the fermentation process is silent so it’s unlikely there would be a huge disturbance.’