Meet our Vineyard Manager - Toby McConnell

With a mission to produce premium vintage-led English sparkling wine, Toby and his brother Nat, our winemaker, established Bluestone Vineyards in 2016.

Toby’s intimate knowledge of our vineyards results in the harvest of only very clean fruit. A sixth-sense intuition means Toby doesn’t have to worry about the threat of rot or mites.

Spore capture technology allows Toby to detect powdery and downy mildew in our vineyards. Monitoring the spore population potentially means less spraying which is more sustainable, better for the environment and more cost effective.

Toby explains: “Our goal is to create vintage wines that showcase the year the fruit was grown. Therefore, the wine needs to have a pure and, importantly, an English fruit profile. The citrus and apple notes are key here. We build depth of flavour and complexity through the lees ageing – a minimum of three years for our Premier Cuvée and a maximum of two years for our Premier Rosé, with a further 6 months on cork. 

“We add small proportions of reserve wine to enhance the visuals of the wine and to help boost complexity for release. The acidity needs to be front and centre. We are not trying to hide our acidity, hence why our dosage tends to be lower. The acidity is key to what makes it an English wine, but all the other factors have to be there to ensure it is balanced; the flavour and the texture, and the right residual sugar,” says Toby.

A lifelong fan of the great outdoors, Toby, aged 36, spent much of his childhood on our neighbouring Cholderton Rare Breeds Farm where he had two pet pigs Lola and Lottie. His love of the open air led him to work on an outward-bound course teaching people high ropes, canoeing and kayaking.

Toby also worked on superyachts, based in the French Riviera, and later studied viticulture and oenology at Plumpton College.

Day-to-day, Toby is in charge of all the tractor operations, pruning, wires, leaf stripping and bud rubbing. He also organises the professional pickers and volunteers who help out during the two-week harvest. Get in touch if you would like to volunteer to help during this year’s harvest! 

As well as managing the 10 acres here at Bluestone, Toby is a vineyard consultant for other English growers.