Hugo Stuart farmed pigs down at Botley's Farm near Downton in Wiltshire until the early 2000s when he decided to embark on a new adventure in France. He teamed up with Paul Old (Project 108) in the Languedoc to create Les Clos Perdus which worked well for him for 12 years. After seeing the potential of English wines he decided to return back to his family's farm to plant vines in 2015 and farming meticulously using biodynamic methods. Hugo was joined in 2018 by Daniel Ham of Offbeat, who suggested building a winery and the pair now makes a traditional method sparkling wine as well as a Col Fondo, with Hugo concentrating on viticulture and Daniel on the winemaking.

This is their 2022 bottling of Col Fondo. The final draw of the 2021 pressing (about 15% of the total yield) is saved in a separate tank for fermentation, before bottling with a little of the lively 2022 fermentation in the winter of that year. Rested in bottle into early 2023, second fermentation properly began in the spring as the ambient temperature in the shed warmed up. No disgorgement, no additions. Soft, pretty and elegant with light pithy citrus and lovely toasty-brioche depth.