The great barley or vine debate!!!

Okay… most people know that I am very excited about the distillery and am quite passionate about whisky aka the amber nectar. Indeed, over 20 years ago, I even wrote a piece of music about it: https://open.spotify.com/track/6bs1cnfXSkooReD9DC6DRL?si=27b3219cb9af499e which was performed in LA in 2005.

I invest in distilleries around the world and also have the great pleasure of acquiring barrels of whisky for future enjoyment. Visiting other distilleries throughout 2025 inspired me to realise an aspiration to create my own whisky. I know what I like and I passionately want to create a whisky that focusses on provenance and authenticity i.e. the oak from my farm to make the barrels, the water from our ground source, the energy from our future solar panels and… the barley from our own field, planted, harvested, milled and malted by our own hand. It is not about creating the best whisky in the world, but about knowing every single bit that has gone into it and enjoying the experience and joy that comes from working our land. Which is why… when the opportunity arose to acquire more terrain for our #barrelandvine project, I was so keen to hear what everyone else thought.

1. Plant a field of barley for whisky
2. Plant 6000 more vines
3. Do both
4. Or run for the hills screaming!!!

My starting position was barley, but Jayne is firmly rooted in the vines. On a recent trip to the #champagne bar #searcys at St Pancras, it was time to enjoy a glass of each (Blanc de Blanc for Jayne and a Manhattan for me, ps… it was only me there, so I had to taste Jayne’s for her) and debate the pros and cons of each route.

For the vines…

1. We have already planted some, meaning we have some of the experience and equipment required
2. 6000 more vines would come online a year after our first vines, meaning we have a year to practice harvesting, and making wine, therefore if we get it right (or wrong), we put this learning into practice the following year
3. The terrain is ideally positioned for vines, aka south facing and a natural water source
4. Jayne really wants them

For the barley… now this is more nuanced because I have had the great pleasure of sourcing more knowledge from specialists aka Matt Willers from the Little Brewery aka master brewer aka general superstar and George Gidlow aka farming savant aka a bit like the farming mafia, he knows EVERYONE, meaning, he can find out anything, and his advice is always tiptop.

First up… Matt

It should be stated that we love Matt, his brewery and his whole family. They are super people and are doing super things with hops to make the best beer.

Matt’s main thoughts focussed around… Nitrogen.

What??? Nitrogen??? We are not making bombs; I am just wanting to plant a field of Barley. But no… it is more complicated than that

1. We can only use spring barley, so we cannot deviate or go off piste!
2. Barley is super nitrogen heavy
3. You would have to rotate in a Nitrogen crop, like a pea or clover

George contributed to this discussion by adding… (I must add he did this without any sense of impending doom…)

1. Whilst you think you could harvest 7 tonnes of barley (equalling 58 casks), it is spring barley, meaning the yield is lower.
2. If you are going BIO/organic, then the yield may be up to 30% less!
3. Apart from finding someone to drill the field and harvest the field, the yield would be too small for a farmer to transport, i.e. 7 tonnes would only cover the floor of a standard trailer.
4. Once you have barley, it then needs to be quality checked (again reducing the yield)
5. Can you find a Malter that would malt in a small batch, so you were guaranteed to get your own barley back.
6. Good news (finally…) LG and KWS are French companies, so, I might be able to speak to a rep in person!
7. Barley needs a separate #spray programme and if you read my other blog: https://medium.com/@jonathanenobem/lets-talk-about-spraying-1-d8ba5cc69779 you will know how anxious I am about this!
8. Barley is a thirsty crop.
9. Worse case scenario, we could sell the Barley crop for £180 per tonne, covering some of the costs.

The good news… (thankfully there is some)

1. The ph for both options is the same!

Where does that leave our question???

Well for starters…

1. You can buy malted barley in bags of 25kg, and we only need 120kg to do a run. This product will be quality checked!
2. There may be a innovative solution that involves working with Matt, whilst learning the ropes in the first year.

If we can find a solution to the export issue, we might (and it is a very tentative might), be able to get beer from the Little Brewery to distil at our distillery in #uncoindeparadis.

Drum roll….

So the answer for now is….

Jayne wins this one!!!

We are going to plant 6000 vines throughout spring of 2027, hopefully to be harvested 2030, first glass to consumer in 2031!

But I feel like this is a win for me too….

1. I get to learn from the amazing Matt and George
2. I get phenomenal level raw products to turn into #eclaireur whisky
3. Jayne does not know this, but I am secretly looking at another parcel of land, which might be an option for barley in the future!!! Shh… don’t tell her!!!

I’d like to thank Matt and George for being fabulous, truly great people with amazing advice. I hope that they both might be able to come to the #barrelandvine to enjoy a part of the adventure.