If you ever doubted that looking after vines and making wine can be a true labour of love that touches the heart strings, then you haven't met Balbina Leeming of Bsixtwelve!
Her story began, like many other English wine producers, in the world of finance … except there's a difference. Being half Venezuelan and half Spanish, with no experience of working in the wine industry before, the idea of creating a vineyard in the heart of the rural English county of Hampshire was not an obvious career path! Yet, logic and 'following the obvious' are not always life satisfying ideals. So, she decided to pursue her passion and establish a small, artisan vineyard in the Itchen Valley on the edge of the South Downs National Park.
Balbina moved to London in 1997, working in wealth management, while her husband, David, worked in investment banking. Between 2004 and 2007, both wanted a change from the bright lights and hectic lifestyle of the capital, so began to look for a holiday home in the English countryside. Spending more time at weekends away from London, after three years they found some derelict barns at Lone Farm in Hampshire. Falling in love with the view and the area, they moved in on 1st November 2011, having waited two years for planning permission and a further year and a half to rebuild the property.
"At this stage, we had no idea of setting up a vineyard", says Balbina. "We were both fond of wine and had been learning about wine for a long time", she adds, noting that they had spent many days at L'École du Vin de Bordeaux. "Every single holiday we had was an excuse to go to a winemaking area in the world. Then I started volunteering in France, Spain, South Africa and Australia, working in vineyards. So it was something that was already in our lives."
Balbina and David still both worked in finance, commuting into London and living in a caravan while the buildings were being converted. One day, while walking her beloved dog, Lola, a neighbour asked her if she knew that the previous owners of her land, the Baring family, were planting vines nearby (in what would eventually become the award-winning The Grange winery). This prompted her to consider taking the plunge. "If they can take a risk with 25-28 acres, why shouldn't I? ", she recalls feeling. So in 2011, Balbina started her research in earnest.
At the time, the UK was producing relatively little still wine with around 85% of plantings dedicated to sparkling. "I didn't know which variety I was going to plant", she says. "I didn't want to compete with the sparkling wine producers, but making still wine was dependant on whether the land was good for it. I looked into all the wine producers in the UK and one of the few making still wines was Stopham Vineyard [in West Sussex]. My neighbour and I went to Stopham and tried their Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris and Bacchus. At the end of the tasting, I said to Simon [Head Winemaker, Simon Woodhead], we're here to ask for your help in setting up a vineyard."
Here, she gained valuable work experience under Simon's and assistant winemaker Tom Bartlett's guidance, and all was arranged to begin planting a vineyard at Lone Farm in 2014. Three years later, Bsixtwelve was born.
Bsixtwelve is certainly an unusual name for a winery, referencing a very personal childhood memory of Balbina. "The name comes from when I was little and my dad read to me Le Petit Prince. I was hooked on it! B-612 was the asteroid and home of the little prince in Saint-Exupéry's story. When I was older and reread the story, I realised that there was also a philosophical side to it."
In 2018, just before the pandemic, Balbina and David decided to dedicate their time to the vineyard, becoming full-time farmers and finally escaping the London rat race.
By commercial standards, the vineyard is small. At under one hectare of land, it's a manageable size for Balbina, who has no plans to extend. "I still remember being told, 'You need to have five acres minimum to make business sense of it and ten acres minimum to make a profit.' I said if I do that, I'll lose what I really want, as I'll have to be a manager [with a team of people]. As it is, I do everything from pruning to labelling every individual bottle of wine and delivering.
"It's very artisan - that's the beauty of it", she continues. "I don't get bored. It's a lot of work, but it's so rewarding. I'm not complaining! You have to be in the present here. That's why I do it full-time. I can't just do it every now and again."
The vineyard, on a hill 85 metres above sea level, comprises two sites with a space between them for the small, semi-underground winery building. Facing south and slightly east, the northern half lies in the original arable land of pure chalk with a 20cm layer of loam topsoil. The southern half consists of an extra layer of loam and chalk, formed by the excavation of the soil dug out to create the winery, transferred and levelled up on top of the existing arable land.
There are differences between the two sites, as Balbina notes. "Surprisingly, the South, which had all that chalk thrown in, is more vigorous. It's as if the arid soil here is giving the vines more work to do and they are thriving as a result. The theory is that all the nutrients at the top of the hill flow down into the south, so perhaps that's why it's more vigorous there. It's also a little more protected, but because it's lower down and in a bit of a dip, it's also more prone to frost."
"Pinot Blanc is the underdog and I love it. If I can't sell it, at least I can drink it!"
While Chardonnay and Pinot Noir dominated sparkling wine production, Bacchus, the third most planted variety, was used almost exclusively for still wine. Therefore, Pinot Blanc was an unusual choice.
Balbina explains further: "I looked at what others were doing, particularly Stopham. Their Pinot Gris had been served on the Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebration barge on the Thames, but I preferred the Pinot Blanc. I saw it as an underdog - always used for blending or toning down other grapes. I just wanted to show it on its own. So, Simon [Woodhead] came to do a soil analysis, selected the clones and did everything!"
With the vineyard split into two distinct sites, a future project is to make wine from each of them and see if the expressions are different.
As a regional planting, it occupies fifth position in the East of England with 16 hectares, according to WineGB. Yet, in Hampshire, it remains very much a minor grape. However, with increasing promise shown by the extended Pinot family in the UK - Noir, Précoce, Meunier, Gris and Blanc - perhaps the future looks brighter now.
Indeed, according to Wine Standards' 2022 figures, a total of 43 hectares of Pinot Blanc is planted in England and Wales, within an estimated 52 vineyards. This has grown from 24 hectares in 2017, but is still significantly lower than the top ten most planted varieties. Chardonnay, for example, has over 1,200 hectares.
Global warming has undoubtedly helped, with higher sugar levels and easier ripening making the resultant wines less acidic and dry, so more commercially viable. Missing Gate and Itasca, who use Pinot Blanc grapes grown in Essex's Crouch Valley, are among those reaping the rewards.
Environmental considerations are key to the Leemings' philosophy. They had had already planted 1000 trees, before starting the rebuild of the barns. "I work with regenerative agriculture and organic or biodynamic practices", she says. "It's such a small site, so I don't want to drain [its natural resources]", she adds.
For the first three years, they used conventional viticulture, but from 2018, which happened to be a bumper crop, they avoided chemicals, using seaweed spray as a fertiliser. Their approach does seem to have benefited the health of the worm-rich soil. "Initially, there were many weeds, so we kept mowing and eventually a grass and flower meadow came out with dandelions and buttercups between the vines. Now, we mow every other row alternately between years. So there's a bit of respite and regeneration through it."
In addition to Stopham and Missing Gate's championing of Pinot Blanc, Balbina cites Albury as an inspiration for their sustainable, organic and biodynamic approach to winemaking. Moreover, as Balbina's Spanish grandmother's family are shepherds, it's no surprise that at Bsixtwelve, sheep are allowed to graze and fertilise the vineyard before budburst in April/May.
In keeping with her "leave the grapes to do what they do" attitude, all Bsixtwelve wines are unfiltered and unfined, while only wild yeasts are used without pied de cuve (a starter yeast culture).
"Same grape, different personalities."
In 2017, three years after planting the vineyard, the first Bsixtwelve wines, totalling 636 bottles, were made at Stopham Vineyard. From 2021, all wines have been made at Lone Farm. Starting with one wine, Balbina now makes four styles, all from 100% Pinot Blanc, with another expression planned later this year. "I've done what I wanted to do - show the personalities of an underdog variety", she describes with pride. "The wines show the versatility of Pinot Blanc and are so different. It's like they're different kids with unique personalities and different ways of growing up!"
Bottle closure: Currently under screwcap, a cork stopper will be used from the next vintage onwards.
Number of bottles made: 1272.
ABV: 11.4%.
Residual sugar: 3g/L.
Colour: Straw.
Nose: Aromatic and floral with notes of citrus peel, dried flowers and a slight touch of woody cinnamon stick.
Palate: Dry and delicate with green apple, grapefruit and lemon notes, bracing but balanced acidity and a subtly salty, mineral edge.
Food match A creamy or cheesy fish or chicken dish, for example, will bring out the citrus flavours in the wine, but oysters would be a great match too.
Recommended serving temperature: 10-11°C.
RRP: £25.
Although Balbina was always determined to make still wine, the lure of sparkling came from a trip to Spain, as she describes. "I wasn't going to make a sparkling wine, but I went to Penedès and met Eduard (Edu) Pie at Sicus winery. He makes an Ancestral Method version, so I thought I can make one too."
She made her first fizz in 2020 with Tim Phillips at Charlie Herring Wine and sold the bottles to a local restaurant in Winchester, where they served it by the glass. Since 2022, she's been making this wine at Lone Farm. Balbina renamed it Lola's Tipple last year (previously it was B Fizzy), in memory of her dog Lola who died in 2022. The wine remains one year on its lees, is disgorged by hand and then spends six months in bottle.
Bottle closure: Crown cap.
Number of bottles made: 120.
ABV: 11%.
Residual sugar: 3.2g/L.
Colour: Hazy straw.
Nose: Notes of dried chamomile flowers, apple and pear.
Palate: Juicy, fleshy notes of stone fruit plus apricot kernel minerality, apple and a touch of herbaceousness with a little chamomile coming through on the long palate. Acidity is good, balanced by a subtle, softening touch of buttery brioche.
Food match: Very quaffable on its own, this is a versatile, gastronomic wine that helps to accentuate herbal flavours in many types of food and, like the wine above, will match creamy dishes, such as chicken or mushroom risottos. It's also a particularly good pairing for oysters or asparagus and other vegetables, salads and vegetarian canapés.
Recommended serving temperature: 10-11°C.
RRP: £29.
Balbina made her first orange wine (around 50 bottles) at Charlie Herring in 2020 and is now releasing the 2021. This wine spends six weeks on its skins, before a year in tank and then eight months in fifth-use red Burgundy barrels.
Bottle closure: Cork.
Number of bottles made: 184.
ABV: 11%.
Residual sugar: 0.22g/L.
Colour: Light amber.
Nose: Perfumed with notes of sandalwood, nutmeg, dried pear and a hint of prune. After a few minutes, the wine opens up further with woody incense aromas.
Palate: Gentle hints of liquorice root, clove and star anis spice with good acidity, softened by a touch of mild ginger butter and a subtle, fruity edge of golden plum fleshiness. The finish is definitely moreish and retains a sweet hint of liquorice root.
Food match: Great for drinking on its own, but you could pair it with fresh scallops, oven baked cod with artichokes, chicken, pheasant or many other dishes! it's delicious and not autolytic or yeasty in character.
Recommended serving temperature: 13-14°C.
RRP: £29.
Eduard Pie, who had placed amphorae in the ground throughout his vineyard, also inspired Balbina to make an amphora wine, directing her to his supplier, Carles Llarch. She made her first amphora wine in 2022 and will soon be bottling the latest one for release this springtime. She already describes it as "very balanced and super fresh, but aromatic at the same time".
You can buy single bottles at Thyme and Tides in Stockbridge and The Naked Grape in Alresford, or head to the Bsixtwelve webshop for orders of three or six bottles. You can also find the wines at a selection of hotels, wine bars, gastropubs and restaurants.
If Saint-Exupéry's Le Petit Prince is an allegory for the lack of imagination in adult life, then Bsixtwelve wines are perhaps the antidote! They are etched in Balbina Leeming's deeply personal and often childhood memories, from the name of her winery to Lola's Tipple. The smell of pink grapefruit in the Pinot Blanc Classic brings back childhood memories of her Venezuelan grandmother who had followed a grapefruit diet. "I remember looking up at her cutting the grapefruit", she says. "When I smell it, that's my memory." Similarly, the chamomile note in the sparkling wine recalls her youth with her Spanish grandmother.
Balbina's artisanal passion for making wine shines brightly and the tactile labels, embossed and metallic, are a further way of conveying this through all the senses. "In the end, winemaking is a passion. You do have to make commercial sense, but it still comes from the heart, whether you make 70,000, 200,000 or 2,000 bottles like me!"
… and who can disagree? …
