English Wine

James started his winemaking career at a young age. Cutting his teeth in the wine labs at Broadland Drinks, testing 20 to 30 wines per day, he enrolled on a wine appreciation course led by Frank Leatherdale. James credits Frank’s knowledge, enthusiasm and passion, for setting him on his career journey into wine.

He quickly moved onto his first WSET course, and his passion for wine was set. He started a tailor-made role within Broadland, looking after wine quality and working with various winemakers worldwide.

In 2006, drawn by Lyme Bay Winery’s ambition to plant a vineyard and make still English wines, he took the job and relocated to Devon. While others had already shown that sparkling English wines of real quality could be made, he felt that still wines had significantly more potential.

This has been proved recently as Lyme Bay Winery has won two Trophies in international competitions for still wines within two years, plus a third Trophy for a wine made for nearby Lympstone Manor, the only UK producer to receive such an accolade.

Sarah joined Lyme Bay in 2019, just before harvest. Before that (she describes herself as a ”travelling winemaker”), she worked at wineries in California, Australia and Burgundy. She wasn’t planning on staying for longer than one harvest at Lyme Bay Winery but enjoyed it so much she decided to lay her hat down. 

During the 2020 harvest, Sarah worked the day shift and was astounded at the quality of the fruit, crediting it with a ripeness she has never seen in English grapes before and was really proud of the wines we created from this harvest – and the harvests following this.

In 2023 Sarah worked alongside James with the release of three Single Vineyard wines, created in order to demonstrate the differences and potential of individual plots within the Crouch Valley in Essex, an area of premium sites where we source the majority of our still wine grapes.

In December 2023 Sarah was appointed Head Winemaker. As the Head Winemaker, Massey became responsible for overseeing all aspects of the still and sparkling winemaking process at Lyme Bay Winery. This includes working closely with the vineyard owners and growers, selecting the finest grapes, and ensuring the production of exceptional wines that reflect the unique and different terroirs the winery works with.

Catch Sarah at various tastings and Winemaker dinners with our stockists and partners – visit our social media pages for upcoming events she’s attending on behalf of Lyme Bay Winery.