Lad wins prestigious wine making award at the age of 20

One young lad is already making waves in the winemaking industry after winning a prestigious award.

Ashton Kirby clearly knows his merlot from his pinot - while the rest of us were still swilling Glenn's Vodka with orange squash, the 20-year-old managed to scoop a prestigious winemaking award.

I've heard of whiskies that have been in a barrel longer than that!

Ashton won the WineGB gold award for his Reserve Cuvée 2018. He took over the Bewl Water Vineyard, near Wadhurst, East Sussex, three years ago after leaving college.

The vineyard has some of the oldest vines in England, which were planted back in the 1970s - 30 years before Ashton was even born.

Instagram/@bewlwatervineyard/@posingwithalcohol

He told the BBC: "I think the most rewarding part of the job is people smiling when they try my wine.

"All the blood sweat and tears I've pout into it turning into a moment where people try a wine and think 'yeah, that's really nice'."

Ashton took over the vineyard after leaving college, and says that he 'forced himself' to learn.

He said: "I ended up running a vineyard at the age of 20 kind of by chance. Before me and my family moved here I had no experience with farming or viticulture, I was a complete townie. I had more or less no experience with wine.

"I was about to finish my last year of college and I didn't have a clue what I was going to do with my life.

"I was granted this amazing opportunity to take this vineyard that was sort of run down and make something out of it."

There's quite a responsibility with the vines too as they have been around for quite a while, with Ashton explaining: "These are some of the oldest vines in England.

Instagram/@bewlwatervineyard

"We think they're about 50 plus years old, we know they were planted in the 70s, which is 30 years before I was born, which is mad to think about.

"Wine growing really has become all-consuming."

Lower temperatures in the UK mean that wines maintain a higher acidity. This is very different from grapes which are grown in a much hotter climate, such as Southern Italy, which contain a lot more sugar due to the higher amounts of energy the vines take in from the sun.

This can lead to stronger, sweeter wines, while the lower sugar can mean the opposite.

If you want to sample it, Ashton's Reserve Cuvée 2018 is available on the vineyard's website for £54 a bottle. One for a special occasion!