Owners of Hawkswood Vineyard and Winery, in Thurston, near Bury St Edmunds, celebrate triple win at annual WineGB Awards

Owners of a Suffolk vineyard expressed their ‘delight’ after scooping two national awards for their wines and one for their site.

Michael and Irene Rhodes, owners of Hawkswood Vineyard and Winery, in Thurston, near Bury St Edmunds, are celebrating an ‘unexpected’ win during the annual WineGB Awards.

Judging for the eight edition of the competition was held in Devon, southwest England, last month, and saw a record number of entries and gold medals awarded.

Among them was Hawkswood’s 2023 Pinot Rosé, which scooped gold – the only wine in East Anglia to do so – as well as its 2023 Hawkswood Bacchus, a still white, which claimed silver.

The latter wine was awarded silver third year in a row.

The couple’s vineyard was also hailed as the best in the East of England.

“It was very unexpected,” said Michael. “I still have to pinch myself.

“It’s a very important benchmarking tool because if the judges like it, it gives you confidence in what you got.”

Hawkswood Vineyard has been making award-winning wines every year for the last six years.

The couple met when Irene, a theatre nurse, was assisting Michael with operations in 1995.

Michael said his passion for wines started in 1977 during an annual wine festival in Germany, and when the opportunity came for Michael to retire in 2018, it was a chance to turn a hobby into a reality.

Producing around 4,000 bottles of red, white and rose each year, the couple do all the work themselves except when family members are called to help with the harvest.

“I think this year feels a little bit different,” added Michael.

“The other well-known vineyards and winery in our area are all very good and were entered into the competition, but we seemed to have produced something the judges thought was better.

“It feels a little bit special because the accolades were higher and the gold medal was unique to the East of England and I suspect it might not happen again – who knows.

“If it does, that’s great, but I have this feelings that this is almost too good to be true.”

Oz Clarke OBE, co-chair of WineGB Awards judging panel, said: “Every single category was at its best level this year.

“There were more wines than ever, and there were some truly fascinating expressions of grape varieties, both well-known and more obscure.

“Ambition and innovation were triumphantly in step with each other.”