A PARTY of 16 members visited Chilford Hall Vineyard at Linton near Cambridge on Thursday, and learned how wine was produced in England. The first part of the tour featured visits to the several wonderful old barns which have been converted to function su

A PARTY of 16 members visited Chilford Hall Vineyard at Linton near Cambridge on Thursday, and learned how wine was produced in England.

The first part of the tour featured visits to the several wonderful old barns which have been converted to function suites. There was also one barn, now the winery, which had been transported from its original site in Linton and rebuilt - like a giant meccano construction kit with numbered parts - at its new location.

Then came the wine-producing part: How the grapes were picked by hand and crushed in a huge crushing machine, and then the skins and debris are removed before the liquid had the yeast added in large vats, to ferment, with decanting into another vat before standing until ready for further processing and bottling.

Wine tasting followed, with five of the firm's products being thoroughly tested by the club.