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Welcome back to the 15th series of The English Wine Diaries!! 

Joining me on today’s episode is Collette O’Leary, head winemaker and estate manager at Henners Vineyard in Herstmonceaux, East Sussex. 

Collette began her career in PR & Marketing in London, specialising in behaviour change campaigns including promoting the HPV vaccine to young women and girls and developing education initiatives to encourage young people to consider vocational education. 

 While it was rewarding work, following a period spent travelling the world, which involved visiting multiple vineyards, she caught the wine bug and decided to retrain as a winemaker. She graduated from Plumpton College in 2014 – at a time when English wine was starting to gain real momentum.

After travelling again overseas to gain experience with renowned sparkling wine producers, such a J Vineyards & Winery in California and Graham Beck in South Africa, she returned to England, joining Bluebell Vineyard Estates before moving a few miles east to Henners, where she has been head winemaker for the past six years.   

Henners was first established in 2007 by former Formula One engineer Lawrence Warr. A decade later it was acquired by Boutinot Wines and is now part of a family of wineries with roots across the world. 

Catch up with all things Henners at henners.com and on Instagram @hennersvineyard. 

This episode of The English Wine Diaries is sponsored by Rankin Bros & Sons — trusted suppliers of corks, closures, and packaging solutions to the UK wine industry since 1774. To learn more about how Rankin is supporting the future of British wine, visit rankincork.co.uk. 

Thanks for listening to The English Wine Diaries. If you enjoyed the podcast then please leave a rating or review, it helps boost our ratings and makes it easier for other people to find us. To find out who will be joining me next on the English Wine Diaries, follow @theenglishwinediaries on Instagram and for more regular English wine news and reviews, sign up to our newsletter at englishwinediaries.com.