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The Yorkshire Wine Explorer

@yorkshirewineexplorer

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Italian sommelier exploring vineyards, bottles and people behind Yorkshire wine.
📍Knaresborough | Yorkshire 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿
👤 @marco_felicissimo_sommelier

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A new chapter begins.

Welcome to The Yorkshire Wine Explorer, a space where my love for wine meets the landscapes, people, food and stories of Yorkshire.

From Italian roots to English wine country, I’ll be exploring bottles, vineyards, wine bars, pairings and hidden gems, always with curiosity, passion and a glass in hand.

This is not just about tasting wine.
It’s about discovering places, sharing moments, and celebrating the beauty behind every bottle.

Let the Yorkshire wine journey begin. 🍷

Please follow, share and support 🙏🍷🥂

#yorkshirewineexplorer #yorkshirewine #wineexplorer #englishwine #yorkshirelife taken in Knaresborough, North Yorkshire by @yorkshirewineexplorer

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3 months ago

In link in bio, my new article published by @glassofbubbly about Yorkshire emerging as one of England’s most exciting wine regions, producing sparkling wines that combine freshness, elegance and a distinctive sense of place.
Enjoy the read!!! Cheers 🍾🥂

#yorkshirewineexplorer #marco_felicissimo_sommelier #glassofbubbly #winelover #englishwine taken in Knaresborough, North Yorkshire by @yorkshirewineexplorer

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4 days ago

Merlot in Yorkshire: could it work?

Yorkshire Heart vineyard and winery is trialling Merlot. The winery near York has planted around 100 Merlot vines. Owner Tim Spakouskas said they may plant more if the trial succeeds.
This is a concrete example of Yorkshire growers testing varieties associated with warmer regions as growing conditions change. It’s still an experiment, so there’s no @yorkshire_heart Merlot wine to taste or review yet.

Yorkshire Heart’s Merlot planting is a small trial, but it reflects a wider willingness to explore what Yorkshire’s changing climate might make possible. The next chapter will be written in the vineyard, one harvest at a time.

Follow the journey: @yorkshirewineexplorer

#yorkshirewineexplorer #yorkshirewine #marco_felicissimo_sommelier#englishwine #yorkshire taken in Knaresborough, North Yorkshire by @yorkshirewineexplorer

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7 days ago

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13 days ago

Yorkshire’s wine story keeps growing. 🍇🍷

From Leventhorpe’s first planting in 1985, the region now has approximately 125 acres (around 51 hectares) under vine, producing over 100,000 bottles a year.

This slide brings together 19 vineyard sites: a guide to the passionate growers and beautiful places shaping Yorkshire wine.

Since moving here from Italy, I’ve loved discovering this community, one glass at a time.

Save it for your next Yorkshire wine adventure!

Follow the journey: @yorkshirewineexplorer

@robin_hoods_bay_vineyard
@malton_vineyard
@ryedalevineyards
@laurelvinesvineyard
@farthingsvineyard
@westow_vineyard
@littlewoldvineyard
@carlton_towers
@knotfieldvines
Leventhorpe Vineyard
@highcayton
@yorkshire_heart
@dunesforde
@goose_beck_vineyard
@towthorpewinesyorkshire
@helmeedgevineyard
@holmfirthwine @holmfirth_vineyard
@boltoncastlewensleydale
@loversall.vineyard

#yorkshirewineexplorer #yorkshirewine #marco_felicissimo_sommelier #englishwine #yorkshire taken in Knaresborough, North Yorkshire by @yorkshirewineexplorer

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17 days ago

GRAPE FOCUS No. 6 — ORTEGA 🍇

Yorkshire wine is not only about the familiar names. Sometimes its character is best expressed through grapes created for cooler places.

A German crossing of Müller-Thurgau and Siegerrebe, Ortega ripens early, an important advantage beneath Yorkshire’s northern skies. In the glass, it can be wonderfully fragrant and gently rounded, with notes of peach, apricot, elderflower and a subtle touch of Muscat.

Perhaps not the most famous grape, but certainly one worth discovering: floral, generous and quietly expressive, now developing its own Yorkshire accent.

Have you ever tasted an Ortega wine?

#yorkshirewineexplorer #yorkshirewine #englishwine #marco_felicissimo_sommelier #yorkshire taken in Knaresborough, North Yorkshire by @yorkshirewineexplorer

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21 days ago

🍇 Harvest time at Knotfield Vines

A beautiful day at the @knotfieldvines Harvest Festival 2026, celebrating the moment when a year of patience, uncertainty and hard work finally bears fruit.

Walking among the vines, meeting the people behind the wines and tasting Yorkshire in the place where its journey begins made the experience particularly special. The harvest is more than gathering grapes: it is community, passion and a shared belief in the future of northern English wine.

Yorkshire’s wine story continues to grow and days like this make it wonderful to follow. 🥂👏

#yorkshirewine #yorkshire#marco_felicissimo_sommelier #englishwine #yorkshirewineexplorer by @yorkshirewineexplorer

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a month ago

Erihskroy Blush Brut 2022
@westow_vineyard is a small, independent vineyard north of Driffield (see map at n.2), where the rolling countryside meets the edge of the Yorkshire Wolds.

Even its curious name tells a Yorkshire story: Erihskroy is simply Yorkshire written backwards, a playful signature for a sparkling wine deeply connected to its northern origins.

📝 Made from Pinot Noir and Seyval Blanc, it opened with delicate aromas of wild strawberry, redcurrant and crisp apple, followed by a subtle floral note. On the palate, the bubbles felt lively and refreshing, carrying flavours of strawberry, pink grapefruit and a gentle hint of brioche. Dry, bright and beautifully balanced, with the naturally energetic acidity that I associate more and more with Yorkshire sparkling wine.

What I particularly enjoyed was its unforced character: cheerful and approachable but with enough precision and freshness to keep you returning to the glass.

Westow Vineyard may be small, but wines like this show how much individuality can emerge from Yorkshire’s cooler climate. A lovely discovery, and another bottle that adds colour to the evolving story of Yorkshire wine.

Follow the journey: @yorkshirewineexplorer

#yorkshirewineexplorer #yorkshirewine #englishwine #marco_felicissimo_sommelier #yorkshire taken in Knaresborough, North Yorkshire by @yorkshirewineexplorer

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a month ago

🍇 YORKSHIRE GRAPE FOCUS N. 5 — BACCHUS

After exploring the deep colour and bright fruit of Rondo, our journey returns to white grapes with one of the most distinctive names in English wine: Bacchus.

Created in Germany but increasingly at home in England, Bacchus is well suited to cool climates and capable of producing fresh, expressive wines with aromas of elderflower, gooseberry, citrus and wild herbs.

In Yorkshire, its naturally vibrant character takes on a distinctly northern edge: crisp, fragrant and shaped by cooler growing conditions. It can be bottled on its own or used in blends, bringing perfume, freshness and personality.

Bacchus is sometimes described as England’s answer to Sauvignon Blanc but perhaps the more interesting question is whether it can develop its own Yorkshire identity.

Floral, fresh and unmistakably English, now finding its Yorkshire voice.

Have you tasted a Bacchus from Yorkshire?

Follow the journey: @yorkshirewineexplorer

#yorkshirewineexplorer #yorkshirewine #englishwine #marco_felicissimo_sommelier #yorkshire taken in Knaresborough, North Yorkshire by @yorkshirewineexplorer

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a month ago

🍇 YORKSHIRE GRAPE VARIETIES | FOCUS N. 4: RONDO

After three white varieties, it’s time to turn red.

Meet Rondo, a dark-skinned grape particularly well adapted to the challenges of cool-climate viticulture.

Very early-ripening and naturally cold-hardy, Rondo can achieve impressive colour and flavour even in northern regions, making it an interesting variety for Yorkshire vineyards.

In the glass, expect a deep ruby colour, with flavours typically moving towards ripe cherry, blackberry, dark plum and gentle spice, while retaining the freshness that characterises cool-climate wines.

Unlike Madeleine Angevine, Rondo is an interspecific hybrid, with Vitis amurensis in its ancestry, one of the reasons behind its ability to cope with colder conditions.

From still reds and rosés to even sparkling red wine, Rondo shows another side of what Yorkshire viticulture can achieve.

Follow the journey: @yorkshirewineexplorer

#yorkshirewineexplorer #yorkshirewine #englishwine #marco_felicissimo_sommelier #yorkshire taken in Knaresborough, North Yorkshire by @yorkshirewineexplorer

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a month ago

Another stop on my journey through the wines of Yorkshire, this time at Yorkshire Heart Vineyard, in the beautiful village of Nun Monkton, between York and Harrogate.

What started in 2000 with just 35 vines and a little experimentation has grown into one of Yorkshire’s most fascinating family-run wine stories. With 21 acres, today, thousands of vines surround the winery, with grapes such as Solaris, Rondo, Seyval Blanc, Pinot Noir and Ortega finding their place in this northern landscape.

What I particularly enjoyed discovering is that everything happens there, from tending and hand-harvesting the grapes to winemaking and bottling. A genuine grape-to-glass Yorkshire story, shaped by family, persistence and a willingness to see what wine can become this far north.

Visits like this are exactly why I started exploring Yorkshire wine: not simply to taste what is being produced today, but to understand the people, places and varieties gradually creating the region’s own wine identity.

@yorkshire_heart

#marco_felicissimo_sommelier #yorkshirewine #englishwine #yorkshirewineexplorer #wine by @yorkshirewineexplorer

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2 months ago

🍇 YORKSHIRE GRAPE VARIETIES | FOCUS N. 3: MADELEINE ANGEVINE

Our journey through Yorkshire’s grape varieties continues with Madeleine Angevine. This variety is particularly well suited to cool-climate viticulture.

Madeleine Angevine is early-ripening and able to perform well in northern conditions. It produces fresh, delicate and aromatic white wines, typically showing notes of green apple, citrus, white flowers and gentle stone fruit.

Its naturally refreshing acidity and light, fragrant character make it an interesting choice for Yorkshire vineyards, where achieving full ripeness within a shorter growing season can be one of the key challenges.

Unlike Solaris and Seyval Blanc, Madeleine Angevine is not an interspecific hybrid: it is a Vitis vinifera crossing, created from Madeleine Royale and Précoce de Malingre.

Follow the journey: @yorkshirewineexplorer

#yorkshirewineexplorer #yorkshirewine #englishwine #marco_felicissimo_sommelier #yorkshire taken in Knaresborough, North Yorkshire by @yorkshirewineexplorer

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2 months ago