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The magic and madness of leaving London to start a vineyard in Somerset

The magic and madness of leaving London to start a vineyard in Somerset

Business Mayor26-05-2025
How many of us dream of leaving the city, leaving our jobs, getting away from it all to do something more rural, more romantic — something like running a vineyard? In 2022, communication executive Sophie Brendel and her husband Panu Long, an event manager and drinks consultant, did just that. They upped sticks from London and moved to a 250-year-old Somerset farmstead, following their pipe dream of making their own organic cider and wine. Neither of them had farmed before. For some, the prospect would be terrifying. Brendel, however, goes with 'exhilarating'.
'There are lots of things we worry about,' admits Long of their burgeoning endeavour, launching this spring as Thornfalcon Winery and Press. Should a freak frost occur, for example, the couple are poised to run out at midnight and distribute lit paraffin candles, raising the temperature between the vines. More likely is a period of drought; they have on-site weather stations linked to five satellites, and irrigation from their on-site bore hole. Or deer cropping the vine shoots and destroying the growth; alarms are set up to scare them off with flashing lights — and BBC Radio 4 (deer don't like the sound of the human voice).
It's easy to see why the couple were enamoured with the 40-acre property, though. In the village of Thornfalcon, between Taunton and Ilminster in south-west Somerset, the location is magnificent, with views across to the Blackdown and Quantock Hills. The farmhouse of blue lias (a local limestone) is flanked by wild-flower meadows, woodlands, a 2-acre swimming lake with swans and otters, and a further 30 acres of farmable land. There are two mature apple orchards, while the aspect and loamy soil of the fields provides a fertile bed for growing grapes. As climate change starts to make conditions in France's Champagne region unstable, the UK is becoming a beguiling terroir. Brendel and her husband Panu Long at the 40-acre property, which has wild-flower meadows, woodlands and apple orchards The house is built of blue lias, a local limestone, and has views to the Blackdown and Quantock Hills
'There's an extra level of pressure in that Thornfalcon is also our home,' says Brendel, who at 6ft in wellies and a denim dress, is brimful of energy and plans. 'We're all in.'
Aptly, the couple met by the cider tent at Standon Calling festival in Hertfordshire. Neither was particularly green-fingered. Long's job shaking cocktails at the Met Bar (in its just-launched glory days in the late 1990s) evolved into a career running drinks at international events, such as the Baftas and Elton John's White Tie & Tiara Ball. At 6ft 5in, he is taller still than Brendel and, in contrast to her electricity, has a more laid-back charisma. Brendel, meanwhile, had gone from head of digital communications at the BBC to director of marketing and communications at the Victoria and Albert Museum. 'We spent our holidays exploring European vineyards and the cider orchards of Normandy,' says Brendel. 'We dreamt of setting up something of our own.'
When the pandemic hit and the event world ground to a halt, Long took the opportunity to reskill with vine-growing and winemaking courses (he's still studying for his WSET (Wine & Spirit Education Trust) diploma. Brendel continued as the nexus of the V&A's strategy as it expanded into a family of museums — until she contracted long Covid. She returned to her childhood home in Dorset, close to where Long grew up, and was bedbound for months. Long started out as a mixologist, becoming a drinks consultant and events manager, but is now reskilling in cider- and winemaking
'I found being in nature calming, centring,' says Brendel. They started the property hunt. But a year of looking in Dorset proved fruitless. Then their old friend, the fashion designer Alice Temperley, invited them to stay in her Somerset home, close to where her father makes the award-winning Burrow Hill Cider. 'It was the first of their Cider Bus Saturdays,' recalls Brendel of the now regular events. 'There were acrobats in the fields and a band; it was so bohemian and wonderful.' The next week the property at Thornfalcon came up for sale. They sold their home in Islington, north London, days later.
In Somerset they have created a welcoming home that is a stylish mix of contemporary art and more traditional furnishings. All of the furniture — from the blue Chesterfield sofa by the fire in the living room, to the 19th- century Sussex chairs in the bedrooms — is second-hand. While still sick in bed, Brendel made mood boards of how she wanted the house to look and scoured online auctions.
'Panu suddenly started seeing all these boxes arrive, three months before we moved,' she says. 'I had a multicoloured spreadsheet of every item, where it was being stored, which room it was going into.' Two weeks after completing, their new home was furnished and ready to host a large family Christmas. The welcoming house mixes contemporary art and traditional furnishings, all of which is second-hand The bright farmhouse kitchen, with its coffeepots and hanging lavender and chillies
Throughout the house, cushions and curtains were all made by Brendel. Much of the art, meanwhile, is from friends. Frames along the staircase reveal a birthday card drawn by artist Annie Morris alongside photos of their children, Lara and Sasha; a piece of gold ceramic that was a gift from Edmund de Waal (to celebrate the opening of the Young V&A in east London), and a letter from Brendel's father, the pianist Alfred Brendel, given at her 21st birthday. Read More The 10 Best vacuum cleaners
The farmhouse kitchen is a warm, bright space looking out on to a small pond; there is a wide scrubbed wooden table, and a stove hung with strings of dried chillies and homemade lavender wreaths. On the table there's sourdough from Bonners deli in Ilminster and blue eggs from their Legbar hens. Along with land, they inherited doves, geese and a roost of ageing chickens. An elderly hen broke its leg six weeks after they moved in, says Brendel. 'I will never forget trying to memorise the 13 steps on wikiHow of how humanely to kill a chicken.' The vegetable garden produces lettuce, rocket, asparagus and gargantuan radishes
Their new life has been 'a steep learning curve', says Long. 'We are fortunate the old owners became friends and advised us about managing the land.' Their gardener, artist Helen Knight, still tends to the vegetable garden, with its gargantuan radishes, multiple varieties of lettuce, rocket, peas and asparagus, building hazel wands around the foxgloves and peonies that promote cross-pollination. Estate manager Jeremy Carey has also stayed on.
In 2023, the couple planted the first vineyard by hand, focusing on varieties traditionally used in Champagne: Chardonnay and Pinot Noir Meunier. Last summer, they added hardier hybrid winemaking varietals, including Voltis and Cabernet Noir (which Long could layer into either sparkling or still wine). Their approach is as organic as possible: no herbicides, while local sheep — and their lambs — graze between the vines. Long reviews the keeved cider and Pinot Noir rosé in the winery's 750-litre steel tanks One of Thornfalcon's traditional basket wine presses
The zero-sprayed, fully organic orchards, planted with mainly Kingston Black as well as Browns, Stembridge Cluster and Porter's Perfection, already produce some 10 tonnes of apples a year, though they intend to plant more. Using the farm's 150-year-old apple press, Long hopes to create their first limited edition of keeved cider this summer. 'Keeved is an off-dry cider, which finishes its fermentation in a champagne bottle,' he explains. 'It's not sweet, and is naturally carbonated like a sparkling wine would be.'
I will never forget trying to memorise the 13 steps on wikiHow of how humanely to kill a chicken
All going well, they will join a burgeoning moment in British cider — the Fine Cider Company distributes labels such as Naughton Cider and Find & Foster, at up to £35 a bottle, direct to consumers but also to Michelin-starred restaurants such as the Fat Duck in Bray, Berkshire, and Lyle's and The Ledbury in London.
'We are learning how to navigate marriage and setting up a business, which can't be one and the same thing,' says Long, stroking their black Labrador, Captain. 'You need to sit down and have meetings. It can go wrong if you assume you know what the other person is thinking.' The swimming lake is shared with swans and otters
Where Long's purview is transforming plants to something you'd want to drink, Brendel has a wider brief. 'If it takes seven years from planting a vine to your first bottle of sparkling wine, we need to have a sustainable financial model which balances running costs,' she says.
Central to this is accommodation. She designed a shepherd's hut, looking out across the vines: a charming bedroom with Lake August nasturtium wallpaper, a tiny log stove in the living room and a hammered copper bath out under the stars. This and the lambing shed, with its wood-fired bath for two, and the two-bedroom coach house can all be booked with access to the lake and a waterside wood-fired sauna — an essential addition since Long's mother is Finnish and he takes sauna seriously. 'We are learning how to navigate marriage and setting up a business, which can't be one and the same thing,' says Long Doves, geese and a roost of ageing chickens came with the farm
Brendel brings to Thornfalcon a track record with business strategy. 'It is my background — what I did at the V&A and at the BBC,' she says. 'Now, as a strategic consultant, I'm working with the Royal Shakespeare Company and Somerset House.'
Still, it's been, at times, a bumpy ride. When the delivery of the shepherd's hut was delayed, it wiped out some eight months of rental income — 'and for a while it looked like the supplier might go bankrupt with our money: that's the challenge of wanting to work with smaller businesses'. Then there's the changing landscape of grants, with many vanishing since Brexit. Some costs, such as thatching the roof, keep rising. In the second phase of Thornfalcon's development, they will take on investment to convert a textured stone outbuilding that looks across the vines to Thorn Hill into an events space: as well as hosting supper clubs, plans include a wine school and corporate hospitality. Future plans for the estate include an events space for supper clubs, a wine school and corporate hospitality
Plenty of people are ready to share the dream, and support it. A good deal of the first cider harvest was done in one day, when friends and their children from the village turned out to gather the windfall apples. They are also helped out by volunteers from the World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms — Wwoofers — who come and work for five hours a day in exchange for board and lodging. 'It's a magic place, and we are excited to share it,' says Brendel, underlining a crucial element in her business plan. 'These days, if something doesn't bring me joy I am not interested.'
thornfalcon.com
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England's Euro 2022 win transformed the Lionesses' lives but it was also a ‘poisoned chalice'
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For the country's most popular players, captain Leah Williamson, Russo, charismatic goalkeeper Mary Earps and winning goalscorer that night, Chloe Kelly, there have been invitations to fashion shows, NBA games, Formula One races and the BAFTAs, the British equivalent of the Oscars, to name just a few opportunities presented to those who are now household names. Lauren James, the 23-year-old who has been described as the most naturally gifted footballer in the country, joined Williamson as the face of this summer's Pepsi MAX and Walkers crisps advertising campaigns in the UK. Over the years, brands such as Burberry, Calvin Klein, Cadbury and Victoria's Secret have partnered with select members of the squad, while Vogue, British GQ and Women's Health, some of the world's most recognisable publications, have made Lionesses their cover stars. 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We would not have the BBC producing a podcast with Ella Toone and Alessia Russo if they had not become culturally iconic as a duo.' The Tooney and Russo Show, which gives listeners an insight into the players' lives and friendship, first aired last year. But it is the Calvin Klein partnerships which particularly caught Sher's attention. Kelly modelled for the American fashion label ahead of the 2023 Women's World Cup, while Williamson featured in ads ahead of this summer's Euros. 'Calvin Klein is not speaking to football fans,' he said. 'They are a major fashion brand. They believe that some of the Lionesses have the cultural cachet to be on their billboards. Those are the moments where you just go: 'Wow'.' The Euro 2022 squad were the flag bearers, the history-makers, and brands wanted to snap them up. Such was their influence, one player agency specifically wanted to add a Lioness to their roster. A Lioness playing in the Women's Super League (WSL) was seen as the 'magic formula' which opened doors for sponsorship deals, said a representative who, like all sources in this article, wished to remain anonymous to protect relations. Advertisement Some of the Lionesses receive more commercial opportunities than England men's players, a source said, and are making significantly more money via these partnerships than their club salary. The most recognisable Lionesses went from securing low-level, one-off campaigns to more meaningful and longer-term partnerships that can be worth at least six figures and rising — many times more than before Euro 2022. For non-international WSL players, however, commercial deals are much harder to come by. 'Lionesses are just on a pedestal, elevated to a completely different level,' one representative said. That impacts matters on the pitch, too. After Euro 2022, some WSL clubs factored in the 'Lioness effect' into their recruitment strategy. England players get bums on seats and eyeballs on TV. They were part of the reason 60,000 people packed the Emirates Stadium in back-to-back sell-outs in 2024 as Arsenal hosted Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United in the WSL. The season after Euro 2022, Aston Villa's marketing strategy centred on getting fans to buy season tickets to watch their English internationals: Rachel Daly and Hannah Hampton. Commercial opportunities, however, are reserved for a small number of Lionesses, to the highest-profile players: captain, starting striker, winning goalscorer or biggest personality. It is not enough to be a Lioness — but that is often the case in most team sports. Look at the England's men's team; it is not a surprise Jude Bellingham or Harry Kane receive significantly more media and commercial interest than their team-mates. Within the Lionesses' squad, there is a huge disparity in commercial and media opportunities, and since Euro 2022 brand partnerships have not materialised even for regular members of the starting XI. Players not playing in England, for example, can miss out because brands often want to promote them in their own territory. Advertisement Naturally, England players look sideways and notice what their team-mates are doing off the pitch. 'There is definitely an element of jealousy at seeing others getting deals,' said one representative. 'The Euros was amazing, but it also created some monsters. There is a generation of players who think it is easy to be a Lioness because they just win. Some of the players had a poor attitude, an ego and a swagger about them, thinking anyone can be a Lioness. But an England cap should be worth something.' Another source raised similar concerns, describing winning the Euros as a 'poisoned chalice' as it created a level of entitlement. 'It was rife going into the 2023 World Cup,' they said. 'The team's culture was to worry about who was getting which commercial deal rather than focus on the primary source of success, which was football. That attitude has changed.' For tournament debutantes, such as Michelle Agyemang, 19, and Aggie Beever-Jones, 21, they have been thrust into another world at Euro 2025. Agyemang, 'glued to the screen' as she watched Euro 2022 from home, has had to get used to the limelight, especially as it's her goalscoring from the substitutes' bench which has helped propel England to Sunday's Euro 2025 final against Spain. 'When I was younger I didn't really like the cameras,' Arsenal's teenage striker told reporters, adding that she was still learning how to communicate effectively with the fans and media. 'It's the way the women's game is growing, you will have to speak, you can't hide from the cameras. I'm working on it but I think I'm doing a good job.' Chelsea forward Beever-Jones, who made her senior international debut in July 2024, was 'in awe of everything' when she touched down in Zurich ahead of this summer's Euros and arrived at England's five-star Disney castle-esque Dolder Grand Hotel. 'It still doesn't even really feel like it's happening,' she said, admitting her hat-trick against Portugal at Wembley before the tournament still felt surreal. But the growth in women's football is a double-edged sword. Last week, England defender Jess Carter spoke out about the racial online abuse, described by her England team-mates and manager Sarina Wiegman as 'vile' and 'disgusting', that she has been subjected to throughout Euro 2025. 'The bigger the game gets, the bigger the noise becomes, the more fans there are but the more critics there are,' Lucy Bronze, the most experienced player in the squad, told reporters during the tournament. 'We're open to critics, that's why we love the sport, but we're not open to abuse. Advertisement 'No player needs social media to carry on in sport but from a commercial standpoint, the more a player puts themself out there via different media and builds their brand, the more they maximise their potential earnings. But at what cost?' There are other pressures. too. After Euro 2022 and, to a lesser extent, the 2023 World Cup when England reached the final, one representative said they found the volume of requests 'overwhelming'. Players are recognised in the street and restaurants; pubs suddenly fill with fans if they visit with their families and their whereabouts are put on social media. 'Within six weeks, they became famous,' Wiegman said in 2022. 'Some players can't walk down the street anymore without being almost mobbed. That's a big thing in your private life. You need time to adapt.' The higher-profile players are used to the attention, having been exposed to it over the last few years. Some enjoy the off-pitch work. For Toone and Russo, for example, their podcast is an opportunity to spend time together and a welcome distraction from the intensity of football. Others are advised to 'smile and do their selfie', even though they may not feel entirely comfortable. But they know they have a responsibility — it comes with the job and they have a duty to honour the work of previous generations. Among the training, matches, recovery, photoshoots and media requests, managing a player's schedule is no mean feat. 'Everyone wants a piece of you,' said one representative. 'Diary management becomes really hard. An off day really needs to be an off day.' Another said they were mindful of not 'flogging' their players. 'Time with their family and friends is important. They will tell me: 'I need a day off'.' As their profile increases, players' teams get bigger; football agents, commercial agents and social media teams. Even midway through this summer's tournament, the UK's biggest radio stations and television news shows contacted players' camps to ask for their availability should England do well. Those close to the players say they remain grounded, unchanged and just want to chat about day-to-day things. There is a constant tension, however, between women's footballers becoming a walking billboard and keeping their unique selling point: authenticity and relatability. Reaching another major final has boosted the Lionesses' profiles once more. Given their soaring popularity over the past three years, matching their Euro 2022 success on Sunday would propel them to another stratosphere. Their lives will change again, for better and for worse. (Top photos: Stuart C. Wilson/Getty Images; Karwai Tang/WireImage; Illustration: Eamonn Dalton/The Athletic)

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