My grandfather Peter Hall, who has died aged 82, was one of England’s best known winegrowers. The writer Andrew Jefford described him as “the father of the contemporary English wine scene” – a significant feat for anyone, let alone a man who taught himself winemaking from a paperback, and whose self-planted vineyard totalled six acres.
Breaky Bottom Vineyard, near Lewes, in East Sussex, was Peter’s passion. For five decades he worked meticulously on it: tending the vines by hand, labelling each bottle and taking the maligned Seyval Blanc variety from punchline to prizewinner.
Peter was born at Rangeworthy Court, his family’s country home in Gloucestershire, and grew up in Notting Hill, London, together with his brothers Rémy and Patrick. His mother, Jeannine Mercier, was an artist, and his father, John Inglis Hall, an author.
As a child Peter planned to join the Navy, but changed his mind on discovering that ships were no longer built of wood. He attended St George’s college in Weybridge, Surrey, and briefly worked with the lions at Longleat, Wiltshire, before going on to study agriculture at Newcastle University from 1963 to 1965.
While subsequently working at Northease farm in East Sussex he discovered the nearby valley of Breaky Bottom, which had lain uninhabited for decades. It was love at first sight. He married Diana Robinson, the daughter of the landowner, Harris Robinson, in 1969, and the couple took up the tenancy.
Breaky Bottom began as a livestock farm, but in 1974 Peter and Diana planted their first vines, and soon he was primarily a winemaker. The early years were fraught with the threat of bankruptcy, but Peter carried on. By 1993 he was a well-respected maker of still wines, winning his first gold at the International Wine Challenge that year. Two years later he bought the land that his vineyard stood upon.
In 1995 Peter released his first sparkling wine: the Millennium Cuvée Maman Mercier, named after his mother. Future wines would all bear the names of friends and relations.
As a maker of sparkling wine Peter began to reach new heights. Breaky Bottom was recognised with numerous awards, and became a favourite of both royalty and government. In 2025 he received the Diploma of Honour from the Fédération Internationale des Confréries Bachiques, the first time it had been awarded to an English winemaker.
Peter and Diana later divorced and in 1998 he married Christine Lowe. He is survived by her, and by Kate, Emily, Tom and Toby, the four children from his first marriage, and five grandchildren.
