WILTSHIRE seems like an unlikely location for a vineyard, but even though we don't have the southern French sunshine or Champagne's historic pedigree, there are two vineyards in this area successfully producing fine wines for the British market.

Wylye Valley Vineyard, Crockerton

AT WYLYE Valley Vineyard Paul Dale planted the original vines with his late father, Roger, in 1989 and the first bottles of wine went on sale in 1997 when the vines had matured. Now the nine acres of vineyard in Crockerton, near Warminster, produces 15,000 bottles of wine each year.

The grapes produced in the vineyard are special varieties, which are designed to thrive in a colder climate.

As a consequence people have rarely heard of their names so Mr Dale has renamed each wine he produces after the flies he uses when he fishes on the nearby River Wylye; Coachman, Teal and Green and Watson's Fancy.

The wines are mainly white, as they tend to fare better in the English climate, and there is also a sparkling wine maturing at the moment, which has been bottled for five or six years and will soon be at its best.

Paul has noticed a change in the UK summer climate, he said: "Over the last five or six years we have been harvesting the grapes about two weeks earlier, from the end of September until mid-October, which is the same time as Germany and the Loire region of France."

The vineyard is open six days a week, Monday to Saturday and visitors are welcome to have a taste of the wine and can purchase bottles for £5.50.

Call (01985) 211337 for more information.

Leigh Park Vineyard, Bradford on Avon

The Leigh Park Vineyard is situated one mile north of Bradford on Avon, nestled in an acre of walled garden, which is part of the five acre site at the Leigh Park Hotel.

The 600 vines were planted in 1991, in what used to be a walled Victorian kitchen garden and orchard. Today the vineyard, now in its prime, produces around 800-1000 bottles of wine every year.

The Reichensteiner German grape, chosen to suit the particular type of soil, is noted for making a particularly attractive medium dry white wine.

The hotel's head gardener Gary Wicks tends the vines throughout the year. The vines are pruned between January and March and there is a disciplined spraying schedule between mid-May through to September, to make sure they are always kept healthy to produce the very best grapes in both quality and quantity.

The Leigh Park Vineyard does not have a winery on site, but has had a close association with the local Mumford's Vineyard since the vines were planted, and as well as producing their own range of wines, they also produce the Leigh Park wine every year.

Mumford's Vineyard at Bannerdown, near Bath, is approximately five miles from the hotel and is a family business that takes pride in producing English wines of the highest quality.

The harvesting of the Leigh Park grapes takes place every year, usually in early October, depending on the weather. On the day of the vendange, a team of professional pickers are employed to make sure the grapes are picked and then transported to Mumford's Vineyard as quickly as possible.

The production of the wine commences immediately and the process takes approximately six to eight months, after which the bottled wine is then returned to Leigh Park for storage and labelling.

Leigh Park wine is available only for sale from the hotel itself, either to enjoy as an aperitif by the glass at the bar, with dinner in the restaurant, or just to take away to enjoy at home.

Call (01225) 864885 for more information.