'I stay up with candles to warm my vineyard's grapes'

"Frost damage would be devastating for us as it would likely mean no harvest for the year - no harvest, no wine."

Robert Kalisiak, 42, who owns the Wolds Wine Estate near Keyworth, Nottinghamshire, said he had recently been camping out in his two vineyards overnight to monitor the 350 candles he lights to protect his grapes from frost.

Freezing overnight temperatures between mid‑April and late May can damage new shoots across his 4,000 vines, and once shoots are damaged, regrowth is delayed, which leads to lower yields and poorer‑quality grapes, he said.

"Worst case scenario is we wouldn't make any wine this year, which would be devastating to the business," said Kalisiak.

Kalisiak has been lighting candles across his two vineyards, which is around 3.3 acres (1.33 hectares) in total, every spring for the past four years.

"Frost can vary year on year. Temperatures can drop to -3°C (26.6°F) and that kind of temperature could damage pretty much all of the shoots on the vine," he said.

"We just hope that the flames from the candles increase the temperature enough to keep the frost at bay.

"The late frost and very cold night will be devastating to the young shoots and it would make them die off.

"Whilst the vine will survive, any regrowth will set us back about two months."

Nicola Bates, CEO of GB Wines said frost can be "painful and sad" for vineyard owners and teams.

GB Wines said the worst-hit areas were in the south, including Kent, Sussex and Hampshire, which together were home to more than 70% of the country's vineyards.

"The pattern across the country and by region is highly variable, and the impacts vary from one vineyard to another, so it is too early to say the overall impact on this year's UK harvest"," said Bates.

"We anticipate that it will be a number of bottles down from our second largest harvest of 2025, which is a shame given the latent potential that comes in the vines from a particularly sunny season as it was last year, but there is nothing that would indicate a problem to the quality."

Kalisiak said last year was a "fantastic weather year" and he has only had to light candles once so far this year.

"Hopefully this year, all being well, we'll get at least 4,000 bottles," he said.

"We had a bumper harvest last year, and we still have around 3,500 bottles worth of wine in the tank, which will be released this year."

"This year the vines are doing really well but vineyards in the South are having more trouble.

"It's really sad to hear and see lots of vineyards have had their vines frostbitten with lots of frost damage."

Kalisiak said spring was his "worst time of year", but said the sight of his vineyard being illuminated by candles made it worthwhile.

"It's the one time of year I question why, why have I done this? Why have I set up a vineyard in England?

"Lighting candles takes about an hour and you camp out from midnight to around 6:00 BST.

"Once they are all lit, it's a beautiful sight and those concerns about it being the worst time of year kind of leave your mind.

"You just think, what a beautiful view, it's just, it's so spectacular," he said.

Kalisiak said the candles were safe and did not spark or smoke "because of the natural vegetable wax".

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