Locally-pressed Wyken Moonshine
Wyken Vineyards at Stanton (9 miles north from Bury St Edmunds) has been described as ‘one of the pleasantest places to dine in the English countryside’, and although I’ve been there to eat before, our morning visit there today was for the farmers’ market.
As well as a seven acre vineyard producing wine and beer, the Wyken Hall Estate boasts a picturesque Elizabethan manor house, orchards and gardens of all kinds, a farm, and a medieval barn in which the most delicious food is served.
Every Saturday from 9am to 1pm, the farmers’ market in the ramshackle open sheds and barns is a haven of local produce, with fresh bread, cheese, fish, herbs, meat and vegetables all jostling for your attention and taste buds.
Free advice is offered, too; I found out that yellowing basil leaves are a sign of poor nutrition, while coriander and parsley are two of the most problematic herbs to grow, as I had suspected.
A particularly nice morning, we enjoyed tea and coffee while we gazed at the rare sheep and llamas which grazed in the nearby meadows, and vowed to return, not only to explore the bewildering number of exotic and traditional gardens, but to also visit the Leaping Hare Vineyard Restaurant to experience the expensive, but expansive seasonal food menus.