The City of Bristol's Backyard Vineyards: Foot-Stomping Fruit in Urban Spaces

Each quarter of an hour or so, an older diesel railway carriage pulls into a spray-painted station. Close by, a law enforcement alarm cuts through the almost continuous road noise. Daily travelers rush by falling apart, ivy-covered fencing panels as rain clouds gather.

This is perhaps the last place you expect to find a perfectly formed vineyard. But James Bayliss-Smith has managed to four dozen established plants heavy with round purplish grapes on a rambling garden plot situated between a row of 1930s houses and a local rail line just above the city downtown.

"I've seen people concealing heroin or whatever in those bushes," states Bayliss-Smith. "But you simply continue ... and continue caring for your vines."

Bayliss-Smith, 46, a filmmaker who runs a kombucha drinks business, is not the only urban winemaker. He's pulled together a informal group of growers who make vintage from four hidden city grape gardens nestled in back gardens and allotments throughout Bristol. It is too clandestine to possess an formal title so far, but the collective's messaging chat is named Vineyard Dreams.

Urban Wine Gardens Around the Globe

So far, the grower's plot is the sole location registered in the Urban Vineyards Association's upcoming world atlas, which includes better-known urban wineries such as the 1,800 vines on the hillsides of Paris's historic artistic district neighbourhood and more than three thousand vines overlooking and inside Turin. The Italian-based non-profit association is at the vanguard of a movement reviving urban grape cultivation in traditional winemaking countries, but has discovered them throughout the globe, including cities in Japan, Bangladesh and Central Asia.

"Grape gardens assist cities remain greener and ecologically varied. They preserve open space from development by creating long-term, productive farming plots inside urban environments," says the association's president.

Similar to other vintages, those produced in urban areas are a result of the soils the plants thrive in, the unpredictability of the climate and the individuals who tend the fruit. "A bottle of wine embodies the charm, local spirit, landscape and heritage of a city," adds the president.

Unknown Eastern European Grapes

Back in the city, the grower is in a urgent timeline to gather the grapevines he grew from a plant abandoned in his allotment by a Eastern European household. Should the rain arrives, then the pigeons may take advantage to attack once more. "This is the mystery Eastern European grape," he comments, as he removes bruised and mouldy grapes from the glistering bunches. "The variety remains uncertain what variety they are, but they're definitely hardy. Unlike noble varieties – Burgundy grapes, white wine grapes and other famous European varieties – you don't have to spray them with chemicals ... this is possibly a unique cultivar that was bred by the Soviets."

Collective Activities Across the City

Additional participants of the collective are additionally taking advantage of bright periods between bursts of autumn rain. On the terrace with views of the city's glistening harbour, where medieval merchant vessels once floated with barrels of vintage from Europe and Spain, one cultivator is collecting her rondo grapes from approximately fifty vines. "I adore the smell of the grapevines. The scent is so reminiscent," she remarks, pausing with a basket of grapes resting on her shoulder. "It recalls the fragrance of Provence when you roll down the vehicle windows on vacation."

The humanitarian worker, 52, who has devoted more than 20 years working for charitable groups in war-torn regions, inadvertently took over the vineyard when she moved back to the United Kingdom from Kenya with her household in recent years. She felt an strong responsibility to look after the grapevines in the yard of their new home. "This vineyard has already survived multiple proprietors," she explains. "I deeply appreciate the concept of environmental care – of passing this on to future caretakers so they continue producing from the soil."

Terraced Gardens and Traditional Production

A short walk away, the final two members of the collective are hard at work on the precipitous slopes of the local river valley. Jo Scofield has cultivated over one hundred fifty plants situated on ledges in her expansive property, which tumbles down towards the muddy River Avon. "Visitors frequently express amazement," she notes, indicating the interwoven grape garden. "They can't believe they can see rows of vines in a city street."

Today, the filmmaker, sixty, is harvesting bunches of deep violet Rondo grapes from rows of plants slung across the cliff-side with the assistance of her child, Luca. Scofield, a wildlife and conservation film-maker who has contributed to streaming service's Great National Parks series and television network's gardening shows, was motivated to cultivate vines after seeing her neighbor's grapevines. She's discovered that hobbyists can make intriguing, enjoyable traditional vintage, which can sell for upwards of seven pounds a glass in the growing number of wine bars specialising in minimal-intervention wines. "It's just incredibly satisfying that you can truly create good, traditional vintage," she says. "It is quite fashionable, but really it's resurrecting an traditional method of producing vintage."

"When I tread the fruit, the various natural microorganisms come off the skins into the liquid," explains the winemaker, ankle deep in a bucket of tiny stems, pips and crimson juice. "This represents how vintages were historically produced, but industrial wineries introduce sulphur [dioxide] to kill the wild yeast and then add a lab-grown yeast."

Difficult Conditions and Inventive Approaches

A few doors down active senior Bob Reeve, who inspired Scofield to plant her grapevines, has gathered his friends to harvest white wine varieties from one hundred plants he has arranged precisely across multiple levels. Reeve, a northern English PE teacher who taught at the local university developed a passion for wine on annual sporting trips to Europe. But it is a challenge to grow this particular variety in the dampness of the valley, with cooling tides sweeping in and out from the Bristol Channel. "I aimed to make French-style vintages in this location, which is somewhat ambitious," admits Reeve with a smile. "Chardonnay is slow-maturing and particularly vulnerable to fungal infections."

"I wanted to make European-style vintages in this environment, which is rather ambitious"

The unpredictable local weather is not the only challenge faced by winegrowers. The gardener has had to install a barrier on