Peter Hall – one of the most significant and influential figures in the English wine industry – has died at the age of 82.
Hall moved to his six-acre Breaky Bottom estate in a remote part of the South Downs in East Sussex in the late 1960s. He planted vines and became a pioneer of English sparkling wine, with Seyval Blanc playing an important role in his blends.
In recent times Hall’s influence on the industry has been widely acknowledged but he remained an unassuming, self-proclaimed “hermit”, rarely leaving his beloved estate to attend industry events, or indeed for any other reason. But he was an engaging host at his small flint cottage, where he lived with his wife Christina, with his many friends braving the treacherous flint track to the property to spend time in his company.
He was also a proud sheep farmer and lover of the arts, befriending poets and performers, and even staging opera on the farm.
In his final Winery Notes entry on the Breaky Bottom website, published on August 8, Hall revealed he had been “particularly unwell recently”.
In 2022 Hall was interviewed at Breaky Bottom by Wine Merchant editor Graham Holter for the Q&A feature, which resulted in one of the magazine’s most popular articles in its history.
“I don’t have any big regrets,” he said. “I am grateful for my good fortune, from childhood onwards. I’m a lucky bugger.”
