Behind the vine

Elise Lane - Laneberg Wine - Tyneside, UK

When do you think you fell in love with wine, enough to make a career of it?

I fell in love with the chemistry of wine first. When I was at Oxford studying chemistry, I didn't know much about wine at all. When we had formal dinners, we'd go down and buy a bottle of wine, but I wasn't taking much notice of who made it and where it was from. Then I noticed there was a Chemistry of Wine night at a bookstore in Oxford run by a woman in the Chemistry department alongside a Master of Wine. They had a standard tasting sheet, except they also had the added note of the actual chemical compound in the wine to smell. So you'd be smelling chemical compounds and wine. And I was in disbelief that you could smell all those compounds in the wine. That idea that wine is made from grapes, and grapes alone, but there are so many varieties that you get different flavours, colors, smells, textures. That’s what I fell in love with.

Still, it would be another 10 years until I thought to make a career out of it. I was working in London in accounting and I had my first son Max. That was really a catalyst for me. I knew I didn't want my old job anymore. I told myself 'now is the time that I find the thing that's about my life, and my passion'. In some ways it was very much that idea of Max seeing me doing something I enjoyed and was passionate about, and about him being inspired by me as he grew up. Seeing me do what I’m meant to.

So in 2015, I went to Plumpton College and serendipitously they had just started a Masters in Viticulture and Oenology. My chemistry degree and background meant I could get in. After I finished my course and worked in the winery at Plumpton and gone through all of the techniques, I felt that I had enough experience to set up on my own. We decided it made since to move up North, but there weren't wineries in the North East of England. I had visited London Cru before, and spoken about an urban winery, but it was all the logistics of transport and planning that we had to sort out. Finally in 2018, we got the first grapes in from Leicestershire. And everything came together through hard work and establishing connections with local growers.

What story does your wine tell?

The story of the wine is the story of a slightly-risk averse female chemist with a finance background who is trying to rebel against what's expected to show that you can make a quality wine wherever you are as long as you follow the passionate approach of trying to do the best you can while trusting like-minded partners. I’m the winemaker, but I need relationships with growers to make my product. I want to be trusted in my winemaking expertise, therefore I trust the growers in their grape-growing expertise.

It’s also a local story. I'd really like people to think of it as a quality wine made for enjoyment that you can feel good about buying because it’s supporting a local brand. I want it to remind people that if you want to choose to buy something that's made locally to you, you can.

What misconceptions about wine do you think people should forget?

I think you should forget that anyone can tell you what you're tasting. Everyone's palate is different. It's so intimidating to be told what you're meant to taste in wine, and if you can't taste it then that’s wrong or you’re wrong. I've had lots of people taste our Bacchus and they've come up with all sorts of different flavours. There are so many different tasting notes from different people. Nobody should be either telling you what to taste, or forcing you to tell them what you taste.

Also, the misconceptions that anyone thinks cork is better than screw cap and that heavier bottles mean better wine. All of these things are just choices of the winemaker. It has nothing to do with the wine.

What great things about wine do you think people should remember?

Wine should always be for enjoyment, and it's never a test. Unless you're in a wine tasting society and that's what you want to do, no one should be judging each other in a wine tasting. If you enjoy your glass of wine then good on you. I get people who say to me: 'you probably won't like hearing this, but I like sweet rose'. That's fine! It means you like what you like.

What is a piece of advice you would give to a woman interested in breaking into the wine world?

You always have to remember that you're the one with the expertise and with the experience. Which can be hard at first. I get so many men coming up to me and trying to give me advice, and people who think they're experts in wine, but they don't know how to make wine. If you know your stuff, just keep on top of what you know and don't worry about people who try to be helpful and explain things to you. Have confidence, but also don't be afraid to network and ask for help if you need it. Networking is relationship forming, and women are great at that and understanding how other people might feel. That kind of empathy helps in the wine world.

Who is a woman in wine you think everyone should know about?

Sarah Midgley, who was my tutor at Plumpton College. She's head winemaker there, and she makes sure the students are thorough in their best-practice winemaking. She's probably had the most impact on UK winemaking students, because lots of people have gone through her winemaking course.

Where can women find your wine?

We are only in the UK, and sell directly through our site.