Published 1st September 2024

Loxwood Meadworks produce a range of crisp, elegant wines made from honey. Having started by serving punters at a medieval festival, its honey wines are now served at top restaurants, with a new vintage set to take the business to the next level. AAH visited Loxwood Meadow and met co-founder Danny Bacon... 

What is mead?

By definition, mead is an alcoholic drink made from the fermented sugars of honey. You mix the honey with water and add ingredients such as fruits, grains or hops, depending on whether you want to create a beer, spirit or wine style of mead. It’s perhaps the earliest form of alcoholic beverage as people have been enjoying mead for thousands of years.  

When did you discover mead?

Along with my father, Maurice, I organise the Loxwood Joust, an annual celebration of all things medieval. There’s always an abundance of refreshments at the Joust and I came across one that sold mead, promoting it as a medieval drink. I really liked it as it was completely different, but when I went hunting for mead in London, I couldn’t find it anywhere, which is when a business idea began to formulate. As I researched mead, my interest grew, as I could see how we could use our hives to benefit the entire ecosystem around the meadows at Loxwood and create a unique, sustainable product. 

Why was nobody making it?

People have a negative perception of mead and our biggest problem has always been getting people to taste it. We did a lot of market research as we wanted to hear people’s genuine views. Most found mead heavy bodied and overly sweet, but I felt we could create a more contemporary mead. Along with my partner Emily Lambert, we founded the business and set out to re-imagine mead as a lighter, refreshing drink for a new generation, while still using traditional methods of production. We wanted a brand that changed people’s perception of mead in the same way that craft beers changed long-held perceptions of ale.

What type of mead do you make?

Because of its history, people in different parts of the world have different ways of making mead, using various alcohol content. We chose to create a wine-style mead, making it in much the same way but using honey from our hives instead of grapes from vines. My partner Emily has played an important role in developing the wines. She was the first female sommelier at the Ritz and understands what appeals to discerning drinkers. With her help, we set about creating a mead with a similar alcohol volume to wines, but with more of a liqueur style. 

When did you launch the mean?

We founded Loxwood Meadworks in 2018. Initially, we sold mead that was produced elsewhere, branded as Loxwood and sold predominantly at the festival. In the meantime, we learned about the production process until we were ready to make our own, using honey from farms across the UK. We started selling to a farm shops and even some restaurants, including Restaurant Tristan in Horsham, until Covid halted our early progress. So, it feels like our journey began in earnest in 2021. 

You now have your own hives too?

We have 14 active hives at Loxwood Meadows. The bees can travel several miles, helping to pollinate plants at nearby farms, fields and gardens as they gather nectar from a wide variety of crops and plants. Already, we have adopted regenerative methods, extracting honey from hives at certain times of the year, but leaving the spring crop to the bees to help them during the winter. 

Tell us about your range of honey wines…

We have a range of multi-vintage meads, made with our honey as well as that from other farms, blended to our style to maintain consistency. We started with Festival, which has an off-dry sweetness with honey citrus, vanilla and floral notes. Then we launched Glow at the Glow illumination festival at RHS Wisley. For our next wine, we wanted to replicate the night sky, which is very clear from the meadows as there is little light pollution. So, we made Stargaze, a sparkling English honey wine using the traditional Champagne method, with the second fermentation carried out in the bottle. We have also made Sussex Sunset, a dry honey wine fermented in oak. 

You have now produced a vintage…

Vintage is a single-estate mead made entirely from our own honey. We have produced about 500 bottles of our 2022 vintage and hope we can increase that number in years to come. We’re excited about Vintage and hope it will take us to the next level. 

Have you changed perceptions of mead?

Our biggest challenge is still convincing people to try it. Many people are unlikely to buy mead unless they’ve tried it before, so our focus remains on getting mead on trend. We’ve had success in London, working with chefs who incorporate mead into their menu or sommeliers looking for interesting wine pairings for dishes. We supply leading venues and restaurants including South Lodge Hotel, The Dorchester London, Fortnum & Mason and Gordon’s, London’s oldest wine bar. The Mandarin Oriental has opened a hotel in Mayfair and we have been selected as their English sparkling wine, so we are moving in the right direction. 

If perceptions can change, your business should be well placed to benefit…

As far as we know, nobody else is making a wine-style mead and promoting it as part of the growing English wine movement. We have five years of experience behind us, with a great product and established partners. However, we are always discovering new things about honey wine to help us make an even better mead in future.  

Further information:

For the full range of products and a list of local suppliers, visit the website at www.loxwoodmeadworks.com 

WORDS: Ben Morris / PHOTOS: Alan Wright