Oxney Estate

The Oxney Organic Estate started life as Bellhurst Farm, an organic farm certified by the Soil Association. Bellhurst is just north of Rye in East Sussex and 250 Suffolk Mule ewes graze in its meadows and grassland, on the slopes next to the Rother River. It sells delicious lamb in creative lamb boxes, offer holiday accommodation in converted outbuildings and are now venturing into the growing of vines and production of organic wine.

Our brief began with a request to develop brand naming, brand identity, look and feel for the new wine brand. The wine is being made from grapevines planted on the estate, nurtured by an experienced viticulturist as well as being fermented and bottled on the premises. There are a large number of new winemakers in the UK many of whom are based on the hillsides of East Sussex and Kent. The brand needed to stand out and appeal to the high end, discerning market for sparkling English wine.

We started with brand research, taking a look at the competitors already established and others beginning to appear in the market. We found many struggling with the language they use to describe English wine, branding and language verging on being Francophile but some that were far more confident and true to origin. There were not many who seemed to be growing, fermenting and bottling on their own estate, as Bellhurst is. We also felt that the total offer of Bellhurst Farm filled out a strong offer of product, produce and experience and agreed with our clients that developing a brand implementation strategy across the whole estate would be advantageous to each individual line of business.