When Gavin Carver launched Freedom of the Press in early 2020, he couldn’t have known how the world would change in a few short weeks.
His original plan was to have an ‘urban winery’ in Oxford, in a business style resembling a micro-brewery. However, the pandemic intervened, and now Freedom of the Press is based in an idyllic location on a hilltop in the Cotswolds, using grapes brought in from some top vineyards in Essex.
But the original goal remains the same: to make small batches of beautiful still wines from exquisite English grapes, bringing out the best in each wine. In pursuit of this goal, Gavin leaves no stone unturned, using a range of vessels for fermentation and ageing: earthenware jars, concrete eggs, French oak barrels (2nd or 3rd use from Burgundy) as well as steel tanks.