Cotswold Hills

* Happerley audits, certifies and publishes food and drink supply chains. Happerley is not responsible for the client supplied information for Our Brand Values and Our Commitments. However, if you believe this information to be inaccurate please contact the Happerley Support team on [email protected].

OUR BRAND VALUES*

Cotswold Hills is grown on a 2.6 hectare plot in Down Ampney, near Cirencester, and is produced from mainly Ortega grapes to create a flavour described as “fruity, dry wine with aromas of peach”. Since the Royal Agricultural University (RAU) took on the tenancy of the vineyard in 2016, the social enterprise project not only produces award-winning wine, but more importantly gives students the opportunity to gain first-hand experience of the wine production process, from grape to bottle, while proceeds support students who want to start their own businesses. Sustainability is a core part of the project’s ethos.

OUR COMMITMENTS*

Sustainability

Sustainability is very important to us at Cotswold Hills and we always try to consider it when designing any new product or packaging. In 2018, we launched our new canned wine as a way of reducing plastic waste at events. We also try to use recyclable cardboard cases and try to reuse these whenever possible. In addition, we are conscious of where things are sourced from and try to work with local suppliers as much as possible. We also try to minimise our use of single use plastic in all aspects of the brand from choosing our packing tape to decoration of our stands at events.

Environment

All our white grapes are grown on our vineyard just outside Cirencester and the grapes used in our rose are sourced from Gloucestershire.

Local Communities

As far as possible, we try and work with local suppliers from where we source our labels to where we get our wine produced. We are also proud to promote the wine throughout the Cotswolds and regularly attend events across the region. Our events also provide our students with an opportunity to interact with the local community promoting the Cotswold Hills brand whilst developing their own employability skills.

Packaging & Waste

Our wine is packaged in either glass bottles or cans, both of which are widely recyclable. Ensuring our packaging is easily recyclable is very important to us, and this helped to stimulate the launch of our canned product in 2019, which was designed to reduce the use of single use plastic at events or whilst travelling.

Inspiring & Educating

Cotswold Hills operates as a social enterprise project with a strong core goal to support students at the Royal Agricultural University to develop their employability skills and experience, as well as proceeds supporting them to start their own businesses.

Energy Reduction

In order to help reduce our energy consumption all of our grapes are grown and processed into our award winning wine within Gloucestershire. This reduces the food miles involved in the production of our product.

Nutritional Values

Our bottled wine does not contain any additional sugar. However, we do add some sugar to our canned product to ensure it tastes at it best when consumed.