I am not sure who first said it - but the phrase 'Never Meet Your Heroes' needs a reassessment.
Let me tell you why.
When we first found New Barns Farm and started researching what to grow here, we quickly settled on grapes. Why? Because we had poor soil and largely south facing slopes, dominated by chalk. Our chalk is actually part of the same geological seam that you find in Champagne.
This was a dream come true for me. Ever since my university days, I imagined that growing grapes and making wine would feature in my future. But lets be real about that dream. Farming isn't something you do on a whim, even at our small scale, and the months we spent here, when we were mapping and planning and testing and budgeting were terrifying. All the scenarios we were working on came with high costs and higher risks. I have said it many times, going into farming now, in the face of climate change, is an act of outright defiance.
We were nervous. We didn't want to make a mistake. We read a lot, particularly about regenerative viticulture, and the potential for sheep in the vineyard, and the more we read (or listened to recordings of lectures or podcasts) the more the name Kelly Mulville came up.
Kelly Mulville
Kelly is a pioneer in organic and regenerative winegrowing. For the past 25 years he has managed, designed and consulted for vineyards, farms and ranches, across the United States and around the world. He is an expert in restoring ecosystem health through regenerative agriculture; his work enhances biodiversity, builds soil, and improves climate resilience. Crucially for us, he is renowned for incorporating sheep into a high wire trellis system.
We had a lot of questions that we couldn't find answers for in anything of his that we had read or heard. I thought, why don't we e-mail him, and ask for some help? This is the equivalent of emailing Steven Spielberg about how best to make a short film, or sending a note to Miuccia Prada for help on a handbag design...
Kelly replied. He said, lets jump on a zoom. We were flabbergasted.
Our 40 minutes of allotted 'free zoom' time went quickly, but Kelly answered all our questions, assuredly and efficiently. In short, Kelly is amazing; he isn't loud, he has no big ego, and he is happy to not have all the answers. He so obviously loves what he does, especially the complexity that a life in service of nature demands.
We implemented literally everything we learned from Kelly.
Fast forward four and a half years and Kelly emailed us, he was coming to the UK to give a few speeches and was hoping we could meet him at the UK Vineyard and Winery Show. I immediately replied - why don't you come and stay?
Kelly and his partner Elaine met Elvis on Wednesday and came back to the farm. I made it back for a dinner shared with friends from the Regenerative Viticulture Foundation and we talked and talked - about Silent Spring, and how we ended up on farms, about that amazing 40 minute phone call, about everything we are trying at the farm. We talked about everything they do at Paicines Ranch and kept coming back to something all 4 of us are clearly practising - Radical Regenerative Hospitality.
Paicines Ranch
We had a lovely breakfast with Kelly and Elaine before they were off the next day and I have to say, we were all close to tears, just joy, bubbling through.
Kelly told us that 'he never thought a mere 40 minute investment of his time could pay off so spectacularly'.
We can't wait to make the trip to see them. There is so much to learn and discuss.
If you have a hero like Kelly, get in touch. You never know how they might surprise you, how they might be so much more amazing than you expected.
Elvis, Elaine, Kresse and Kelly (yes, we are both E&Ks)
