How many of us dream of everything, all, to do something like leaving town, leaving work, then running away, running through the vineyards? In 2022, Communications Executive Sophie Brendel and husband Panulong, the event manager and drink consultant, did just that. They lifted their sticks from London and moved to Somerset Farmstead, 250, to continue their dream of making their own organic cider and wine. Neither had been cultivated before. For some, prospects can be scary. However, Brendel goes with “Exhilaration.”
“There’s a lot to worry about,” he long acknowledged their burgeoning efforts, and launched this spring as Thorn Falcon winery and media. For example, if freak frost occurs, the couple will run out in the middle of the night and distribute bright paraffin candles, raising the temperature between the grapes. A period of drought is more likely. They have on-site weather stations linked to five satellites and irrigation from the hole holes at the site. Or destroy the deer and growth that creates vine shoots. The alarms are set to scare them with flashing lights – and BBC Radio 4 (deer don’t like the sounds of human voices).
However, it’s easy to see why the couple is so obsessed with their 40 acres of property. In the village of Thornfalcon, between Taunton and Ilminster in southwestern Somerset, the location is spectacular with views of Blackdown and Quantuck Hills. The Bluelius Farmhouse (local limestone) features wildflower meadows, woodlands, two-acre swimming lakes with swans and otters, and an additional 30 acres of farms. There are two mature apple orchards, but the field aspects and loiny soil provide a fertile bed for growing grapes. As climate change begins to destabilise conditions in France’s Champagne region, the UK is becoming an attractive terroir.
Brendel and her husband Panu, a 40-acre facility with wildflower meadows, forests and apple orchards, for a long time, the house is made of blue rias, local limestone, offering views of blackdown and Quantock Hills
“There’s an extra level of pressure in that Thornfalcon is also our home,” says Brendel, who is full of six feet of energy and planning in Wellies and Denim dresses. “We’re all in.”
Aptly, the couple met in a cider tent at the Standon Call Festival in Hertfordshire. Neither of them were particularly green fingers. Long’s work evolved into career running drinks at international events such as Bufftus and Elton John’s White Tie & Tiara Balls, whipping cocktails at Met Bar (in a glorious era that just launched in the late 1990s). At 6 feet 5 inches, he is still taller than Brendel, and in contrast to her electricity, he has a more relaxed and charisma. Meanwhile, Brendel went from BBC’s Digital Communications Director to Marketing and Communications Director at the Victoria and Albert Museum. “We spent our holidays exploring European vineyards and Normandy cider orchards,” says Brendel. “We dreamed of setting up our own.”
When the pandemic hit and the world of events stopped, for a long time, grape growth and winemaking courses (he still studied for his diploma in Wset (Wine & Spirit Education Trust). Brendel continued as a tie in the strategy of the V&A as he expanded into the museum family, and sleeper for several months.
Long started as a mixologist and became a drink consultant and event manager, but is now reskilled in cider and winemaking.
“We found it to be at the heart of nature,” says Brendel. They started a property hunt. However, the year we see Dorset has proven fruitless. Their old friend, fashion designer Alice Temperry, invited them to stay at a Somerset house near where her father makes award-winning Barrow Hill Cider. “It was the first Saturday on their cider bus,” recalls Brendel, a now-normal event. “There was an acrobatic in the field and the band. It was so bohemian and wonderful.” The following week, Thorn Falcon’s real estate was put for sale. They sold their home a few days later to Islington, north of London.
In Somerset, they created a welcoming home, a stylish mix of contemporary art and more traditional furniture. From the Blue Chesterfield sofa to the Blue Chesterfield sofa by the living room fire to the 19th century Sussex chairs in the bedroom, all furniture is indirect. While still sick in bed, Brendel created a mood board that she wanted to show the house to an online auction and wash away.
“Panoo suddenly started to see all these boxes arrive three months before we moved,” she says. “There was a multi-color spreadsheet of all the items and it was kept there. Two weeks after it was completed, their new home is furnished and ready to host a Christmas for a large family.
The cozy home mixes modern art with traditional furniture. All of these are used bright farmhouse kitchens with coffee pots and hanging lavender and chili peppers
Throughout the house, all cushions and curtains were made by Brendel. On the other hand, much of the art comes from friends. The frame along the stairs reveals birthday cards that artist Annie Morris drew alongside photos of children Lara and Sasha. A gift from Edmund des Waals of gold (to celebrate the opening of the young V&A in East London) and a letter from Brendel’s father, pianist Alfred Brendel, was given on his 21st birthday.
The farmhouse kitchen is a warm and bright space overlooking the small pond. It is hung on a wide washed wooden table and a stove with strings of dried chili peppers and homemade lavender wreaths. On the table are sourdough from Bonners deli in Ilminster and blue eggs of chickens from Leg Bar. Along with the land, they inherited the roosts of pigeons, geese and aged chickens. Brendel broke his leg six weeks after the elderly chicken moved in. “I will never forget to try and remember Wikihau’s 13 steps of how humane it is to kill chicken.”
The vegetable garden produces lettuce, rockets, asparagus and giant radish.
Their new life was a “straight learning curve,” Long says. “Fortunately, the old owner became friends and advised on land management.” Their gardener, artist Helen Knight, is still building a hazel cane around fox gloves and peonies that promote mutual pollination. Real estate manager Jeremy Carrey has also stayed.
In 2023, the couple planted their first vineyards by hand. Last summer they added stiffer hybrid winemaking varieties, including Voltis and Cabernet Noir (which could be layered over sparkling wines for a long time). Their approach is as organic as possible. Although there are no herbicides, local sheep and their lambs are grazed among the grapes.
Review key bed cider and Pinot Noir Rosé in the winery’s 750-liter steel tank. One of Thorn Falcon’s traditional basket wine presses
Zero sprayed, completely organic orchards planted primarily with Kingston Black and Browns, Starbridge Clusters and Porter perfection, already produce around 10 tons of apples a year, but they are trying to plant more. Long hopes to use the farm’s 150-year-old Apple Press to create the first limited edition of Keeved Cider this summer. “Keeved is off-dry cider and finishes the fermentation in a champagne bottle,” he explains. “It’s not sweet and naturally carbonated like sparkling wine.”
I will never forget to try and remember the 13 steps in the wikihow of how humane it is to kill chicken
Everything goes well and they take part in the burgeoning moments of British Cider. Luxury cider companies direct labels such as Norton Cider and Find & Foster directly to consumers with bottles up to 35 pounds.
“We’re learning how to navigate marriage and set up a business. “You have to sit down and hold a meeting. It’s possible that you’re wrong to assume you know what other people are thinking.”
Swimming Lake is shared with swans and otters
If the long range is to turn plants into something you want to drink, then Brendel has a broader overview. “If it takes seven years to plant grapes and plant them in their first sparkling wine, then you need a sustainable financial model that balances your running costs,” she says.
The heart of this is the accommodation. She designed the shepherd’s shed and looked out over the Grape River. A charming bedroom with nastrutium wallpaper on Lake August, a small log stove in the living room, and a hammered copper bath under the stars. This and Lambing are sheds with a two-person wood bath, and all two-bedroom coach houses can be booked for access to the lake and the waterside wood sauna.
“We are learning how to navigate marriage and set up a business.
Brendel brings Thorn Falcon a proven track record with a business strategy. “That’s my background. What I did with the V&A and the BBC,” she says. “As a strategic consultant now, I’m working with the Royal Shakespeare Company and Somerset House.”
Still, it was sometimes a bumpy ride. When the shepherd’s shed was late, it wiped out rental income for about eight months. “And for a while, suppliers may go bankrupt with our money. That’s the challenge of working with small businesses.” Then there is a changing landscape of subsidies, and there has been a lot of disappearance since Brexit. Several costs continue to rise, such as grabbing the roof. In the second phase of Thornfalcon’s development, they take on the investment and transform the construction of textured stones across Vine and across Thorn Hill to the event space.
The future plans for the real estate include event space for dinner clubs, wine schools and corporate hospitality
Many people are ready to share their dreams and support them. A significant portion of the first cider harvest took place in a day when it was found that friends from the village and their children would collect storms. They are also helped by volunteers from the Organic Farm Global Opportunities (Wwoofers) who work five hours a day in exchange for boards and accommodation. “It’s a magical place and we look forward to sharing it,” says Brendel. It highlights key elements of her business plan. “If something doesn’t bring joy to me these days, I’m not interested.”
thornfalcon.com
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