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Each 20 minutes or so, an older diesel train pulls into a graffiti-covered station. Nearby, a law enforcement alarm cuts through the almost continuous traffic drone. Daily travelers hurry past collapsing, ivy-draped garden fences as storm clouds gather.

This is maybe the least likely spot you anticipate to find a well-established vineyard. However James Bayliss-Smith has cultivated 40 mature vines sagging with plump purplish berries on a rambling garden plot sandwiched between a line of historic homes and a commuter railway just north of the city downtown.

"I've seen individuals hiding illegal substances or other items in those bushes," states the grower. "Yet you just get on with it ... and continue caring for your vines."

Bayliss-Smith, forty-six, a filmmaker who also has a kombucha drinks business, is not the only local vintner. He's pulled together a loose collective of growers who make vintage from several hidden urban vineyards tucked away in back gardens and allotments throughout the city. It is too clandestine to have an official name yet, but the group's messaging chat is named Vineyard Dreams.

City Wine Gardens Across the Globe

So far, the grower's allotment is the sole location listed in the Urban Vineyards Association's upcoming global directory, which features more famous city vineyards such as the 1,800 plants on the hillsides of the French capital's historic artistic district neighbourhood and more than three thousand grapevines overlooking and inside the Italian city. Based in Italy non-profit association is at the forefront of a movement re-establishing city vineyards in traditional winemaking nations, but has identified them all over the world, including cities in Japan, Bangladesh and Uzbekistan.

"Vineyards help urban areas remain more eco-friendly and ecologically varied. They preserve open space from development by creating long-term, productive agricultural units inside cities," says the organization's leader.

Similar to other vintages, those created in cities are a product of the earth the vines grow in, the vagaries of the weather and the individuals who tend the grapes. "Each vintage embodies the beauty, local spirit, landscape and history of a urban center," adds the spokesperson.

Unknown Polish Grapes

Back in Bristol, the grower is in a urgent timeline to harvest the grapevines he grew from a cutting left in his garden by a Eastern European household. Should the precipitation arrives, then the birds may seize their chance to feast once more. "Here we have the mystery Eastern European variety," he comments, as he removes bruised and mouldy grapes from the glistering clusters. "The variety remains uncertain what variety they are, but they are certainly disease-resistant. Unlike premium grapes – Burgundy grapes, white wine grapes and other famous French grapes – you need not spray them with pesticides ... this is possibly a special variety that was developed by the Soviets."

Group Efforts Across Bristol

The other members of the collective are also making the most of bright periods between showers of autumn rain. On the terrace with views of Bristol's glistening waterfront, where historic trading ships once bobbed with casks of wine from France and the Iberian peninsula, Katy Grant is collecting her rondo grapes from about 50 plants. "I love the aroma of the grapevines. The scent is so reminiscent," she says, stopping with a container of fruit resting on her arm. "It recalls the fragrance of southern France when you roll down the car windows on holiday."

Grant, fifty-two, who has spent over two decades working for humanitarian organizations in conflict zones, inadvertently took over the grape garden when she moved back to the UK from East Africa with her family in 2018. She felt an strong responsibility to look after the vines in the yard of their new home. "This plot has already survived three different owners," she explains. "I really like the idea of environmental care – of passing this on to someone else so they can keep cultivating from the soil."

Sloping Vineyards and Natural Winemaking

A short walk away, the final two members of the group are busily laboring on the steep inclines of the local river valley. One filmmaker has cultivated over one hundred fifty vines situated on ledges in her wild half-acre garden, which tumbles down towards the silty River Avon. "People are always surprised," she notes, indicating the tangled vineyard. "They can't believe they are viewing rows of vines in a city street."

Today, Scofield, sixty, is harvesting clusters of dusty purple Rondo grapes from rows of vines arranged along the cliff-side with the assistance of her child, Luca. The conservationist, a documentary producer who has contributed to Netflix's nature programming and television network's Gardeners' World, was inspired to cultivate vines after observing her neighbour's grapevines. She has learned that amateurs can make interesting, pleasurable natural wine, which can sell for upwards of seven pounds a serving in the increasing quantity of wine bars specialising in low-processing wines. "It's just incredibly satisfying that you can actually make good, traditional vintage," she states. "It is quite on trend, but really it's reviving an traditional method of producing vintage."

"When I tread the grapes, all the natural microorganisms are released from the skins and enter the juice," explains Scofield, ankle deep in a bucket of tiny stems, pips and crimson juice. "This represents how vintages were historically produced, but industrial wineries add sulphur [dioxide] to kill the wild yeast and then add a commercially produced culture."

Challenging Conditions and Inventive Solutions

A few doors down active senior another cultivator, who inspired Scofield to plant her vines, has gathered his friends to harvest white wine varieties from one hundred plants he has laid out neatly across multiple levels. Reeve, a northern English PE teacher who worked at Bristol University developed a passion for viticulture on regular visits to France. But it is a challenge to grow this particular variety in the humidity of the gorge, with temperature fluctuations moving through from the Bristol Channel. "I wanted to produce Burgundian wines in this location, which is somewhat ambitious," admits Reeve with amusement. "This variety is late to ripen and very sensitive to mildew."

"My goal was creating European-style vintages in this environment, which is rather ambitious"

The unpredictable local weather is not the only problem faced by grape cultivators. Reeve has been compelled to install a fence on