Bumper crop of grapes at Burn Valley Vineyard in Norfolk

And after a perfect year for growing grapes, she's had to call in a massive harvester to gather the bumper crop from her family's 12-acre vineyard.

Hilary the harvester arrives at Burn Valley Vineyard, near Burnham Market (Image: Chris Bishop)Last year's yield of around 25 tonnes has been doubled thanks to the weather, as growers across the region report record hauls.

A warm growing season in 2022 gave vines a flying start as they came out of the winter, followed by favourable weather during the vital flowering period between April and June.

Bunches of ripe grapes ready to harvest (Image: Chris Bishop)Then those warm few weeks immediately before the harvest helped give the crop some final oomph.

"What we're going to be picking today is about 25 tonnes, so in one day we're going to pick what we picked all last year, it's just amazing," said Miss Robinson, 44, who runs the Burn Valley Vineyard with her sister Samantha.

Laura Robinson at Burn Valley Vineyard, near Burnham Market (Image: Chris Bishop)The machine - called Hilary - was brought in to harvest the last of the Chardonnay and Pinot Noir grapes, a further 25 tonnes or so of which have already been picked by hand. 

Harvesting the last of the crop manually would take a team of 30 people up to five days.

The harvester at work picking the bumper crop of grapes (Image: Chris Bishop)Hilary's spinning rotors can de-vine the same quantity in just three to four hours.

As the machine got to work driver Mikey Hollington, from specialist contractors South and East Grape Harvesting, said: "It's not just about driving up and down the rows, you've got to make sure the machine's right."

Laura Robinson inspects the grapes after they are harvested (Image: Chris Bishop)Hilary uses lasers to line up on the metal stakes which support the wires which train the vines.

Hilary the harvester at work (Image: Chris Bishop)Six massive tubs were soon filled with grapes and on their way to the winery, a mile or so away. 

Laura Robinson watches as the grape are unloaded from the harvester (Image: Chris Bishop)Before that, Miss Robinson and Lance Sharpus-Jones, who manages what he describes as a more modest vineyard near Thursford, checked the grapes using spectrometer.

Lance Sharpus-Jones gives a second opinion on the quality of the crop (Image: Chris Bishop)The device, which analyses the fruit, said it had a sugar content of around 20pc.

Laura Robinson checks the sugar content of her grape crop using a spectrometer (Image: Chris Bishop)Miss Robinson said that meant the resulting wine would have an alcohol content of around 10pc.

The grapes certainly looked up for it, with bubbles forming in the juice from crushed fruits showing fermentation was already under way.

Bubbles show the grapes were already fermenting from natural yeast (Image: Chris Bishop)Miss Robinson's family, who farm 350 arable acres on the chalky slopes planted 12 acres of vines in 2016, after her father John decided the north Norfolk soil was just the job for growing grapes.

Part of the Burn Valley Vineyard, near Burnham Market (Image: Chris Bishop)"He put the idea to my sister and I and we thought it was intriguing," she said.

"Vines don't like to get their feet wet, the chalk base we have is great for growing them."

Inside the winery at the vineyard (Image: Chris Bishop)A winery followed in 2019, where they now produce white wines such as Shonburger and Solaris, for £18,99 and £22 a bottle, and reds BV Bacchus and Rondo, which come in at £17.99 and £23.99 respectively.

Laura Robinson, with wines from the Burnham Valley Vineyard (Image: Chris Bishop)As well as its own labels, the winery also produces for other growers and expects to turn out thousands of bottles this year.

Some of this year's bumper grape crop at Burn Valley Vineyard (Image: Chris Bishop)

The fruits of the sunny slopes can also be found in gastro pubs, along with stores such as Jarrold's of Norwich and Bakers and Larners of Holt.