“It all started with two rusty barns and a vision”

When you look at Itasca today – a sustainable, full contract winemaking service with award-winning wines under its belt and a reputation for excellence – it’s hard to believe that we’ve come such a long way in such a short time. Starting in 2020, it took us just eight months to go from laying foundations to opening for business.

Serendipity played its part. Paths crossed and stars aligned – and we found ourselves with a shared vision for something that just didn’t exist in the UK at the time: a sustainable winery, making fine wines from sustainably grown grapes.

As luck would have it, we were right on the money. Our Grape to Bottle service was (and continues to be) an instant hit. Since September 2020, appreciative sustainably-conscious growers have been sending us their lovingly grown grapes to be transformed into fine wines. Winemaking is led by award-winning maker Ben Smith, whose passion for sustainable wine and incredible experience have been invaluable to our success so far.

Diverse experience

One of our key strengths is our diversity of experience. As well as Ben’s winemaking knowledge, we have a regenerative agriculture expert and a filmmaker who’s spent years capturing the art of winemaking around the world on film.

Meet the team

First-class facilities

Being green doesn’t mean being low-tech. We’ve created state-of-the-art facilities to make sure we can deliver incredible results with maximum efficiency. From an on-site lab to our 8 tonne press, we’ve put our work at the cutting edge.

Explore our facilities

Sustainable from the ground up

It’s not just a word for us. It’s the vision and the drive at the very core of our business – we live and breathe it. From maintaining our own wetlands to recycling waste water and running on solar, we always put the environment first.

Discover how

Tasting Notes & Reviews

We know we make beautiful wine, but don’t just take our word for it – see what the critics have to say!

Read reviews

Testimonial

"Dealing with the team at Itasca has been a delight at all stages - there is such a sense of professionalism and pride to deliver the very best service. I feel that our wine has been in the very best hands, and my inexperienced questions have all been dealt with so patiently! Highly recommended."

Lucinda Colucci, Blackdown Ridge Vineyard

"Itasca has been a great help to us in working hard to overcome any problems and get things done for our disgorging job. They are friendly, professional and skilled."

Simon Woodhead, Stopham Vineyard

"It is a pleasure to deal with Ben and Itasca as a thoroughly professional solution to all our winemaking needs, it is early days for us but we are confident Ben will produce medal winning wines for us as his expertise shines through. "

James Tuttiett, Northbrook Vineyard

"Although nearly 50 years old Wraxall Vineyard was new to us - as was growing grapes and making wine. We wanted to work with a sustainable winery and a dynamic winemaker - and found both in Itasca. Ben had guided us and the vineyard through our first year producing medal winning wine - Itasca is now a critical part of the Wraxall team."

Wraxall Vineyard