The History of Henners

Owned and run by Lawrence Warr, Henners is the result of a long term dream to produce the finest English Sparkling Wine.

Lawrence started his career as an automotive engineer in the exciting and competitive world of Formula One. As a Race Engineer at Stewart Grand Prix, and Jaguar he travelled the world to some of the most glamorous locations racing these powerful machines, winning the team's first Grand Prix at the historic Nurburgring in Germany.

Having left Formula One to set up a successful engineering consultancy the search for the perfect vineyard site commenced. The ideal combination of soils, aspect, slope, altitude and microclimate was difficult to find. After two years of searching we found the site at Herstmonceux, East Sussex.

Advice from the vignerons of Champagne, and Masters of Wine was sought, and the vineyard was planted in May 2007.

Lawrence also races on the Cresta Run in St. Moritz each winter and is an enthusiastic skier.

The Henners name derives from our French ancestry. Henners Dubois was forced to flee Paris during the French Revolution, in the late 18th century. Like many such emigrés of the time he fled to London. Once introduced to London Society he was unable to stop himself seducing the beautiful daughter of a prominent London churchman. The scandalous offspring was the first of our line.

From French beginnings a long English lineage was born. The parallel with English Sparkling Wine was obvious, and Henners' bon vivant and sense of fun has been passed down through the family.

Henners will be released in 2012