The story of Blue Aurora begins at Lutton farm; a family run farm situated on the border between Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire, just outside the picturesque town of Oundle.

Lutton Farm was originally a livestock and arable farm with a small 3ha pick your own fruit farm. In 1981, brothers Stephen and James Long returned to the family farm after attending agricultural colleges and working abroad.

In 1991, Lutton Farm was converted into a commercial soft fruit farm, growing strawberries, raspberries and blackberries and started supplying the UK’s premium supermarkets. It wasn’t until 2006 however, following a trip to Poland where Stephen was inspired to start growing blueberries. Stephen was in fact one of the first blueberry growers in England!

Today the farm spans 70ha, with around 45ha of the farm being dedicated to growing blueberries under polly tunnels. Stephen himself has now become an expert in the field and has developed his own recipe for soil and nutrients for planting the bushes in to ensure the best flavour in every single berry!

In 2018, blueberry production at Lutton Farm increased to picking over 500 tonnes in a year. Through the grading process this then typically produces between 15-20% “waste”. The waste is often fruit that is either slightly too small or too soft for the supermarkets, but otherwise it is still great quality, great tasting fruit! This therefore got Stephen thinking; what can we do to prevent this wonderful fruit going to waste!? Stephen started looking at what the US were doing as the US is home to some huge blueberry farms. This is where he discovered blueberry wine!

In November 2018, Stephen sent 3 tonnes of frozen blueberries to a winery to begin the experimentation phase of the project. Working with experts in the wine field and lots of trial and error, the first bottles of Blue Aurora blueberry wine and blueberry ice wine were successfully bottled 7 months later.

Throughout the whole process, we wanted to maintain the integrity of the beautiful blueberries and that’s why the wine is not mixed with any grape juice and it is purely and simply 100% English blueberries.

Having gained lots of invaluable experience in the first year of diversification, we are committed to applying the same level of attention to detail, quality and passion to the wine as we do the berries themselves.