Sitting at a picnic table, in the throng of happy festival goers, live music playing in the background, drinking very good local wine. Now that, to me, sounds like an ideal way to spend a weekend. Last year at the inaugural Norwich Wine Week the sun was shining and there was a buzz in the air. People like wine. And they love wine produced in this region.

The Festival brings together likeminded folks. It’s a place to taste and learn about new wines, to expand our knowledge. There’s huge talent in our Norfolk and Suffolk vineyards, run by small teams and families who have honed their skills over the decades. They are doing it rather well.

Other exhibitors making an appearance includes Anglia Wines, Adnams, CH Wine Merchants, Substrata, Via Vigna and Virgin Wines. Great local food is also represented so look forward to seeing what Chilli Willy’s chilli oil offers and Marsh Pig’s artisan award-winning British Charcuterie, who are one of the oldest of its kind in the UK.

If you fancy diving deeper and topping up your knowledge, then embrace the prospect of a 30-minute Tasting Tent session for an extra £10. Led by a wine expert from Norfolk Local Wine School and some of the merchants and vineyards themselves, you’ll be guided through a selection of wines perhaps pairing them with cheese and food – depending which session you go for. The various topics are hard to resist, who cannot take up the chance to be challenged at ‘Posh vs Ponk’, one of the most popular tasting sessions on offer?

Last year I caught the local wine bug. The festival piqued my interest and not just my taste buds and I had a strong desire to find out so much more. Over the summer I visited both Flint Vineyard and Chet Valley Vineyard and I was not disappointed. Times are changing, you no longer have to travel to the foothills of vineyards in France and Italy – there are amazing wine growing regions right here on our doorstep.

The vineyards at Flint (Earsham, Bungay) grow over gentle rolling hills, and on the warm sunny day I was there it was hugely pleasurable soaking up the sun with the view of the vineyard just beyond whilst sipping a glass of Bacchus 2022. On this occasion I didn’t take a tour, but they are available starting at £25.

I spent an equally delightful time in South Norfolk at Chet Valley Vineyard where I joined a tour and tasting session (£30). Chet Valley is one of the oldest vineyards in Norfolk having been planted in 2010 with its first vintage available in 2014. In this time, they have grown from producing hundreds of bottles of wine to 29,000 a year, increasing to a range of ten wines.

This is award-winning wine having earned gold medals for wine quality by regional and international bodies and innovation awards too. John Hemmant and his wife Bridget run the vineyard using sustainable growth methods, part of which includes allowing grasses and wildflowers to grow to maintain diversity.

They use several grape varieties such as Cabernet Noir, Solaris, Regent, Phoenix and Seyval Blanc. In addition to Chardonnay, Pinot Meunier and Pinot Noir. Their wine is white, rosé, red, and sparkling including sparking red – Red Kite – made from the Regent grape. Having tried all of them, hand on heart they are all really wonderful – but if pushed my favourites would be their white wine – Swift and their House of Hemmant Blanc de Noirs – sparkling.