The Chooks: Whenever you are wandering through the vineyard, you’re liable to hear a curious little cluck and look down to see one of the girls come to see what your up to. Their coop is on wheels, so it shifts from place to place to share out the benefits of their foraging to the various parts of Elms Vineyard. A big question for debate is whether when the coop moves from Block 5 to Block 8, whether the eggs taste different.

The Cattle: At a recent conference on Biodynamics, after a presenter had been explaining how to make Prep 500 (dung overwintered in a buried cow’s horn), a questioner raised their hand rather nervously: “Where do you get the cow’s horns from?” he asked. “Cows.” Came the terse reply. So our Highland cattle are up in the hills supplying us not just with steak in the future, but also with somewhere to put our dung of a winter. And you thought your life was strange…

The Goats: What do you say about a goat? After a brilliant early career reading applied topology at MIT he went on to eat briar bushes for the rest of his life? They’re goats, they don’t have CV’s. They do taste good though.

The Bees: We just love their honey!

Jancis: All wineries have dogs and, despite the sad recent loss of Bliss, we have a couple around. But the traditional doyenne of the winery: Jancis the cat, who for years has been able to keep all dogs at bay with no more than a steely, threatening gaze, is advancing in years and spends more time indoors curled up and less hunting. She may not be a Master of Wine like her names-sake but she is a of Mistress of Whiskers.