Producing anything close to a drinkable red wine in the UK has long been the elusive Holy Grail for British producers.

But tucked away in a corner of Bath is a little-known slice of the Mediterranean which is doing just that.

Mumfords Vineyard at Bannerdown was set up by Margaret and Tony Cox as a nest-egg to ease them into their retirement 20 years ago.

And despite two appalling summers for grape growing, the vineyard recently won praise from members of the European Parliament Agriculture Committee for the quality of its five wines.

But the vintage that came in for particular acclaim was its full-bodied Mumfords Red, a fruity blend that has triumphed even despite the wash-out harvests of 2007 and 2008.

Although the reputation of English wine has vastly improved in recent years, with producers like Camel Valley in Cornwall constantly scooping awards and well-respected spark- ling wines being produced in Surrey, Kent and Bodmin using the classic Champagne grape varieties, the unreliable British climate usually puts the kibosh on reds.

But for the Coxes, who have been in the trade for 22 years and have resolutely refused to expand beyond their four acres, growing and producing their wines follows a natural weather rhythm.

Mr Cox said: "We have had two very bad summers and it has affected everybody in the wine trade.

"But if you have been in this business long enough you know that every five years you will get a bumper harvest. 2006 was such a good year for us we are still living off it."

The couple set up the business on land behind their home, overlooking the Avon Valley close to the village of Batheaston in 1986.

Unbeknown to them when they moved in, the site was perfect for grape growing.

The land is halfway up the hillside in a sheltered position with good drainage and few frost pockets.

The soil is alkaline base over limestone which helps keep the 5,500 vines in good health.

Before relaunching his career, Mr Cox worked for many years as a senior science researcher at Glaxo, where he picked up the technical expertise required to blend the various grape varieties.

There are four types of grape grown at Mumfords – madeleine angevine, an English strain of an old French white grape; kerner, a modern variety of the classic German riesling; reichensteiner, another new German variety; and triomphe, an grape from Alsace that is a reliable provider of red wine.

Mumfords use modern stainless steel equipment to make their five wines – two contrasting dry whites, a medium-dry white, an off-dry rosé and a red – most of which have won medals in the regional and national competitions.

In a good year, both the quantity and quality of the wine that the grapes will yield goes up. In a bad year, though, both quantity and quality can be affected.

"We have 5,500 vines, and we can expect to get one to three bottles per vine, depending on the season," said Mr Cox.

"The two biggest problems the weather brings are the lack of sunshine and the possibility of late frosts, which is the winemaker's nightmare.

"We also tend to have trouble with reds with our climate.

"They've been good some years, but they're inconsistent.

"For example, this year the South West was hit by bad weather from flowering onwards so we are very down on volume.

"The harvest this year only gave us 1,000 bottles but some years like 2006 we get 11,000."

The weather also affects the sugar level of the grapes, and hence the alcohol level.

"In a good year, the natural alcohol level may be up to ten per cent, but in a normal year, it'll be around eight per cent. We're allowed to add sugar to bring it up to 11 per cent."

It is partly the unpredictability of the climate and partly their staunch refusal to become anything more than a small-scale producer which keeps the workforce at Mumfords small. For the quiet months it is just Margaret and Tony, but throughout the pruning season and the harvest they employ a team of six workers.

In 1992, their wine was ranked in the top 20 English dry whites in a decanter competition which was a major breakthrough for the venture. Since then, they have served their wine to the Queen when she visited Bath in 2002 and supplied it to the 2005 centenary of the Battle of Trafalgar which took place aboard the HMS Victory in aid of the RNLI.

"It was never intended to be an expanding business," said Mr Cox.

"We wanted to do a quality job to a certain level and didn't want to get caught up in distributing the wine.

"If we had been employing a full-time team during the past two years we would have gone bust but when they come in we can get 1,000 bottles done in a morning.

"We have remained very small-scale but we are niche and for the past 10 years Waitrose in Bristol and Bath has stocked our wines.

"They are also distributed through Great Western Wine which gets them into pubs and restaurants in all kinds of places."

Mumfords has expanded its tourist arm and now runs tours and tasting sessions for people who rent cottages and hen parties on spa breaks to Bath. This has proved so popular that bookings have flooded in for next year.

The couple were also recently given an award by the local Federation of Small Businesses for promoting tourism in Bath.

Then came the visit by South West MEP Neil Parish, who is also chairman of the European Parliament Agriculture Committee.

Mr Parish was instrumental in getting an EU ban on planting lifted in the UK.

This has proved a real boon to English and Welsh wine producers because the restriction threatened the continued development of the country's wine industry , which has been rapidly expanding in recent many years. Under the ban, which was introduced in response to the over production of poor quality wine, resulting in an infamous 'wine lake', UK wine producers would have had to stop any further planting once production exceeded 3.3 million bottles, averaged over five years.

Although the EU Commission wanted to get rid of the restrictions, they were forced to compromise and extend the ban to 2015, in order to force other reforms through.

Mr Parish said: "Despite what my French colleagues tell me, English wine is corkingly good and I am delighted that because of what we achieved in the European Parliament, vineyards like Mumfords can continue to grow.

"The UK industry is small, unsupported and thriving and so it would have been utterly ridiculous to hamper it with a ban on expansion.

"It's particularly good to see Mumfords producing an English red wine.

"Hopefully before long, I will be able to order a good West Country red in the European Parliament."

Although British wines have not generated a huge fan base so far, Mr Cox thinks that is about to change.

He said: "The UK wine industry is relatively small, with 800 hectares under vine and just 300 growers producing a little over 2 million bottles a year. But enthusiasm for it is growing and customers seem more interested in drinking it."

If you are interested in visiting Mumfords, call 01225 858367, go to www.mumfords vineyard.co.uk or email enquiries@mumfordsvineyard.co.uk