A former army captain turned winemaker has created an English sparkling wine to be sold to raise money for injured soldiers in his old regiment, the Light Dragoons. Kieron Atkinson has named the wine, made from Seyval Blanc grapes grown at the Sitwell family’s Renishaw Hall, Derbyshire, after the battle of Sahagun, a decisive victory over the French cavalry during the Peninsular War.

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‘I’m still close to my former regiment and, with my new career, saw the opportunity to raise money to help soldiers and their families,’ says Mr Atkinson, who co-founded The English Wine Project (EWP) to champion English and Welsh vineyards (www.englishwineproject.co.uk) and who takes wine tours at Renishaw (www.renishaw-hall.co.uk). Sahagun costs £21 a bottle from the EWP.

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