A bit of PYO in the sunshine

I have lots of fond memories of PYO from when I was young. (That's Pick Your Own for those that don't know!) Spending hours rummaging through bushes to find strawberries and raspberries which rarely found their way into the plastic punnet and going home with red fingers and a sore belly.

Beautiful Ansty's PYO farm

So on a sunny Sunday a few weeks ago, I headed off with the current squeeze to forage for some fruit. We chose Ansty's Pick Your Own which is on the A30 about 10 miles outside of Salisbury.

 

The photos on their website don't do this place any justice, because it is absolutely stunning. The PYO is set at the foot of some very steep hills which are littered with huge, white regimental badges which were carved into the chalky hills by soldiers during the First World War. The rows of fruit are beautifully maintained and the whole place felt a bit like some of the vineyards I have visited.

The lovely farm shop at Ansty's

The farm has a lovely little shop and cafe with all sorts of cakes and organic produce for sale. We went home with more fruit than we could possibly ever have eaten and a selection of treats from the shop. It wasn't cheap, but it was very, very good.

Before we headed to Ansty's we went to a Pick Your Own place near Salisbury called Bake Fruit Farm. However, when we got there it was closed! On a sunny Sunday, we couldn't believe there wouldn't be enough trade to merit opening.

It's sad that more people don't do PYO. You get to choose the best fruit, you know it's ripe and fresh and it is certainly more rewarding than pushing a trolley round the supermarket. Essentially, it's like a workout and a picnic rolled into a shopping trip.

The only thing missing? A spot of champagne. It would have been amazing to sit in the sunshine, look out over the lovely view whilst dipping strawberries in a glass of fizz.

Make me love you

Working in marketing (yes I do have a day job) I'm pretty cynical about stunts and promotions. Especially if they're too blatantly selling product. However, this summer, Cono Sur ran a Show What you Grow competition that really entertained me and quite possibly made me a fan.

Some of the tomatoes I grew in my garden

People could send in their pictures of goodies they'd grown themselves, and the best ones would be rewarded with a bottle of wine. Good clean fun. Well sometimes. Some of the vegetables were questionable shapes to say the least! Take a look at the gallery in their Facebook page, it is quite amusing.

It's a tough job doing alcohol promotions. There's a whole load of regulation around targeting the right age groups and not encouraging people to drink too much. That's why I think this campain hit the right level. Firstly because they understand their audience. People who grow their own produce are likely to be pretty middle class and like the good life. Secondly because, other than more wine, food's the best thing to go with a nice glass of something tasty. And thirdly, it gives fans a moment of fame, by displaying real pictures of people online page whether they're winners or not.

Finally because it works as a great sampling opportunity. Allowing people to try Cono Sur even if they hadn't thought of buying it before.

Me, a large courgette, a tomato and a bottle of Cono Sur

I, for one, had never really tried this brand before. However, I won the competition twice (yep, it's true) and I got to try a Pinot Noir and a Viognier from their Bicycle range. Both were delicious, but I was particularly impressed with the Pinot Noir since I am a bit of a snob and only tend to buy PNs from New Zealand or France. They also sent me a selection of recipes to give me ideas for what I could do with my home grown fare, and what to enjoy with my freebee wine.

A bottle of the Pinot Noir I won for my marvellous photo

All this must have engaged me with the brand because I even downloaded the Cono Sur app. Which, although disappointingly isn't configured for iPad, and doesn't do much more than list their range, I was surprised by how extensive their range was. Especially the 20 barrel range, a premium wine range which I had never seen before.

So the moral of this story is that well targeted promotions work. And did it make me drink more wine? Am not sure that is possible!! Would I buy Cono Sur in the future? Almost certainly.