Mum trying to get her British vineyard boss SON evicted from her land as part of bitter family feud
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THE boss of a top British vineyard is being threatened with eviction in a war with the landowner - his own mum.
Jan Boorman, 69, is fizzing with anger because her son Henry is flogging thousands of bottles of booze the family's Redhill Farm Estate in Wateringbury, Kent.
Now he has won a licence to turn it into a multi-million pound business by selling the wine online around the world - but his mum is trying to block it.
She wants him off her land - and the vines ripped out of the ground.
Mrs Boorman, 69, who lives in West Malling, said: "I am the sole owner of Redhill Farm Estate and I have not given permission for anyone to apply for an alcohol licence on my premises."
In a letter to the council opposing the online licence and a permit to sell wine from the Redhill farm shop, she said her son "has absolutely no authority to run any sort of business from my premises".
She revealed she "recently issued an application for possession proceedings against him" and claims residential tenants at the farm have been disturbed by "nuisance" caused by her son, who lives on the site.
She said: "He is there illegally. We are going through a legal process. How a son can do this to his mother I don’t know. It’s very sad."
Henry, who's in his thirties, began producing wine at Redhill five years ago.
The former design and branding consultant sold his house in South London to raise the money and planted 20 acres of vines.
This year he expects to produce 10,000 bottles including 4,000 of rosé and 4,000 of sparkling wine.
He claims his mum offered to let him use the land rent-free after the death of his father.
Henry said: "She was very kind and I was very grateful as it meant I could afford to establish the vineyard.
"As it was, I had to put all of my money into it and sell my house in Brixton.
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"But then in 2014 she decided she didn’t want to be part of the venture.
"She wanted to market the farm and I would be left with nothing as I couldn’t take the vines and she wasn’t going to give me anything from the sale.
"I am hoping we can have mediation."
Wine produced at Redhill is sold at farmers’ markets across the south of England.
The estate has 27,000 vines of seven varieties and among the most popular is a rosé described as "summer fruit with strawberry and cream notes".
Another is Bacchus, a medium dry white "full of super citrus fruit with tones of apricot". This year the estate will sell sparkling wine for the first time.
Henry and his girlfriend Christina McQuillan, also in her thirties, sell their wine at farmers' markets and in pubs.
Christina said "We would pick grapes and be on the wine presses until 2am.
"I still work in London and would be up at 6am for my job in publishing.
"But it never felt like work and it’s lovely living in such a beautiful area with such views.
"Of course, we had our ups and downs along the way, but we are pretty chuffed at what we have achieved.
"It was exhilarating when we felt our grapes were ready and we started to make the wine, with help from Plumpton agricultural college in East Sussex.
"When we tasted the first bottles, well, that was pretty special."
Henry said he learned his trade as a sommelier at The Swan at West Malling, and worked as a design consultant in London "to pay for converting the family’s estate into a vineyard".
Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council granted him a licence to sell bottles online but it may be a first round victory in a long and costly war if his mum decides to carry on with her fight to evict him.
Henry, whose vines are of French, German and Swiss origin, said "We have the support of our village of Wateringbury and have helped neighbours establish vineyards."
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