My name is Tony Blake and my working life began in horticulture, running a  business supplying fruit and house plants to supermarkets. Resulting from a curiosity about digital technology in the 1980's, I found myself putting imagery of plants onto laser discs and before long had moved from growing into a 30 years career in technology and media entrepreneurship.

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In 1996, I founded Cambridge Imaging Systems, a business that evolved from specialist imaging work into a global media management platform. Through steady growth, collaboration, and innovation, the company expanded internationally and was ultimately acquired by Thomson Reuters in 2023.

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Throughout that period, my interest in horticulture never disappeared. Alongside my work, a deeper appreciation of wine developed — not only as a product, but as an expression of place, time, and careful cultivation. The idea of returning to growing remained a constant reference point.

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Following the sale of the business and my decision to step down as director, the opportunity to plant a vineyard presented itself at the right moment. Ten acres of land between the Stour Valley and the North-East Essex coast offered an appropriate setting to begin again.

 

Tendring Vines is a small, family vineyard, developed steadily and with long-term intent. I am now joined on this new journey by my son and granddaughter, bringing a sense of continuity and shared purpose to the work. Our first wines mark the beginning of this chapter — shaped by place, season, and attention — and reflect a return to the principles that first drew me to growing.