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Every 20 minutes or so, an ageing diesel train arrives at a graffiti-covered stop. Close by, a police siren cuts through the almost continuous traffic drone. Daily travelers rush by collapsing, ivy-draped garden fences as storm clouds form.

It is maybe the least likely spot you expect to find a well-established grape-growing plot. However one local grower has managed to four dozen established plants heavy with plump purplish berries on a sprawling allotment sandwiched between a row of 1930s houses and a local rail line just above Bristol downtown.

"I've seen individuals hiding heroin or other items in the shrubbery," says Bayliss-Smith. "But you just get on with it ... and continue caring for your grapevines."

Bayliss-Smith, 46, a documentary cameraman who also has a fermented beverage company, is not the only local vintner. He's pulled together a loose collective of growers who produce wine from four hidden city grape gardens tucked away in back gardens and community plots throughout Bristol. The project is too clandestine to have an formal title so far, but the group's WhatsApp group is named Vineyard Dreams.

City Vineyards Across the Globe

So far, Bayliss-Smith's allotment is the only one listed in the Urban Vineyards Association's forthcoming world atlas, which features more famous urban wineries such as the 1,800 plants on the slopes of the French capital's historic artistic district area and over 3,000 vines overlooking and inside Turin. Based in Italy non-profit association is at the forefront of a initiative re-establishing city vineyards in traditional winemaking nations, but has discovered them all over the world, including urban centers in East Asia, South Asia and Central Asia.

"Grape gardens help urban areas remain more eco-friendly and more diverse. They protect land from construction by creating long-term, yielding farming plots within cities," says the association's president.

Similar to other vintages, those created in cities are a product of the soils the vines grow in, the unpredictability of the climate and the individuals who care for the fruit. "A bottle of wine represents the charm, local spirit, landscape and history of a urban center," adds the spokesperson.

Unknown Polish Variety

Back in Bristol, the grower is in a race against time to gather the grapevines he grew from a plant left in his allotment by a Polish family. Should the rain arrives, then the birds may take advantage to feast once more. "This is the mystery Polish variety," he comments, as he cleans bruised and mouldy grapes from the shimmering bunches. "We don't really know what variety they are, but they're definitely disease-resistant. Unlike noble varieties – Pinot Noir, white wine grapes and other famous European varieties – you don't have to treat them with chemicals ... this is possibly a special variety that was developed by the Eastern Bloc."

Group Activities Across Bristol

The other members of the group are also taking advantage of bright periods between bursts of autumn rain. On the terrace overlooking the city's shimmering waterfront, where historic trading ships once floated with barrels of wine from Europe and the Iberian peninsula, one cultivator is collecting her dark berries from approximately fifty vines. "I love the smell of these vines. The scent is so reminiscent," she remarks, stopping with a container of fruit resting on her shoulder. "It's the scent of southern France when you open the vehicle windows on vacation."

The humanitarian worker, fifty-two, who has spent over two decades working for charitable groups in war-torn regions, unexpectedly inherited the grape garden when she returned to the UK from Kenya with her household in 2018. She experienced an strong responsibility to look after the vines in the garden of their new home. "This vineyard has already survived multiple proprietors," she explains. "I deeply appreciate the concept of natural stewardship – of passing this on to someone else so they can continue producing from this land."

Terraced Gardens and Natural Winemaking

A short walk away, the final two members of the group are hard at work on the precipitous slopes of the local river valley. One filmmaker has established more than 150 vines situated on terraces in her expansive property, which descends towards the silty local waterway. "People are always surprised," she notes, gesturing towards the tangled grape garden. "They can't believe they are viewing grapevine lines in a city street."

Currently, Scofield, 60, is picking bunches of dusty purple dark berries from lines of vines arranged along the cliff-side with the help of her child, Luca. Scofield, a wildlife and conservation film-maker who has worked on Netflix's nature programming and BBC Two's Gardeners' World, was motivated to cultivate vines after seeing her neighbour's vines. She has learned that amateurs can make interesting, pleasurable natural wine, which can sell for more than £7 a serving in the growing number of wine bars specialising in minimal-intervention wines. "It's just deeply rewarding that you can truly make quality, traditional vintage," she states. "It's very on trend, but really it's resurrecting an traditional method of making wine."

"When I tread the grapes, all the natural microorganisms are released from the skins into the liquid," explains the winemaker, partially submerged in a container of small branches, pips and crimson juice. "This represents how vintages were historically produced, but commercial producers introduce sulphur [dioxide] to kill the natural cultures and subsequently add a lab-grown culture."

Challenging Environments and Creative Solutions

In the immediate vicinity sprightly retiree Bob Reeve, who motivated Scofield to establish her vines, has gathered his friends to pick white wine varieties from one hundred plants he has laid out neatly across multiple levels. Reeve, a northern English physical education instructor who taught at Bristol University developed a passion for viticulture on annual sporting trips to France. However it is a challenge to grow this particular variety in the humidity of the valley, with temperature fluctuations sweeping in and out from the nearby estuary. "I aimed to make Burgundian wines here, which is a bit bonkers," admits Reeve with amusement. "This variety is slow-maturing and particularly vulnerable to mildew."

"I wanted to make Burgundian wines here, which is rather ambitious"

The temperamental Bristol climate is not the only challenge encountered by winegrowers. The gardener has had to erect a fence on