As a young man, Dermot was compelled by music, cycling and, unlike most adolescents his age, a burning desire to produce booze – all of which he took very seriously. Such were his passions that he was on the brink of becoming a professional cyclist and did end up becoming one of England's most acclaimed winemakers (so maybe there’s still time for the rock star bit).

After a degree in Environmental Sciences at the University of East Anglia, a couple of vintages in Bordeaux – where he consummated his love for both Left and Right Banks – Dermot decided to move to Sussex to study Viticulture and Oenology at Plumpton College, and fatally dedicate himself to Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.

After his first visit to Bordeaux in 2000, Dermot was drawn to France and completed two vintages at L’Eglise-Clinet in Pomerol and Léoville-Barton in Saint-Julien. His experiences in Bordeaux had a profound effect. He returned to the UK to help establish a new winery in East Anglia, and, instead of heading to Adelaide as originally envisaged, he enrolled at Plumpton College and joined Nyetimber as its assistant winemaker. When Nyetimber's head winemaker Peter Morgan left (incidentally to lecture at Plumpton College), Dermot was quietly advised to apply for the position. A few days later, owners Andy and Nichola Hill suggested he apply for the position a little less quietly… he was appointed Head Winemaker at Nyetimber within a year of joining. In that role, Dermot oversaw Nyetimber’s emergence as one of England's great sparkling wine producers and, as a consequence, began his life-long love affair with nearby Champagne.

In 2005, Dermot met Harry and Pip Goring and learned of their vision to plant a vineyard at Wiston Estate. Wiston meant chalk, which Dermot had fallen in love with through the lens of the great Champagne growers of the Côtes de Blancs. However, it was Pip Goring’s passion to create something entirely new on the South Downs that invigorated their relationship and the conversation soon led to the possibility of establishing a winery. Both Wiston Estate and Storrington Priory vineyard were planted in 2006, as well as Mount Harry in East Sussex. Later that year, Dermot left Nyetimber to focus on all three. He did his first vintage in Champagne with Jacquinot & Fils, the family domaine of his friend Jean-Manuel Jacquinot, who had been his winemaking mentor at Nyetimber, and returned to turn the Goring’s dreams, and his own – troubled though they were – into reality.

The newly-planted vines on Wiston’s exceptional south-facing chalk soils would go on to become one of England's most highly-awarded vineyards and it was at here where Dermot would incidentally craft the first 12 vintages of ‘The Trouble With Dreams’, as well as quite literally hundreds of other sparkling wines for dozens of other vineyards. He didn’t look back – he didn’t have the time.

It was a bit of divine inspiration that led Dermot on his current journey. The monastic order of Catholic priests at Our Lady of England Priory in Storrington, West Sussex looked out one day and realised that the land they had could have potential for planting vines. Father Paul McMahon reached out to Dermot with a proposition to plant and nurture a small vineyard at the foot of the South Downs and Dermot, always having an eye on the future, told him that he’d love to plant vines and make wine for the priests, but asked that, perhaps in return, he could take a percentage of the grapes to create his own wine. The delighted Father McMahon agreed immediately.

The grapes were a great success – such a success that the birds flying over the vineyard devoured them all, thus ending the hopes of a 2008 vintage. All their dreams, it seemed, at that point at least, were, quite literally, away with the birds. "That’s the trouble with dreams", demurred Father McMahon. Undeterred, and seeing the great potential to make an exceptional single-vineyard wine, Dermot pressed on.

The first release from Sugrue South Downs was the 2009 vintage. The now bird-protected grapes were another great success. The priest’s statement had always stuck with Dermot, though, and when the first bottles of wine were produced, they were named after the quiet musing of Father McMahon: ‘The Trouble with Dreams’ 2009 vintage went on sale in 2013 and rapidly gained critical acclaim.

The first three vintages of 'The Trouble With Dreams' made at Storrington Priory vineyard in 2009, 2010 and 2011 confirmed just how good a single site Dermot had planted at the Monastery. Lying right on the edge of the South Downs National Park, two remarkable geologies collide under the vineyard: a mix of sand and clay over sandstone running east-west, and a deep clay over chalk running north-south. Both fields are wildly different in their soil composition. No wonder the vineyard produces such balanced, round wines. However, following the worst ever summer of 2012 – officially the coldest, wettest and darkest since 1912 – it was vital to find a new source of fruit to complement the vineyard at Storrington Priory.

In early 2013, Dermot met Alice Renton, who, with her late husband Tim, had planted the beautiful Mount Harry vineyard – a 2.2ha site in Offham, between Plumpton and Lewes in the South Downs of East Sussex. Planted on a pure chalk with a shallow clay topsoil and no flints, and running almost directly south east on a significant slope, its fruit had previously gone towards the production of a larger winery nearby. Realising Dermot was keen to expand his tiny production, they agreed to work together and Dermot took over the management of Mount Harry there and then. The 2013 harvest was a brilliant success, and allowed Dermot to craft the first release of Cuvée Dr Brendan O'Regan – a wine later described by Hugh Johnson as "Honestly, England's best" – and the first ZODO cuvée.  

With 10 vintages at Mount Harry (now known as their "Grand Cru"), and 14 at Storrington under their belts, the opportunity to lease Coldharbour vineyard in West Sussex emerged in late 2022.

Coldharbour vineyard – a 7.35ha site in West Sussex – was planted in 2005 and is owned by the Hunt family. Meticulously tidy and impeccably managed, the vines run north-south in an extraordinary bowl-like amphitheatre, with Liesa and Geoff – who Dermot formerly worked with at Nyetimber twenty years earlier – taking care of this beautiful site since 2011. In fact, Dermot had made every single sparkling wine from this site since then, gaining intimate knowledge of the vineyard and the remarkable quality it has. So far, wines from Coldharbour made by Dermot have won trophies for Best Rosé (twice), Best Cuvée, and Best Blanc de Blancs at the WineGB Awards. Rapidly, it has become Sugrue South Downs' second "Grand Cru"...

In May 2023, Sugrue South Downs made a little piece of history by purchasing their first vineyard – Bee Tree near Wivelsfield Green in East Sussex. This small vineyard was planted on clay and lower greensand soils in 2015, and comprises mostly Pinot Noir. It is a very warm site, extremely well protected from wind and in an idyllic location where all you can here is birdsong...

Next door to Bee Tree, the new winery – previously a tractor barn – sits on the site of the original workshop of celebrated British railways engineer John Saxby, the father of modern points and signal systems used on train lines today.

In 2020, Ana moved to the UK to join the wine division at Plumpton College, initially covering Sarah Midgley’s maternity leave as winemaker. Born in Zagreb, Croatia – a notable winemaking region – and having grown up surrounded by wine, it didn’t take much to find her calling and she was soon travelling the world as an experienced, independent wine maker. Ana began in Peru and from there worked in wineries across New Zealand, Napa, Germany, and Austria before answering the Plumpton call.

In 2021, Ana – following her role as Winemaking Lecturer at Plumpton College – joined Dermot full-time as a fellow winemaker and sales director and Sugrue South Downs immediately matured into a grown-up operation.

Sugrue South Downs turned a corner after meeting Robin Hutson OBE, one of the UK's leading hoteliers and the man behind Hotel du Vin and The PIG, who had noticed that many of the English bottles appearing on his wine lists were made by Dermot.

Robin's subsequent investment and support enabled Dermot and Ana to make Sugrue South Downs a full time pursuit and to purchase a small vineyard, lease another, build a winery, have a baby, and nearly break themselves during the 2023 vintage.

A constant companion during the early years, Dermot's dearly departed lurcher Noodles is now immortalised on the Sugrue South Downs crest. Nowadays, Tara – Ana and Dermot’s beautiful lurcher cross – shows a healthy interest in the winery and vineyards.