Best vineyards to visit in England

[Bobodebo]

I always dreamed of visiting a vineyard in Napa Valley or New Zealand for my 40th birthday. Alas now it’s upon me, I can’t risk travelling abroad due to parent’s terminal cancer diagnosis (they will not be joining us, but I don’t want to travel).

Please hit me with your recommendations for the best vineyards in England (preference for the South East). Somewhere we can enjoy a leisurely experience, with nice food platters and beautiful views to accompany the wine. Ideally we’d get the train from London and a short taxi. Or perhaps stay overnight.

My preference is white and sparkling wine. My birthday is in June.

Thanks x

Another vote for Tinwood- it's a lovely setting and gorgeous sparkling wines.

www.danebury.com/fizz-fest-2022/

www.blackchalkwine.co.uk/

Wow more great suggestions- thank you! I particularly like the idea of a tour and visiting different types in a weekend.

greatbritishwinetours.co.uk/ based in Sussex,.covers Kent Surrey and Sussex.

@Hairbrush123

So sorry to hijack the OP’s thread but I don’t drink alcohol however vineyards seems so gorgeous! I would love to see one in person. Is it worth it to visit even if you don’t drink?

Yes, they often have tearooms so you can have tea and cake or whatever if you don't want to do wine tasting. We've been to Denbies a couple of times for a coffee and not bothered with the wine because we were driving.

@berlinbabylon

Is it easy ish to get there on public transport or would you need to stay overnight nearby? There won’t be a designated driver

Ah I hadn't thought about driving. If you are using public transport Denbies is a good one as it is walkable from the local railway station(s) and it also has accommodation. Chapel Down is some way out of Tenterden but might be do-able by taxi from there. Old Walls would be an easy taxi ride from Teignmouth.

There is also this one, but again, it's not very accessible by public transport: www.vineyardsofhampshire.co.uk/hattingley-valley It's a lovely area though and the Swan Hotel in nearby Alresford would be a good place to stay.

There’s a bus from Tenterden which goes past Chapeldown. Bus driver was lovely and dropped us off at the gate.

Chapel Down! You can do vineyard tours in Kent and go to the all, we did it as birthday bash, hired a minibus. It was brilliant!

I know South wales is too far but in case anyone else is looking for recommendations, llanerch vinyard is 10 minutes drive from me and it is lovely, great restaurant and tours, I can't recommend it enough!

@TheHumanSatsuma thank you for mentioning the bus which goes past Chapel Down. I think we will base ourselves around Tenterden as there are lots of vineyards to explore in this area besides Chapel Down and it’s not too far from London. Plus Whitstable is nearby for indulging in Seafood 🦞

Later in the summer, we plan to explore the South Downs vineyards and possibly a day trip to Surrey in the future with friends.

It looks like the South of England is developing into a serious wine region to rival Champagne. Would never have thought that 20 years ago, when English wine was not great.

Oops sorry OP I didn’t see your question re transport yesterday, but I see you’ve been answered already. Tenterden does have a steam railway . Staying overnight definitely a good option as the whole area is lovely, lots of places to visit. Be careful though I developed a serious Chapel Down fizz habit after our visit there - always have that over champagne now as do most of our friends around here. Got a Chapel Down birthday party this weekend in fact

Great recommendations on this thread.

If you’re visiting Chapel Down in Kent, Woodchurch is not far away. You can walk from there to Wayfarer wines, a lovely little vineyard with still wines. Gusborne also very nearby. Makes a good weekend trip, although booking transport can be tricky.

I had some Nyetember sparkling today, bloody lush - better than most champagne I’ve tasted. It’s not an easy vineyard to visit mind, but giving the champagne region a run for its money!!

Apparently the name settled on for our version of champagne is ‘Sussex sparkling wine’ although I reckon they should have gone for ‘Britpop’!!

Was coming on here to say this. The tours book up fast but are excellent & the food is GREAT. The wine garden is also fabulous. Also Flint. Could stay in Norfolk & do one each day.

I’ve heard of Flint wine in Norfolk- our fancy wine shop sells it, so must be good.

Ill be going to Chapel Down soon- seems to be a favourite on here. I love their Bacchus, haven’t tried their sparkling wines yet.

Visiting vineyards in the U.K. is very cheap. £5 or £10 for tastings usually and £20-30 for tour. Is it this cheap in other countries? I would struggle to pay less than that for an afternoon in the pub! I guess the expensive bit is the taxi home unless you have one on your doorstep!

If you wanted to consider the south west I would recommend three choirs in Gloucestershire. I took my husband for his 40th, the food was beautiful and the room was huge with a view over the vineyard, so peaceful.

I am fortunate to live surrounded, literally, by vineyards. The fields around me are Nyetimber vines, Kinswood vines and Nutbourne vineyard vines. You could stay in Arundel and visit them all!

Three Choirs - their sparkling white wine is by far the best I've had!

If you're after seafood you could go to Rye - also very pretty, and not such a paim in the arse to get to or park in as Whitstable.

Gusborne is my favourite English sparkling wine, and Chapel Down tours are excellent.

Also check out Balfour/Hush Heath winery - lovely terrace and platters and you can walk the estate balfourwinery.com

it’s also not far from NT Sissinghurst which is beautiful

The English Wine Centre seems like a good option for a special occasion, it's also a wedding venue and has a restaurant and guest rooms.

Good shout. I’ve just had a look and they offer tutored tasting or 7 English wines, followed by lunch with wine, with free pick up from train station for £42.50. What a bargain!

If you go to Tinwood, very close by is Goodwood and Singleton which has the Weald and Downland Open Air Museum, where The Repair Shop is filmed.

Doing a tour of chapel down next week and other vineyards in Tenterden area (there are loads) Thanks to this thread for ideas x