11 of the most idyllic vineyards to visit in the UK
The UK, especially southern England, is rapidly becoming one of the world's new wine destinations, especially for sparkling wine. With small producers dominating the fledgling business, many vineyards have also opened themselves up to tourism, making it easy to visit to take a tour of the vines, try the winery's best vintages, and buy a few bottles. Increasingly, vineyards are also taking advantage of their scenic locations (often on the south coast) to encourage visitors to stay for the day, or even longer, by offering food and rooms to stay in. For even the casual oenophile, this makes a great day out or weekend break. We've put together a few of our favourites so you can make them a destination this year.
Andrew Hayes-Watkins1/11Tillingham
Ask anyone about vineyards with rooms in the UK and Tillingham is always the first place mentioned. The biodynamic winery near Rye not only hosts vines that produce some of this country's most sought-after, cult wines but also hosts guests for overnight stays in a clutch of stylish rooms, with food taken care of via the popular restaurant. Natural wines, eleven pared-back and comfortable rooms in a former hop barn and wood-fired pizzas and seasonal British cooking, all in touching distance of the Kentish coast – you can't ask for much more.
- Accommodation: 11 double rooms (two of them dog-friendly) plus two Bell Tents in the grounds (the latter bookable May-September). No children under 10 allowed.
- Food: Tillingham has a wine bar, pizza barn and a restaurant which focuses on seasonal tasting menus for lunch and dinner. All are open Wednesday-Sunday. Book the restaurant in advance.
- Tours and tastings: Public tours are available three times a day on days that the winery is open, at £35 per person. For larger groups, private tours can be booked at £40 per person. On Fridays and Sundays you can also book a ‘Tour & Lunch’ package for £70. Make sure you book in advance.
Andy Dalton2/11Denbies
Conveniently situated not far from London in the green Surrey landscape, Denbies is ideally set up for a day out, with four restaurants and a rolling programme of tours and tastings. It's a large commercial operation, with its vines representing 10% of all that are planted in the UK at the moment. Indoor tastings come complete with a cinema experience, and there is a train to take groups around the huge vineyards. If you want to get a sense of the scale of a large winery in beautiful surroundings, this is the place to come.
- Accommodation: Denbies Vineyard Hotel in the midst of the vines offers 17 ensuite rooms, and there are an additional seven rooms in the neighbouring Farmhouse. Dog-friendly rooms are available.
- Food: The Gallery Restaurant is open for lunch, while the Vineyard Restaurant & Wine Library offer dinner. In the warmer months, you can get takeaway food at The Hatch on the Lawn, or pop into the airy Conservatory glasshouse restaurant for a casual lunch.
- Tours and tastings: Tours are available daily of both the indoor elements of the wine production and the vineyards themselves, starting from £15 per person. You can also buy packages that include lunch, afternoon tea or dinner.
3/11Ashling Park
An easy 90-minute train ride from London to Chichester (and a short taxi ride) gets you to Ashling Park Estate, a 50-acre vineyard in the South Downs framed by 200-year-old oak trees. The Gardner family who’ve owned the land for over twenty years brought in ex-Nyetimber winemaker Dermot Sugrue to help produce their award winning still and sparkling wines. The estate uses chardonnay, pinot noir and pinot meunier, the grapes used in champagne, for their sparkling wine and Regent, Rondo and Bacchus grapes are also grown and used for making still. If you’re planning to make a day of it, find idyllic villages with thatched-roof cottages and cosy pubs right next door, or the dunes and beaches of West Wittering are a twenty minute drive away.
- Accommodation: There are five one or two bedroom lodges designed by Amazing Spaces designer William Hardie, all made from wood sourced from the South Downs National Park nearby. Opt for the Veraison lodge for additional accessibility features.
- Food: The onsite restaurant is well worth a visit and is open for lunch and dinner. Book the second-floor terrace for stunning vineyard views.
- Tours and tastings: Public tours are available twice a day between Thursday to Sunday at an affordable £25 per person. Pick between 10:30am or 2pm.
4/11Hambledon
Not far from the Hampshire coast at Portsmouth is England's oldest commercial vineyard, established in 1952 and now producing a small range of delicious sparkling wines. It's a relatively small operation set in lovely countryside (the village of Hambledon is known as ‘the cradle of cricket’ for its famous cricket club). The winery offers tours and tastings, afternoon tea, and is about to open a brand new restaurant.
- Accommodation: None.
- Food: Hambledon offers food add-ons to its tours, including cheese plates, and an afternoon tea (including a tour and tasting) at £60. A restaurant is in the works.
- Tours and tastings: Vineyard tours with a tasting can be booked most days for £25 per person.
5/11Rathfinny Estate
Nestling in a patch of the South Downs between Eastbourne and Brighton, the village of Alfriston in Sussex is fast becoming a hot destination. You can book a stay at Olga Polizzi's The Star, but the wine estate at Rathfinny also offers accommodation for visitors to the area, and enjoy some seriously fine dining while you're at it. Rathfinny's sun-soaked vines produce some of England's top sparkling wines, thanks to their sunny position and chalk soil. There is a range of options for eating at Rathfinny and the flint barns where the rooms are located are really rather stylish, all limewashed walls and pared-back decoration.
- Accommodation: The Flint Barns include 10 double rooms, bookable year round, with meals in the Dining Room.
- Food: The Tasting Room restaurant offers high-end dining basked on tasting menus, but you can also visit the more relaxed Dining Room in the Flint Barns for evening meals. During October the winery runs a harvest marquee during the winter and offers al fresco meals in the summer. There is also a casual option, The Hut, open every day for walk-ins.
- Tours and tastings: In winter (November - April) you can book 1h45 tours every weekend for £27.50 per person, and tastings at the same price. There are also drop-in tastings at The Hut.
6/11Chapel Down
One of the biggest wine producers in the UK, Chapel Down is located in the same patch of the North Downs in Kent where you can find Tillingham and Oxney. It specialises in sparkling wine but also produces still white and rosé wine, and there is an enormous variety on offer for an English vineyard. You can't stay on the site, but you can visit year-round for guided tours and tastings, along with afternoon tea and exquisite lunches and dinners at The Swan restaurant.
- Accommodation: None, but a stay at The George in Rye is always delightful.
- Food: The Swan is open Wednesday to Sunday, with a private dining room you can book for events and a glorious terrace overlooking the countryside. You can also visit for afternoon tea followed by a tour and tasting, while other packages include cheese pairings along with the wine.
- Tours and tastings: Guided tours and tastings can be booked from £28 per person.
7/11Oxney
East Sussex winery Oxney focuses on a small edit of organic wines, including a sparkling wine, a sparkling rosé and a still rosé, and has a glorious situation in the countryside near Rye. Oxney has really leaned into its tourist offering, with tours, tastings and lots of different accommodation on offer at its award-winning vineyard, including shepherd's huts, barns and a Jacobean farmhouse. Whichever you opt for, all are self-catering and full of rustic charm, as well as easy access to the vineyard for a tasting of their exceptionally good wines.
- Accommodation: Choose from one of two shepherd's hut (each sleeps two) or for larger groups, hire the Jacobean vineyard house which sleeps eight, or one of the barns that between them accommodate up to 18 guests. You can book a barn stay with a tour and picnic included for £175 per person.
- Food: Picnic lunches at £25 can be booked as an addition to a summer tour.
- Tours and tastings: The summer season starts in May, and you can book a tour and tasting for £25 per person. In winter, tours and tastings run at £30 per person inclusive of a charcuterie plate.
8/11Tinwood Estate
At the foot of the South Downs National Park near Chichester, Sussex's Tinwood Estate has fast gained a reputation for its English sparkling wines. The winery only started up in 2007 but already has a reputation for its three sparkling wines. There are tours available every day to introduce visitors to their sustainable, eco-friendly approach, along with a tasting room where visitors can sample the resulting wines, and afternoon tea also on offer for the more caffeine-minded. Tinwood also has three lodges on the estate, clad in wood and tucked into the foliage, allowing guests somewhere to stay pre- or post-tour. The lodges have been strategically placed to take in the sunset and inside, have vast beds and all the amenities you require, as well as a neighbouring sauna.
- Accommodation: Three wood-clad lodges, each with a double room as accommodation.
- Food: This spring sees the opening of the new tapas-style restaurant Vineyard Kitchen at Tinwood, currently for walk-ins only. Here you can indulge in small plates designed to pair well with the wines. Afternoon tea is offered April – September every Wednesday at 12pm, and includes a wine tasting. .
- Tours and tastings: A vineyard tour and tasting can be booked year round for £21 per person, and a dedicated tasting room offers wines to purchase as well.
9/11Three Choirs
Heading a bit further north out of the Kent-Sussex heartlands of English wine country, Gloucestershire-based winery Three Choirs offers sparkling wine as well as still whites, rosés and reds from its beautiful location near the Wye Valley. You can drink, dine and stay at Three Choirs, and we sense that once you arrive you'll be reluctant to leave. The winery offers rooms, but also lodges tucked amongst the grapes with views across the wine-producing vines as far as the eye can see. After a day tasting their 13 wines, made from the 12 grapes grown in the vineyard, there's nowhere more peaceful to retreat to for a while, before heading to the brasserie for a tapas-style sharing dinner and of course, more Three Choirs wine.
- Accommodation: Wood-framed, glass-walled lodges for two with verandas and freestanding baths among the vines, or cosy double rooms in a more central building overlooking the plantation.
- Food: Three Choirs has a stylish brasserie offering lunch and dinner, with a focus on small sharing plates. Booking is essential.
- Tours and tastings: A self-guided vineyard tour and tasting of five wines can be booked year round at weekends for £20 per person.
10/11Artelium
This Sussex winery flies a little further under the radar than some of its neighbours, but its wines, which include sparkling, white and rosé bottlings, have won multiple awards, and it also produces gin, vermouth and brandy. It's a marvellous place to visit, with a wine bar and tasting room open Thursday-Saturday and vineyard tours on selected dates. There are also plenty of seasonal events (like Good Friday fish and chips) to mark in your diary.
- Accommodation: None.
- Food: Small plates are on offer at the wine bar, or check the calendar for occasional events.
- Tours and tastings: Public tours are scheduled via the calendar and cost £25 per person.
11/11Wiston
Nick and Kirsty Goring's family has occupied this land in West Sussex since the 18th century, but the latest generations only began planting vines in 2006. The winery has been a huge success, and now produces white and rosé sparkling wines as well as a pinot noir. Sustainability and stewardship of the land is a key focus here, and the estate offers nature tours as well as the usual tours and tastings. There is also an excellent restaurant, Chalk, with a local, seasonal menu that regularly changes, if you want to make a day of it.
- Accommodation: None, but The Pig in the South Downs is a short drive away.
- Food: The Chalk restaurant is open Wednesday to Sunday for breakfast and lunch, with dinner on Friday and Saturday.
- Tours and tastings: The standard tour and tasting can be booked at £25, but there are also bike tours, landscape tours, and a tour that includes sundowners and dinner at Chalk for £100.
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