With the 2022 harvest just around the corner and British producers getting ready for yet another year (fingers crossed) delivering the best quality fruit, Gusbourne invites wine lovers to experience first-hand how some of the country’s best wines are made. There will also be a unique opportunity to taste an iconic and strictly limited line up of Gusbourne’s flagship bottles.
Harvest tours – be part of the journey
Harvest tours – be part of the journey Those who have ever experienced a wine harvest know of the incredible thrill, sense of excitement and belonging it evokes. Seeing, and possibly taking part of, all that goes behind the scenes, forever changes the way one enjoys wine, deepening the understanding and enjoyment of the hard work needed to achieve the best possible result.
With this in mind, throughout September and October, the classical Discovery and Estate tours at Gusbourne will be given a seasonal twist, by integrating an insider’s experience of the harvest works as they unfold. Whether tasting fully ripened grapes from the vine minutes before they are picked and sent to the winery for pressing, watching pickers in action while they work their way down the rows, observing grape reception at the winery or tasting juice straight from the press, each stage of the harvest season will offer singular and especial moments.* Before settling at The Nest for lunch and tasting visitors will have a taste of the raw product that will become Gusbourne’s 2022 vintage.
Harvest tour
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£75pp for Discovery Tour and £95pp for Estate Tour
The format of the harvest tours is based on the regular Discovery or Estate Tours. These consist of a guided tour of the vineyards and winery, followed by a tutored tasting in The Nest, including special wines that don’t feature in the standard tours. Lunch follows: small seasonal plates, paired with each wine, for the Discovery Tour; a three-course lunch with tailored wine pairing for the Estate Tour.
*Please note that harvest works are dependent on weather conditions and the vineyard manager’s skilled assessment of the optimum time to pick the grapes. Gusbourne cannot guarantee visitors will be able to experience all of these harvest activities during their visit due to the variability and nature of processes in both the vineyard and winery.
Gusbourne Icons Experience – the journey as destination
Gusbourne Icons Experience – the journey as destinationIf witnessing harvest works enables an understanding of the complexities of grape growing and winemaking, the ultimate conclusion is that the key to producing the best wines is to control all processes from root to glass. At Gusbourne, every bottle relies on the strict viticultural standards which deliver the best quality fruit, coupled with an innovative spirit and technical expertise in the cellar.
This quality-focused approach has led to the creation of an exceptionally limited range of wines which embodies terroir expressiveness as well as the company’s core values. The wines in this exclusive range will be, for the first time, available for tasting during the Gusbourne Icons Experience, an immersive tasting, guided by one of Gusbourne’s brand ambassadors. Due to the very small quantities produced, availability is limited and the Experience will take place just once a month. A unique opportunity to taste a comprehensive selection of the wines setting the benchmark for British winemaking.
Because Gusbourne’s wines can only be understood in the context of the Kentish countryside and culture, the tasting will be followed by a meal based on local produce, designed by Gusbourne’s in-house chef to pair with each bottle.
Gusbourne Icons Experience
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£155
A tutored masterclass and tasting experience, with Gusbourne’s vineyards and Kentish countryside as a backdrop. Each wine will be explored comprehensively, from the story behind it and vintage conditions, to how winemakers applied their technical choices, striving to create an ultimate expression of time and place. The tasting will be followed by a specially prepared four-course lunch, with each course paired with one of the limited-edition wines.
