Best English vineyards to visit this summer

Not that long ago, you would struggle to catch a glimpse of vines in the UK. Now, sunny slope after sunny slope is carpeted with vines – particularly in the South East – as around 300 vineyards and wineries across the UK are now actively involved in wine tourism, the majority of them in England. But as wineries have multiplied, with the 2025 harvest up 39% on the previous year, producing bottles that are gaining recognition worldwide, the marketplace is filling up, prompting producers to explore business opportunities beyond simply selling wine.

Cue the wine tourist. From gourmet picnics scoffed among the vines to vineyard rambles and wine trails (yorkshirewinetrail.co.uk), from a sauna housed in a wine barrel to an e-bike vineyard tour, a growing number of wineries are offering much more than a taste of their finest wines, with wine tourism at the heart of their operations. Even like-minded businesses are joining forces – we're thinking of Sussex Modern, a partnership between some of the region's most vibrant and pioneering cultural organisations and its key wine producers.

With its proximity to the capital, Kent in particular offers rich pickings for the wine tourist, boasting a growing number of producers offering increasingly sophisticated wine-themed experiences and activities.

Even the under-the-radar East Anglia has something to offer wine lovers, from a stay in a grain silo at Tuffon Hall Vineyard in Essex to the Small Plates & Wine Bar at Flint Vineyard in South Norfolk. Can't decide where to start your wine-themed day out or short break? We've come up with a hit list, each with something unique to offer.

Best for vineyard picnics 

Rathfinny

Alfriston, East Sussex

It’s a case of no expense spared at this well-groomed, B Corp Certified estate on the South Downs three miles from the sea, with its regimented rows of vines planted on south-facing, largely frost-free chalky slopes spread across 93ha. But then owners Mark and Sarah Driver have always declared their intention to produce not just Sussex’s, or even England’s, but some of the world’s best sparkling wines in its gleaming, gravity-fed winery. And if that isn’t enough to get people through its RIBA award-nominated doors, then the vineyard picnics will do the trick.

Held in the Cradle Valley at the western end of the estate, right next to The Flint Barns, where you can stay over in one of Rathfinny’s 10 bright, comfortable bedrooms, the popular picnics give you a table positioned next to the vines, where you will receive your pre-ordered hamper together with an ice-bucket filled with your chosen fizz. Your picnic features an estate-made sandwich, sausage roll, coleslaw, olives, hummus and more. Visitors are also welcome to join the Summer Tour & Tasting either before or after their picnic (£35 per person; £13 per child).

rathfinnyestate.com

Best for variety of visitor experiences

Balfour Winery

Staplehurst, Kent

A few miles from the spa town of Royal Tunbridge Wells, you’ll find Balfour Winery on the Hush Heath Estate. Founded on the belief that ‘if we can’t sell it, we’ll drink it’ by Richard and Leslie Balfour-Lynn in 2002, Balfour has steadily grown in size and prestige, welcoming an estimated 100,000 visitors in 2026.

The 162ha estate has 53ha of vineyards ringed by ancient woodlands where deer and birds of prey roam, plus a stellar line-up of wines, thanks to a crack team headed by director of wine Fergus Elias.

The estate hosts a wide variety of visitor experiences – from tours through the vines, where estate ambassadors run you through its history and wildflower conservation, explain the winemaking process, and lead tutored tastings. Spring and summer rosé festivals often sell out, while more intimate winemaker dinners and founder walks can also be booked, as well as yoga in the vines.

The Winemaker's Kitchen offers à la carte dining upstairs; downstairs, the cellar door and vast boardwalk-style terrace serve sharing platters with spectacular views over the vines.

Balfour also offers a complimentary shuttle bus that connects the winery to nearby Marden station, 45 minutes from London, as well as four plush bedrooms at its ‘Winemaker’s Pub’ - ten minutes from the winery, with English wines on the list and British cooking. Tastings from £15 per person; rooms from £120.

balfourwinery.com

Best for fine dining

Lympstone Manor

Exmouth, Devon

The Grade II-listed Georgian hotel is a splendid sight, with sweeping views over the River Exe, 21 plush rooms and suites, six super-cosy shepherds' huts, plus the vineyard-view Pool House for casual dining and drinks, a short walk from the manor.

Once a private home, the manor was renovated by top chef Michael Caines MBE and awarded a Michelin star for its elegant plates rooted in the classics just six months after opening in 2017. Wine gets equal billing here. There’s a team of sommeliers working across the three intimate dining rooms, offering 600-plus bins from top estates alongside Lympstone Manor’s own wines. Sign up for the Michael Caines Gourmet Experience and you’ll also enjoy a tasting in its inner sanctum, The Wine Room.

At the heart of the estate is the vineyard, home to 17,500 Pinot Noir, Meunier and Chardonnay vines on south-facing slopes running down towards the river, meticulously managed by operations director Steve Edwards – a long-standing partner of Caines.

With the help of partner Lyme Bay Winery and its winemaker, Clem Yates MW, the estate produces a diverse range of award-winning single-vineyard English wines, among them Classic Cuvée, Isabeau Rosé, Edwards Chardonnay and Triassic Pinot Noir. Each wine reflects its maritime terroir with culinary appeal in mind.

‘When I first discovered the place, I knew it would make an incredible hotel and restaurant, but I also saw its potential as a vineyard. The microclimate here is on a par with the South East, with a perfect elevation. Most of the great vineyards of Europe are all located near rivers, so why not the Exe estuary?’ reasons Caines.

Among the upcoming 2025 releases, wine lovers should look out for the opulent, creamy Chardonnay, the floral, gracefully mineral Pinot Noir, and the demi-sec sparkling rosé – an easy-sipping food charmer.

lympstonemanor.co.uk

Best for single vineyard wine tasting experience

Chapel Down

Tenterden, Kent

You could almost be in Napa. With its slick on-site deli, urbane restaurant with a covetable outside deck, state-of-the-art winery and sleek tasting room, Chapel Down knows a thing or two about offering an upscale winery visitor experience.

One of the UK’s largest wine producers, it sits in a pretty Kent valley close to the charming market town of Tenterden. In addition to some polished cooking at its Swan restaurant, it offers experiences ranging from Fizz and Falconry to Cheese and Wine Tasting.

This June, it launched The Hythe, a smart new premium tasting room complete with a rooftop terrace offering far-reaching views across the producer's oldest vineyards. Holding a maximum of 20 people, it is also where the newly launched Kit's Coty Collection Experience takes place, showcasing its flagship single-vineyard wines. After a behind-the-scenes tour around the vineyards and winery, guests enjoy a comprehensive tasting of the range in the stunning, light-filled space set among the vines (£50 per person).

chapeldown.co.uk

Best for luxury lodges

Tinwood Estate

Chichester, West Sussex

Bubbles and Fizzy bound over barking their welcome. The two friendly labradors belong to the estate’s owners, Art and Jody Tukker, and wait patiently as guests are shown around eight luxuriously appointed lodges.

The couple point out the saunas, one housed in a wine barrel and the other overlooking the forest, the two-person Jacuzzis, walk-in showers, huge beds draped in crisp linen, and fridges stuffed with wines, which can be enjoyed on your private decked terrace overlooking the vines as the sun goes down behind the spire of Boxgrove Church.

And if that isn’t enough to amuse, there are daily vineyard tours, hot tapas and small bites from The Vineyard Kitchen, weekly sparkling afternoon teas, and free use of mountain bikes.

Art got the wine bug after completing a dissertation on viticulture at agriculture college. After a stint working at Huia Vineyards in New Zealand, he persuaded his father to let him grow vines where the family lettuce fields once stood – 44ha of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier.

Wind forward 25 years and in addition to the eight luxury lodges that are open all year round (from £265 for two including breakfast), there is a smart new tasting room and their three elegant sparkling wines, made by Ridgeview as there’s no winery on site.

tinwoodestate.com

Best for biodynamic wine lovers

Tillingham

East Sussex

The clay qvevri buried in the earth beneath a picturesquely restored oast house is the first sign that things are done a little differently at Tillingham. Now formally certified biodynamic, the 28ha vineyard enters its ninth anniversary with the winemaking team embracing a low-intervention approach.

The estate's terroir naturally yields grapes with relatively low acidity, guiding a primary focus on still wines. Alongside this, a diverse portfolio of 21 grape varieties – including early-ripening and Germanic varieties – allows for complex blending, ranging from aromatic styles to classic expressions such as Chardonnay.

Unsurprisingly, natural wine lovers flock to this 400ha mixed-farm estate with its heart-stopping views across to the ancient fortified hilltop town of Rye, with the Romney Marshes and the sea beyond.

As well as the views and the wildlife (and resident goats), guests can enjoy wood-fired pizza in the Dutch barn, savour a meal in the restaurant, cooked with finesse, or relax with a glass or two of the estate's easy-going, characterful wines. Then retire to one of the 11 country-chic bedrooms – the two feature doubles enjoy the best views.

tillingham.com

Best for panoramic views

Trevibban Mill

Padstow, Cornwall

Just three miles from the foodie hub of Padstow, set in a picture-perfect valley with a water mill, Trevibban Mill is a family-run vineyard producing detour-worthy sparkling and still wines, as well as cider from its apple orchard.

Liz and Engin Mumcuoglu planted the vineyard in 2008 and are now joined by their son Tom as winemaker and managing director. The farm is managed using regenerative agricultural practices, and the winery is Soil Association certified. Trevibban Mill is the current WineGB West Producer of the Year.

Book a guided wine tour (£25) with one of the family, during which you'll visit the vineyard and winery before heading to the prettily situated winery bar, overlooking the vineyards and gardens, for a tutored tasting of five wines.

Alternatively, simply book a wine tasting, or enjoy wine or cider by the glass alongside sharing boards of local cheese, charcuterie and hummus. There is also accommodation on site in two one-bedroom properties set within their own gardens, while the estate's restaurant, Barnaby's, is listed in the Michelin Guide.

trevibbanmill.com

Best for urban winemaking

Vagabond Wines

Canada Water, London

So not a vineyard, but a winery. Urban wineries have become quite the thing globally, appealing particularly to millennials who eschew the pomp for the party.

London currently has four urban wineries – and at the vanguard is Vagabond. Founded by American entrepreneur Stephen Finch in Fulham in 2010, it revolutionised the UK wine scene by introducing self-pour dispensing machines, allowing customers to buy and try over 100 different wines by the glass.

In 2017, Vagabond launched a working urban winery at Battersea Power Station, which has since moved to a new, much larger home in Canada Water under new owners, Majestic Wine Group. Set across 6,000 sq ft, the venue combines a fully operational 100-tonne winery with a wine bar, restaurant, events space and wine school.

Led by Head Winemaker José Quintana, Vagabond produces English wines using grapes sourced from vineyards within two hours of London, with the capacity to make more than 100,000 bottles each year, making it the largest urban winery in the UK.

Visitors can explore the working winery, taste wines from tank or barrel on guided tours, and take part in tastings, winemaking experiences, and WSET Level 1 and Level 2 courses.

vagabondwines.co.uk

Best for e-biking

White Heron Estate

Kington, Herefordshire

Set within an impressive 700-acre family estate near Kington, cared for by the same family for more than 150 years, visitors can explore vineyards, orchards and blackcurrant plantations on a guided four- to seven-mile e-bike tour (from £50 per person).

Lasting around two hours, the experience provides exclusive behind-the-scenes access to life on the farm, with opportunities to sample the estate’s award-winning produce, including its celebrated British cassis liqueur, handcrafted for more than 20 years, alongside White Heron Estate sparkling wine (made from Seyval Blanc, Madeleine Angevine and Reichensteiner), apple juice and cider.

Guests can extend their stay in one of the estate’s luxury cottages and enjoy a picnic or seasonal feast at the estate’s oak feasting table, with panoramic views stretching across Herefordshire to the Brecon Beacons, Clee Hill and the Malvern Hills.

For those who prefer to explore on foot, guided walking tours include a visit to the artisan Cassiserie, offering a fascinating insight into one of England’s most distinctive drinks producers and top blackcurrant growers.

This autumn, the estate is organising a local wine tour (e-biking, tastings, lunch and dinner included) in collaboration with two neighbouring vineyards, Frome Valley Vineyard and 1276 Wines. Day tours or two-night midweek packages are available.

whiteheronestate.com

Best for premium cellar door tastings

Gusbourne

Appledore, Kent

Since Kent winery Gusbourne opened its tasting room, The Nest Cellar Door, in 2017, it raised the bar for tasting rooms nationwide.

The design alone will excite, with its jaw-dropping curvy oak timber ceiling evoking the ancient forest that surrounds the estate, and full-height windows offering views over the vines to the coast - you can actually smell the sea in Gusbourne’s vineyards, located on a hill just 15 miles from the must-visit medieval coastal town of Rye.

But it's the wine and food that people also come for – and they come year-round, as The Nest is open seven days a week (10am–5pm). Named British Luxury Brand of the Year, Gusbourne offers a flexible roster of experiences, from dropping in for a glass of its best-selling flagship Brut Reserve to seasonal dishes or platters in the Wine Garden and complimentary self-guided vineyard walks.

At the top end is the Icons Experience (£175 per person), showcasing the estate's rarest wines in a masterclass, alongside a four-course lunch and estate tour, including a tasting of its prestige cuvée, Fifty-One Degrees North.

gusbourne.com

Best for unusual vineyard experiences

Albury Vineyard

Shere, Surrey

On the southern slopes of the North Downs, just outside Guildford and next to the magical spring-fed Silent Pool, is a family-run organic and biodynamic vineyard established by Nick Wenman.

Realising a lifelong ambition to own a vineyard, Wenman planted his first vines in 2009, focusing on Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier to make his now award-winning sparkling wines, including the Decanter World Wine Awards Gold-winning Blanc de Noirs.

He also offers some refreshingly different visitor experiences, including Sip & Paint with local artist Charlotte Godfrey (£55 per person), with the vineyard providing a picturesque backdrop, and The Vineyard by Moonlight (£29.95), featuring tastings of its biodynamic wines with a moonlit walk through the vineyard.

alburyvineyard.com

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