Grape escapes: Vineyard holidays in the UK

I swirl the remainder of a garnet-red Pinot Noir, gazing out at the rolling hills from where it came. It’s a mesmerising landscape of endless neat rows of vines, their delicate tendrils stretching towards the beating sun. I finish the last of the glass, and take leave from this wine-tasting lunch, ready for a little lie-down. And mercifully, my room in this quaint vineyard hotel is a few staggered steps away.

This wine escape isn’t in Burgundy in France, or Marlborough in New Zealand. I’m in Denbies in southeast England, the heart of the UK’s burgeoning wine country, where vineyard hotels are fast becoming a popular destination for wine lovers and travellers in need of a countryside break.

Once scoffed at for their inferior products, British wine has progressed to a €350 million award-winning industry. The next stage of maturity is expanding the vineyard sites to offer on-site accommodation – ranging from converted barns found in Tillingham, to the five-star rooms of Lympstone Manor or the glamping site in the Secret Valley in Somerset. Of the 200-odd wineries in the UK, 21 offer places to stay. And as a sign of what’s to come, another 19 are toying with the idea, according to a recent WineGB survey.

Denbies, the UK’s biggest single estate producer, spans over 265 acres of thriving vines, which annually turn into one million bottles of the good stuff for their online and on-site shops, and clients such as Marks & Spencer. Buoyed by this success, it converted its farmhouse into a B&B in 2001 and in 2019 opened a new cottage-style building offering 17 rooms on site. My room, on its upper floor, nails the contemporary cottage feel, with soft ochre throws and paned windows that look out at a south-facing hill of Pinot Gris vines beyond.

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“The additional rooms are working out well for us,” says Shelly Chapman, a wine expert at Denbies, while pouring the estate’s signature Surrey Gold in the tasting room. “Guests can have a different type of holiday in a beautiful, rural area. We put on these wine activities during the day, and if they need to, they’ve got a place to have a little sleep in the afternoon. It’s great for our bank balance, and it all helps spread the world – not just about Denbies, but about English wines in general.”

The benefit for guests is, of course, that no one has the bum deal of being the designated driver at a vineyard experience. It’s largely couples who make up the clientele, although a 10-person hen party from London break every stereotype at dinner and breakfast with their hushed tones, polite conversation and gentle sipping of the bubbly.

“I stayed at a vineyard in Australia a few years ago, but I never thought that would be possible here,” one of the party says, still in slight disbelief, as we leave the restaurant at the same time. “It makes the wine taste so much better when you know it was made right here.”

The big difference is that people finally realise that while English wines used to be rubbish, they’re not any more

As a visitor attraction, Denbies leads the way in this vine-laden field. In addition to its hotel, restaurant and tastings, you can shop at a weekend farmer’s market, or take a tour of the estate. The tour is improved by the option of riding a sightseeing train all the way to the best viewpoint, where you’re served a glass of bubbly to mark the achievement. The canteen-style Conservatory Restaurant, where glasses of fizz naturally prove popular, acts as social hub for locals and visitors, and as a reward for the muddied, Lycra-clad cyclists who’ve conquered the nearby Surrey Hills. The latest addition to the fold is Chimney Fire Coffee: an on-site roastery, shop and refill station. Their coffee grounds are reused as compost for the vines, creating a neat metaphor about the symbiotic relationship with Denbies.

Other vineyard hotels are building on their proposition too. Ryedale in Yorkshire host a series of theatre shows over summer, and Manning’s Heath Golf & Vineyard in Sussex, a series of concerts. Wine and Dine options are increasingly featuring in Michelin guides, and even “vinyasa in the vineyard” style yoga sessions are becoming commonplace.

Simon Thorpe, chief executive of trade organisation WineGB, says strong demand for visiting vineyards has helped fuel the fast growth. “Covid is not something that we would ever positively talk about, but when people were not able to travel abroad, there was an increase in Brits – especially Londoners – travelling to the countryside. At the same time, wineries became part of that repertoire. The whole thing is a virtuous circle – the increase in vineyards raises the visibility of them as an option. Then being able to stay is a lovely, natural thing to do, especially as most of them are in rural locations on higgledy-piggledy roads that often have few accommodation options nearby.”

Underpinning this is a confidence in the future of British winemaking. After all, the two variables that have helped it come this far are the growth in winemaking expertise and the warmer temperatures, which, for better or worse, look set to continue their upward trend.

“In the last 10 years it’s come along massively,” says Chapman. “We’ve learned which varieties work well, how to grow them, and what to do with the grapes. Last year was a superb harvest in England, and we’ll taste that in our future wines.

“The big difference is that people finally realise that while English wines used to be rubbish, they’re not any more. I was on holiday in Majorca and I saw that English sparkling wine was on the menu, and a nearby couple had ordered two glasses. That’s a real significant step forward – even in old world wine-growing countries, they’re not laughing at us quite so much.”

Double rooms at Denbies start at £170. denbiesvineyard.co.uk

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Three more UK grape escapes

Llanerch, Hensol, Wales

Voted AA’s Hotel of the Year Wales 2022/3, Llanerch comprises 6.5 acres of vineyard, making the largest commercial vineyard in Wales. It was the UK’s first vineyard hotel too. Today, it houses a popular restaurant and bar, and the newest addition is a tasting room, styled out in woods and greenery that makes it sympathetic to the neat rows of vines just outside. Here, you can learn about the winery’s beginnings in 1986, and how owner Ryan Davies spent the last decade modernising the estate and its produce for a contemporary audience. There’s more than a tipple of their Cariad wines to try; the vineyard mainly produces table whites and sparkling wines, with a taster of their slightly sweet rosé too.

Rooms are spacious and decorated in pastel tones, leaving focus on the comfort of it all. The star of the show is the restaurant. The service is on the ball, the atmosphere strikes the perfect balance of intimate, buzzy and contemporary, and the cuisine is even better. Expect to find elevated comfort food like roast Welsh lamb or artichoke risotto on its seasonal menus, made even more delightful when served with the vineyard’s own bubbly. For breakfast, a basic buffet is complemented by sizeable portions of hot dishes, like a full breakfast made with chunky slices of locally cured back bacon and sausages. We particularly appreciated that the vegetarian breakfast came with hash browns and sautéed potatoes.

Best of all, it’s two hours from Fishguard Port, with direct ferry links to Rosslare, and 20 minutes to Cardiff – ideal for combining a vineyard stay with city adventures.

Rooms start at £130 bed and breakfast. llanerch.co.uk

Three Choirs Vineyard, Gloucestershire

You’ll find Three Choirs Vineyard three hours from Fishguard ferry terminal, in the rural heart of Gloucestershire. The quietude of the vineyard makes for a welcome change from daily life, especially when the only plans here would be an amble around the 75-acre grounds to drink in the atmosphere before drinking in the wine. Dating from the 1970s, Three Choirs is one of the oldest producers in the UK. Today it produces a couple of reds, a rosé and six table wines, but the focus is on the sparkling stuff: a Blanc De Noirs, Pinot Noir Rosé and Classice Cuvee.

The estate offers a self-guided tasting at The Cellar, where participants can choose the five wines that pique their interest for a sampler flight with tasting notes.

On weekdays the vineyard is closed to the public and those staying have their run of the place, which gives the vineyard an extra level of tranquillity. And if you don’t like sharing the place, you’re in luck: there are only eight rooms spread across three lodges. Each room has outside space for those sunny days, and delivers spectacular, verdant views of the vineyard – the higher grade of lodges are within the vineyard itself.

The Brasserie is the relaxed restaurant and social space of the vineyard. Lunch and dinner are small sharing plates, ranging from fishcakes to lamb meatballs to patatas bravas.

Rooms start at £185. three-choirs-vineyards.co.uk

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Rathfinny Wine Estate, Sussex

The best place for vineyards, the Romans are believed to have said, is three miles from the coast. And so on England’s chalky south coast, between Brighton and Eastbourne, we find Rathfinny, one of England’s most revered sparkling wine producers. It was one of the main wineries to push for a DOP status for Sussex wines, and is set to become the UK’s largest wine producer with 350 acres of vines by 2026. It also has on-site accommodation. The Flint Barn has been restored and repurposed into 10 contemporary-rustic rooms, adorned with lush plants that add to the homely feel.

On the ground floor is a cosy, firelit lounge laden with books on wine and travel. Its relaxed diningroom is where guests make the most of its fizz-filled local lunches, dinners and breakfasts. Or to go haute cuisine, the Michelin-recommended Tasting Rooms, perched up on a hill next to its enormous bottling plants and the cellar door, offer experiential dining with its sparkling wine quite rightly at the heart of its meals.

The next day you’re in no better place to blow off the cobwebs. The meandering South Downs Way is just north, the Seven Sisters coastal walk is just south, and a walking trail through the vineyards offers an engaging way to explore its imminent surrounds.

Rooms at start at £110 bed and breakfast. rathfinnyestate.com