England is home to the world's most surprising new wine region

Move over France - England's wine is on the rise and this green and pleasant land is producing sparkling to rival Champagne.

Thanks to a boom in English winemaking – in quantity and quality – the nation’s sparkling wine, in particular, is winning awards and fans the world over.

And that means visitors to the UK can now add vineyard tours to their itinerary, as the country’s best producers are to be found in some of its most spectacular and easily accessible countryside – in the southern counties of Kent, Sussex and Hampshire.

It’s here the warmer temperatures caused by climate change mean growers can now replicate conditions in France’s Champagne region. According to industry body Wine GB, the number of English vineyards has doubled in the past decade and there are now more than 1000 around the country, many of which are open for tours. And business is booming – visits to English vineyards have risen 55 per cent in the past two years.

Happily, for tourists, most of the vineyards are within easy reach of London, whether via train or car. A great place to start is my home of rural Kent – the county to the southeast of the capital, known as the Garden of England. Dotted with oast houses – historic pointy-roofed buildings where once the hops grown in the region for beer were processed – the rolling hillsides are now also covered in vines.

Chapel Down Vineyard in Tenterden, UK.

It’s home to England’s biggest wine producer, Chapel Down, a vineyard on the outskirts of the picturesque medieval market town of Tenterden, and a great place to start your English wine journey. Just 16km from the coast, this is England at its prettiest.

Founded in 1977, Chapel Down accounts for up to a third of the country’s wine output. “Chapel Down Brut is the best-selling English wine,” says tourism supervisor Archie Waugh, who recommends it with a plate of fish and chips. “Our Grand Reserve is the most similar to Champagne,” he says, adding that “it’s even served in Buckingham Palace.” Some might say it’s better – the label recently pulled a stunt in the Champagne region, opening a pop-up offering blind-tastings of their bubbles renamed Chapelle en Bas (Chapel Down in French) to unsuspecting locals. Some 60 per cent preferred it to Champagne and were visibly shocked when they learned it was English. Mon Dieu!

Despite producing the most wine in the nation, the vineyard is quite compact – it accounts for seven of Chapel Down’s 405ha of growing in sites around the region, but it’s very pretty and has a modern tasting room and restaurant where visitors can take in the bucolic views. Those wanting to extend their stay can book the 16th-century inn The Print House in Tenterden and visit higgledy-piggledy Rye, with its fascinating smuggling history.

Quaint cottages on the cobblestoned Mermaid Street in Rye, East Sussex.

Speaking of wonky buildings, don’t miss the 16th-century timber-framed farmhouse Smallhythe Place, almost opposite the vineyard, which was the home of 19th-century actor Ellen Terry and is now run by the National Trust. Round the back you’ll find a theatre where, if you’re lucky, you’ll bump into patron and acclaimed actor and presenter Joanna Lumley.

Neighbouring Balfour Winery, on the Hush Heath Estate about 24km away, is, in my opinion, an even prettier vineyard to visit, with its large modern tasting room and restaurant. Set across 162ha of land, like Chapel Down, it’s deep in the glorious Weald of Kent countryside – a National Landscape – and you can take a guided or self-guided walk through its vineyards, orchards, wildflower meadows and woodland. They also own several pubs with rooms nearby, including my local, The Goudhurst Inn, and The Tickled Trout and you can also explore Sissinghurst Castle, one of England’s most famous gardens. The winery runs shuttles from nearby train station Marden, meaning it’s ideal for daytrips from London.

The tasting room and restaurant at Balfour Winery.

If driving, you can continue to explore many more vineyards in the region, such as over the border into East Sussex, where you’ll find Ridgeview Wine Estate, which also had the honour of having its blanc de blancs sparkling served at Buckingham Palace. In an equally bucolic location, at the foot of the South Downs National Park, it’s not far from lovely, historic Lewes and buzzing Brighton. The boutique vineyard offers guided or self-guided tours and tastings, plus a restaurant.

A little further west, you’ll find one of England’s best wineries, Nyetimber, whose Classic Cuvée has consistently won awards including Best Sparkling Wine in the World, putting English winemaking on the map. Set in 177ha, near pretty Petworth and Midhurst, you can take pre-booked tours and stay in Midhurst’s ancient The Spread Eagle coaching inn, which once hosted Elizabeth I. Yes, the first one.

While exploring England’s wine country might seem a surprising activity for Australians used to their own cellar doors, wine tourism is fizzing with activity, with overseas visitors embracing the new industry. According to Wine GB, there were 1.5 million visits to UK vineyards in 2023 and they predict it will grow even further as English wine gains in worldwide reputation.

Cheers to that.

How to get to England's wine country

Kent’s Chapel Down and Balfour Winery are around an hour from London by car or train. Balfour has a shuttle from Marden station. 

How to get around England's wine country

English Wine Tasting Tours run cellar door trips from London and Off Vine has an English Wine Tasting Tour in Kent.

Originally published as England is home to the world's most surprising new wine region