English Wine Week

Believe it or not there are over 400 vineyards dotted around this green and pleasant land – and several varieties stealing top awards. If you don’t believe us nip along to English Wine Week, which runs from the end of May through the first week of June each year, where some of the country’s finest wineries open their doors to the public.

At Denbies in Surrey, for example, you could try some of the latest batch, take a tour of the vineyard and try out the intriguing-sounding art of ‘bud-rubbing’. Meanwhile in Cornwall you can hire a bike at Padstow Quay, cycle along the Camel Trail and call in at the eponymous Camel Valley Vineyard for a leisurely glass.

In Kent the Chapel Down Winery offers guided tours of the vineyard, as well as local food tastings to accompany their fruity produce. We can think of no better way to spend a spring day than getting out in the fresh air to nose around a vineyard, followed by a glass (or three) of England’s finest – accompanied by some delicious local food – and that’s exactly what most of the wineries taking part in English Wine Week are offering. Chink, chink…