Who thought Surrey and SW London would be so blessed with vineyards and gin distilleries? Not so long ago it was down to the pub for a few pints of bitter, a Liebfraumilch and at best; Gordon's gin with Schweppes Tonic. Now, thanks to climate change, ease of travel and television coverage, we’re more interested in the ‘terroir’, botanicals and exotic flavours of Fever Tree.
Here are 15 places where today’s more sophisticated palates can enjoy some intoxicating wine tastings and gin experiences in Surrey & SW London...
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Denbies Wine Estate
The Grandaddy of ‘em all, Denbies is one of the oldest and largest wine estates in the country. Established in 1986, it nestles in the shadow of Box Hill, on the outskirts of leafy Dorking.
Chalk soil - stretching along the North Downs from the white cliffs of Dover to Surrey - combined with a warm and dry micro-climate, provide perfect conditions to grow a range of top-quality red, white and sparkling wines.
Spend a whole day at Denbies, enjoying indoor and outdoor educational tours, tasting wines, eating in either the Gallery or Conservative restaurants, and of course stocking up the home cellar in the gift shop. Want to stay even longer? Spend a night or two at Denbies Farmhouse B&B in one of seven en-suite bedrooms, before enjoying a hearty English breakfast, overlooking 265 acres of vines. A drop of Denbies Bacchus 2017 vintage on your porridge, anyone?
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Albury Organic
‘Ever since I was old enough to drink wine I have always dreamt of owning a vineyard.’ And now Nick Denman does, as the proud owner since 2009 of the Albury Vineyard, just outside Guildford on the southern slopes of the North Downs.
The vines, under the solicitous attention of vineyard manager Alex, produce a still rose wine and a sparkling wine largely from Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier grapes, but all cultivated on organic and biodynamic principles.
Visit the Vineyard for tours, cheese & wine tastings and – on Sunday 9th June 2019 – the Albury Wine Festival (early bird tickets £12.50).
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High Clandon Estate Vineyard
‘Singular, matured vintage-only cuvées from the beautiful rolling downs of the Surrey Hills.’
Owners Bruce and Sibylla Tindale founded High Clandon Estate Vineyard in 2004, with a passion to create the quintessential English Quality Sparkling Wine from their small, hand-manicured vineyard.
15 years later, a combination of perfect terroir – ‘that mystical marriage of soil, location, climate and cultivation’ – and hard work have resulted in their award-winning cuvées, made in the traditional way, and with a long bottle maturation of at least five years.
Experience their Tour, Talk, Tasting events for £15 pp, by invitation only at the Cellar Door award-winning Glass Barn, and including a viewing of the Sculpture and Art exhibition.
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Surrey Wine School
And now for something a little different… Surrey Wine school is a local, independent wine education company, specialising in hosting wine tastings and wine courses in Guildford. Courses are open to everyone, with or without previous experience, and focus on learning about wine in a relaxed and informal environment.
Choose from Saturday Introduction Courses (£90, including tastings and a 2-course lunch), 1-evening Wine Tastings (from £25) or an 8-week World of Wine Course (a steal at only £95).
The Surrey Wine School also runs Corporate Events, Cookery & Wine courses, access to professional qualifications, and Wine Tours in Europe.
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Silent Pool
Passion and attention to detail ooze from every pore of the makers of well-known local Silent Pool gin, in the Surrey Hills, a few miles outside Guildford.
A vintage wood-fired steam boiler was restored to power the hand-built copper still, made in Germany; bespoke stainless steel tanking was sourced from Slovenia; a vast range of botanicals are used in different stages of the distillation process; the bottle is an eye-catching teak blue, embossed with copper illustrations of the botanicals used in the gin-making process.
Book a 90-minute tour to find out more about the whole Silent Pool Distillers’ gin experience (£20 pp). And if you really want to push the boat out, try the 4.5-hour Artisans of Silent Pool wine/gin/cheese experience, enjoying the deep immersion into the skills and products of the Albury Organic Vineyard, the Silent Pool distillery and the Norbury Park Cheese Company, all within easy staggering distance of each other.
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The Gin Kitchen
I love the story behind The Gin Kitchen: in 2016 friends Kate and Helen were inspired by the gin revival to buy a copper alembic still from Portugal. Their first attempts at distilling resulted in Gutsy Monkey Winter Gin and Dancing Dragontail Summer Gin.
Demand soon outstripped their wildest expectations, and production was increased from one day a week to five, from their micro-distillery near Dorking.
They only produce 30 bottles in each batch, using Surrey Hills water in a ‘one-shot distillation’ method, along with the gin and magical botanicals from around the globe, so this really is a hand-crafted artisan product.
Contact them to find out about Tasting Experiences (£15 pp), and Distilling Experiences (£300 for up to 5 people, including a bottle of your own crafted gin). Blushing Monkey Pink Gin and Eternal Absinthe have been added to Gutsy Monkey and Dancing Dragontail, and all can be bought online or at the distillery.
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Stovell's
‘We recommend that you drink our gin with as many blueberries as you fancy.’
Stovell’s Gin is an independent, handmade gin developed, distilled, blended and bottled at Stovell’s in Chobham. Creating their own gin was a natural evolution from cooking and making cocktails using foraged ingredients for the restaurant.
The distillation process and selection of botanicals is meticulous, ‘wildcrafted’ and Fairtrade, using plants from within the UK whenever possible.
The gin can be bought online, although get a wriggle on…each new batch sells out very quickly.
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Greyfriars Vineyard
Originally planted in 1989, Greyfriars’ vines lie on the sunny south-facing chalk slopes of the iconic Hog’s Back. Here they focus on producing stunning English Sparkling Wines (champagne, in all but name).
Recent improvements include expanded acreage, a new Winery including state-of-the-art winemaking equipment and digging out a natural chalk underground cellar.
A 90-minute tour of the vineyard with tutored wine tasting costs £20, includes a souvenir Greyfriars tasting glass and there’s a 10% discount on any wine you buy on the day.
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Godstone Vineyards
Established in 1985, Godstone Vineyard sits in 50 acres on south-facing slopes of the North Downs, with free-draining Upper Greensand soil. Two varieties of grape – Seyval Blanc & Bacchus – are grown, resulting in Godstone Sparkling Wine after fermentation in both barrel and bottle.
The wines are limited edition, and only available to purchase at the Vineyard Shop.
Enjoy a free self-guided tour around the Vineyard, or for groups of 6 or more book a cream tea (£9 pp, including a glass of Godstone Sparkling Wine) or a British Cheese Platter (£11 pp, including a glass of Godstone Sparkling Wine).
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Thomas Alexander
Jenkyn Place Vineyard
Ok, so Jenkyn Place is technically in Hampshire, but it has a GU postcode and is just a grape’s throw from Surrey’s Farnham, so it’s made it into this article.
Once home to hops, this Estate’s Greensand and Marlestone soils are now used to grow Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier grapes, producing dry, single-vintage English Sparkling Wines.
Jenkyn Place is not currently open every day, but you can book a tour and tasting from May to September, giving you an insight into the positioning of the vineyard, the planting of the vines, the way each variety of grape is chosen, as well as a tasting session (£15 pp).
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Stanlake Park Wine Estate
Stanlake Park is in Berkshire but earns a place in this article through its success in producing high-quality wines since 1979, thanks to the Gamay, Ortega, Wurzer, Pinot Noir and Chardonnay grapes that are grown in the loamy, well-drained soil.
‘We combine passion and expertise to produce a wide range of English wines to suit everyone, including white, rosé, red and traditional method English sparkling wine.’
Sign up for a Public Tour for an informal and fun visit of the Estate and tasting of 6 wines, lasting around 2 hours (£20 pp). Alternatively, a Wine Lover Tour helps you increase your knowledge and learn to taste wine like a professional (£25 pp, including the tour, education and tasting of 6 wines). They also hold special events…I love the sound of their Italian Food & English Wine evenings, where Stanlake Park winemaker Nico helps you to improve your knowledge of wine and food pairing (£35 pp).
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Philip Traill
Elstead Village Distillers
Home to Thundry Hills Gins since 2017, this small village distillery on a 500-year-old farm is the brainchild of old friends Paul Shubrook and Neil Redit.
Buy their eye-catching gins – Original, Sanctuary and P.M. – either online or through local stockists, or in local pubs and restaurants. But for something completely different, let these passionate distillers use their knowledge to create a bespoke gin for you. Now that sounds appealgin.
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Mews Gin Company
28 Portsmouth Road, Kingston-upon-Thames, City of London, KT1 2NDSince 2014, father and son Richard and Daniel Mew have combined their commercial and engineering skills to create a light, subtle tasting gin, thanks to the vapour distillation method of production.
‘Mews Gin is infused from 11 different botanicals to produce a drink that is full of flavour, but without being overpowering’.
Buy the Mews London Dry Gin online, in either 70cl (£31.95) or 10cl (£7.95) bottles.
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Beckett’s Gin
Using juniper berries from Box Hill and mint from Kingston-upon-Thames, the Kingston Distillers Beckett’s Gin is proudly Surrey-sourced. Their flagship product is a London Dry Gin, using just four complementary botanicals - lime, coriander, orange peel - and orris root, to accompany the more local juniper and mint.
Juniper has suffered a steep decline in England in recent years. Kingston Distillers are working closely with the National Trust and the Forestry Commission to propagate seed from juniper berries on Box Hill, and to create a new juniper population on local chalklands.
Buy online – Beckett’s London Dry Gin (£33.60), Beckett’s Spirited Gin (£38.00) and Beckett’s Sloe Gin (£33.60).
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Brockmans
Suite 3.02, One Crown Square, Church St. East, Woking, GU21 6HR, Surrey‘Brockmans was created with a single goal: to be a gin Like No Other.’
That is no small ambition, but it looks as though founders Neil Everitt and Bob Fowkes have achieved just that, their award-winning gin being sold to more than 30 different countries.
Using juniper berries from Italy and other botanicals from around the globe, they slowly distil pure grain spirit and those exotic botanicals in a 100-year-old traditional copper still. The result is an intensively smooth gin, to be enjoyed as much neat or ‘on the rocks’, as with tonic or other enhancements.
Buy a bottle online (£36.00), together with branded glasses, clothing and bar accessories.
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