Brabourne Vineyard

This small, family run vineyard, where all the vines are lovingly tended by hand, focuses only on premium wines. The grapes are mainly Pinor Noir grapes with just a few rows of Chardonnay.

Brabourne Vineyard is based on a site and in a village that can trace its history over a thousand years – the wine logo is derived from the oldest stained glass window still in situ in the country (in the 14th century church just across the road) and their latest wine is named after a previous inhabitant of our land, Salburga, Lady of Brabourne who died in the 9th century.

The tours are all small and personalised – following the interests of the group – we talk about growing the vines and how English wines are made but also cover history, geology, local wildlife and the various domestic animals and birds we keep.

“As a very small vineyard, most of our wine is sold direct to consumer (85%) to visitors or within the local area. Some local pubs and shops stock it too but we have no aim to supply large trade multiples. We tend our vines by hand, experiment with sustainable ways of managing our land – locally sourced wool is mulching our vines, ladybirds have replaced insecticides in fighting aphids on the fruit trees and we are developing meadowland instead of mowed grass – and visitors get to see all of this in action. Our holiday cottage is in a listed building, around the courtyard that was once used by the travelling magistrates, and overlooks the vineyard with guests free to wander the grounds.”

“We will preserve and enhance the natural landscape we are blessed with. We promote the wildlife, take advantage of our historic buildings …. and promote the historical setting of our business. We are currently developing the basis for a history display within the tasting area to bring the history to life for visitors.”

Hester Fenwick, Brabourne Wines