Kentish Express Ashford & District
Grape news for Kent vineyards
A study into the best vineyards to visit all year round has seen Kent dominate the top 10.
The county laid claim to half of those listed – with Tenterden’s Chapel Down leading the way, coming in overall third place.
It was closely followed by The Mount Vineyard in Sevenoaks and Biddenden Vineyard, in fourth and fifth.
Squerryes Vineyard in Westerham was ranked seventh and Chartham Vineyard 10th.
The list was compiled by kitchen supplier and design firm Magnet. It analysed more than 230 vineyards in the UK on a range of factors, including Google ratings, search trends and the facilities at each location.
It then created what it has dubbed the ‘UK Vindex’ to score each vineyard out of 100.
Chapel Down, which was named best UK vineyard in another survey earlier this year, scored 93.75.
It was pipped to the top spots by Hambledon and Adgestone vineyards in Hampshire.
The study said: “Half the top 10 vineyards are all located in Kent which has become an attractive location for wine growers due to its excellent soil composition and exposure – living up to its name as the Garden of England.
“Kent has the largest span of planted vines out of all UK counties at 1,031 hectares. This is nearly three times more than Sussex in second place with 383 hectares.
“As the UK’s wine industry leader, Chapel Down offers an award-winning range of still and sparkling wines, as well as distilling and brewing their own gin, vodka, beer and cider.
“It’s popularity is reflected by having the highest Google search volume out of all UK vineyards, at an average of 14,800 searches in the past 12 months.”
England’s largest winemaker, Chapel Down announced plans last year to expand with another vineyard and winery after seeing online sales rise during the pandemic. It is a favourite at 10 Downing Street and Wimbledon.