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here’s a good Fact file reason why is described as the UK wine producing Garden of . regions (2017) With much of it edged by the sea, South East 75% stretching from the Thames estuary all the (1,922.6ha) T way round to the English Channel, you’ll find South West 11% a verdant landscape of rolling hills, blossom- (290.8ha) filled orchards, white-cowled oast houses East Anglia 5% (hop drying kilns), and timbered villages with (130.5ha) tile-hung cottages. And thanks to its eastern Wales 2% (42.3ha) location, it gets more sunshine and higher Other 7% (166.5ha) temperatures than most of the UK, which Area under vine explains why it’s famous for its fruit. 2,554ha These days, of course, there’s another crop (up 15% since 2015) grabbing the headlines – grapes. Make way for UK top varieties the Wine Garden of England. planted (2017) In fact, this is the very name chosen by a Pinot Noir 31.5% ‘friendly collective’ of seven Kent winemakers Chardonnay 30.2% who have got together to tell the world about Pinot Meunier 9.5% this fast-changing corner of southeastern Bacchus 5.6% England – namely , Chapel Down, Wine styles Domaine Evremond, Gusbourne, Hush Heath, (bottles produced) Simpsons and Squerryes. Sparkling 68% (4m) Drive down the M20 today and you would Still 32% (1.9m) be forgiven for thinking you were in France’s Champagne region in certain places, as the Source: Wine GB, countryside undulates away into the distance Wine Intelligence, – and you don’t have to divert too far off the Food Standards main routes to find patches where row upon Agency row of vines shimmer in the breeze on south-facing chalky slopes. Last year (2018) was a bumper crop thanks to the long, hot summer, which should help producers to keep up with demand, as restaurants from Manhattan to Tokyo are eager to list English sparkling wines, while those closest to home continue to fight over allocations – which can be a problem for the wine tourist, as we found out, with selections in short supply on wine lists even in Kent. The output of the UK wine industry might still be small fry compared with other wine- producing counties (think Oregon, USA, for a comparative size), but the nation has come a long way fast since its first commercial vineyard was planted in Hampshire in 1952. Many high-profile awards and trophy wins have followed, mainly for sparkling wines, fuelling some serious investment in land. Add to that the continuing interest from Champagne brands – Vranken-Pommery Kent, England launched its debut release last year in partnership with Hampshire’s Hattingley Among the country’s prime territories for top-quality sparkling wines, this Valley, and Taittinger is busy establishing its southeastern county also offers classically rural English charms of pretty villages, vineyard in east Kent near Faversham, ➢

stately homes and fine gardens set in historical landscapes, with a wealth of great Left: the orderly vineyards at Gusbourne Estate,

local produce on the menu. Fiona Sims plots a course around the Kentish vineyards which also boasts a sleek new visitor centre Agency Standards Food Intelligence, GB, Wine Wine Sources: Grieger; H2D-Charmaine Hasselblad Photograph:

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getting there Kent is closely linked to North Thames Estuary Norwich Sea – from 15-30 N ENGLAND GREATER Whitstable minutes away – by some LONDON London Kent M25 M2 of the country’s fastest Strait of Faversham Dover M26 Portsmouth Fordwich transport links, M25 Calais 1 M20 including Southeastern’s KENT English Channel FRANCE Westerham 7 high-speed rail network, A21 ENGLAND A2 Eastwell 6 though travel by car is easiest. The nearest airport is Royal Staplehurst

SURREY London Gatwick, served by many different airlines. Tunbridge 2 Castle Wells Biddenden M20 Dover www.visitkent.co.uk For more information go to 4 Folkestone and www.winegardenofengland.co.uk 3 SUSSEX 5

with UK partners Hatch Mansfield, called 0 5 10 15 Rye Kent vineyards kilometres 1 Squerryes Domaine Evremond – and the future is bright, A21 Dungeness 2 Hush Heath particularly so in Kent. 3 Chapel Down Hastings 4 Biddenden 5 Gusbourne Rural heritage English Channel 6 Simpsons It makes sense to start your tour of Kent Eastbourne 7 Domaine Evremond Beachy Head wineries in the west of the county at Squerryes (see ‘My perfect day’, right) near Westerham, just a 10-minute drive from the outer reaches ‘Add the continuing interest from Chapel Down’s Kit’s Coty of greater London, and within rumbling vineyard lies on the edge of the distance of the M25. With its winery, craft Champagne brands and the future North Downs near Aylesford brewery, deli and farm shop, it’s beginning to look a lot like California. The 300-year-old is bright, particularly so in Kent’ estate is run by eighth-generation family member Henry Warde, who tells how a prestigious Champagne house came calling Below: Tenterden’s to do it themselves. ‘Their confidence gave us MY PERFECT DAY IN KENT back in 2004 talking of perfect conditions and clapboard-style the confidence,’ he shrugs, pouring tasting

Photographs: Malcolm Fairman/Alamy; Chris Gale Chris Fairman/Alamy; Malcolm Photographs: partnerships, and how in the end they decided cottages and shops samples of his sparkling wines, blended from Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier LUNCH & AFTERNOON and made from their own grapes. Repair to The Swan at Chapel Down* for a Jump back on the A21 and push on deeper late lunch at the UK’s chicest vineyard into Kent, making time if you can for a stop at restaurant, where you can enjoy dishes the historic spa town of Royal Tunbridge such as lamb rump with aubergine and a Wells, with its colonnaded Pantiles shopping smoked paprika courgette puree. Or for and dining parade, before continuing on down something more casual, make tracks to the the A21 and cross-country (GPS is a must for Hush Heath-owned Goudhurst Inn negotiating Kent’s ancient network of winding (www.thegoudhurstinn.com) and nibble Squerryes country lanes) towards Staplehurst, where on Scotch eggs or Hush Heath Ale- The West House you’ll find Hush Heath (www.hushheath.com). battered haddock and fries. Walk off lunch Owner Richard Balfour-Lynn has pumped Morning with a stroll around poet and writer Vita – and don’t miss the stunning White

enough cash into the winery to virtually triple FranklinAdrian After a quick stroll around the Sackville-West’s famous garden at Garden, which is at its floral peak in July. capacity and has recently opened a smart new quintessential Kent village of Westerham Sissinghurst Castle*, where 3,000 French visitor centre offering tutored tastings, and a with its brooding statue of former resident sailors were once imprisoned during the Evening vast wooden deck that shouts summer Sir Winston Churchill, in the warmer Seven Years War; climb the tower for the Drive to the quaint timbered Kent village weddings. It’s surrounded by 54ha of months start the day with brunch on far-reaching views over the Weald of Kent of Biddenden and settle down for dinner vineyards, which are ringed by ancient Squerryes’ newly launched terrace and a stylish overnight stay at the www.chapeldown.com; woodlands that you can wander through aided ; overlooking the vines (www.squerryes. one-star Michelin family-run The West by a free map, before grabbing a table and co.uk). Wash down dishes such as native House*, where chef-owner Graham tasting through the range of Hush Heath lobster ‘Benedict’ hollandaise with a glass Garrett turns out innovative plates that wines, including the deliciously biscuity, leesy of its finest. Then motor on to the lushly make the best of local produce, alongside Balfour Blanc de Blancs 2014. situated Hush Heath (see left) and follow an interesting wine list compiled and

Next, head down the A229 and via the www.squerryes.co.uk the (free) self-guided walking tour of its served by Garrett’s affable son, Jake. pretty Kentish villages of and vineyards and ancient woodland, before Rolvenden to arrive at Chapel Down rounding things off with a tasting in its For details of entries marked with an The Swan at Chapel Down (www.chapeldown.com) near Tenterden, one ➢ Photographs: smart new visitor centre. asterisk (*) see p129

126 | June 2019 • DECANTER DECANTER • June 2019 | 127 of the UK’s largest wine producers. Walk past gleaming new tanks and presses, and Chapel YOUR KENT ADDRESS BOOK Down’s expansion programme is clearly evident. Add to that a swanky new deli bursting with local produce, a new tasting The Milk House room called The Wine Sanctuary, and its In sleepy Sissinghurst, this village smart on-site restaurant, The Swan, and you pub-cum-modern British brasserie could almost be in Napa. serves up beer-battered cod with a minted pea puree and charred Embracing the future lemon: perfect with Chapel Down Not so at nearby Biddenden Vineyards fizz. www.themilkhouse.co.uk (www.biddendenvineyards.com), this year Eastwell Manor celebrating its 50th anniversary and clearly The Sportsman not chasing the Champagne dream. With its ACCOMMODATION An unlikely destination restaurant flower-filled hanging baskets and cider Eastwell Manor near Whitstable, in what looks like a fermenting away in outdoor tanks next to the Imposing Neo-Elizabethan manor local boozer. Locally sourced winery, it offers a more traditional experience, house renovated by spa specialists ingredients cooked to perfection by as visitors enjoy a glass of surprisingly good Champneys. Bag the gorgeous, chef-owner Stephen Harris. dry Ortega, and Gribble Bridge fizz made generous Hugo de Montford Suite. www.thesportsmanseasalter.co.uk mostly with Reichensteiner. www.eastwellmanor.co.uk And then, bam, we’re back in California again with Gusbourne Estate’s sleek new Sissinghurst Castle visitor centre, The Nest (www.gusbourne.com). Farmhouse You can actually smell the sea in Gusbourne’s Handsome seven-bed Victorian vineyards, located on a hill at Appledore, just farmhouse B&B, located on the 15 miles from the must-visit medieval coastal National Trust estate and run by town of Rye just over the border in East Sussex. Frazer Thompson, CEO of nearby Conservative party tycoon Lord Ashcroft Chapel Down winery, and his wife The Sportsman has injected millions as a majority shareholder Sue. www.sissinghurstcastle since 2013, which has expanded the business farmhouse.com substantially. Gusbourne’s vintage fizz – an The Swan at Chapel Down impressively creamy, lemony, brisk Blanc de The West House In Tenterden, arguably the country’s Blancs 2013 – is a standout, and can be Restaurant with Rooms most ambitious winery restaurant sampled in a tutored tasting if booked ahead. Located behind the 16th-century offers a chef’s table and an outdoor Back on the other side of the county, the weaver’s cottage with its Michelin- terrace overlooking the vineyards, winery at Simpsons (www.simpsonswine.com). starred cooking, in picturesque delivering sophisticated cooking. is so new that the sign hadn’t been erected, in Biddenden. Four stylish bedrooms, www.chapeldown.com the picturesque village of Barham, off the A2 each with a different theme. www.thesportsmanseasalter.co.uk ; just outside Canterbury with its spellbinding ‘Scandi’ is a favourite, but there’s The West House cathedral and city centre. Charles and Ruth fun to be had in ‘Rock ‘N’ Roll’. So good we named it twice... Simpson already own Domaine Sainte Rose in www.thewesthouserestaurant.co.uk Graham Garrett, the 1980s pop Languedoc, but they are new to the English star-turned-Michelin-starred chef wine scene. Yet with the fizz still to launch, RESTAURANTS turns out plate after joyful plate. Simpsons has already made a name for itself The Fordwich Arms Great wine list, too. www. The hunting tower at with its Roman Road Chardonnay – rich and This recently transformed pub in the thewesthouserestaurant.co.uk Sissinghurst Castle creamy with full-on flavours of melon, apple well-preserved, tiny rural town of and honeysuckle, made from the estate’s own Fordwich hit the headlines when SHOPS grapes grown on sheltered chalky slopes and ex-Clove Club Dan Smith and team Macknade Fine Foods fermented in stainless steel tanks before won a Michelin star 10 months after On the outskirts of Faversham, this ageing for three months in French oak. opening. www.fordwicharms.co.uk is a food hall to beat them all, To complete the visit, there’s a ride on celebrating the best of Kent Simpsons’ Fruit Chute, described as the world’s produce. www.macknade.com first winery helter-skelter, which delivers you from tasting room to winery in a matter of a Flint & Oak Delicatessen few thrilling seconds. It’s a brave new, New & Farm Shop World in Kent. D Stock up on Kent cheeses and handmade pies at this bijoux deli Fiona Sims is a widely published freelance food, located at Squerryes Winery. Fordwich Arms Photographs: stocknshares/Getty; www.eastwellmanor.co.uk; www.fordwicharms.co.uk www.eastwellmanor.co.uk; stocknshares/Getty; Photographs: drink and travel writer www.flintandoak.co.uk

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