English vineyards open in winter

What winter is actually like at a vineyard

The vines are bare from November, and pruning starts in the new year, so there is less to look at outside and more to taste inside. That is not a bad trade. Tours are smaller, guides have time to talk, and the wine in the glass is the same wine. Several estates run a tour built for the season: Rathfinny’s winter tour and tasting runs from late October to late April, and Hambledon, Wiston and Bolney all keep their indoor winery tours going at the same price as in summer.

Two practical points. Wear boots, because even an indoor tour usually crosses a yard. And check before you travel, because a small vineyard’s winter hours are the first thing to change at short notice. Everything below was checked against each vineyard’s own website in October 2026.

Open all through the winter

These keep a cellar door, shop or wine bar open between November and March. Where a tasting takes walk-ins, we say so.

Closed, or open on set dates only

Some shut the doors until spring. Others never had daily opening and run booked dates instead, which makes a winter date worth catching when one comes up.

• Albourne Estate, SussexThe tasting room is closed for the winter and reopens in spring 2027. No public dates are left in 2026 and the 2027 calendar comes out in January. Private tours and tastings continue all year by request.
• Black Chalk, HampshireThe tasting room opens every day from March to December, so January and February are the gap. Friday night lates run to 9pm while it is open.
• Raimes, HampshireThe tasting barn and cellar door open Friday to Sunday from March to the end of December, then close for winter pruning apart from private bookings.
• Exton Park, HampshireTours run on Fridays from 1 March to 31 October only, so nothing between November and February.
• The Grange, HampshireSet Saturdays rather than a daily cellar door, with a winter tour on 12 December 2026 after the autumn dates.
• Danebury Vineyards, HampshireRarely open at all: a handful of booked Friday afternoons in spring and summer. The 2027 dates are not yet published.
• Albury Organic Vineyard, SurreyWeekends and bank holidays, 11am to 4pm from October to December, then closed in January and February.
• Godstone Vineyards, SurreyBooked open days, nearly all Saturdays, running through to 19 December 2026 and then stopping until the new season.
• High Clandon, SurreyPre-booked open days only, and the last of 2026 is Saturday 24 October. The 2027 dates are still to come.
• Tanhurst Estate, SurreyThe vineyard café opens every Saturday and Sunday, 10am to 4pm, with a free self-guided walk, but guided tours run only on dates announced to the estate’s mailing list.
• Yotes Court, KentThe cellar door, wine barn and lawn open April to October, so the season has just ended.
• Downsview Vineyard, SussexSpring and summer only.
• Stopham Vineyard, SussexTours on most Saturdays from April to September.
• Mountfield Winery, SussexEvent dates rather than opening hours. The 2026 list closes with a Christmas taste and shop on 11 and 12 December, and the 2027 calendar is still to be published.
• Nyetimber, SussexNo drop-in visits at any time of year. Tours run on set open days, which sell out, so book early.
• Breaky Bottom, SussexClosed to visitors at present, with no tours or tastings. Wine can be collected at the cellar door by appointment.

Where to start

• No car, short dayDenbies is a 15-minute walk from Dorking station and opens every day. Westwell is a mile from Charing, and Warehorne ten to fifteen minutes from Ham Street. Our vineyard directory gives the nearest station for each one.
• A proper winery tourWiston, Hambledon, Rathfinny and Hattingley Valley all run indoor tours through the winter, where the tanks and barrels are the point rather than the vines.
• Lunch as much as wineBolney, Wiston, Kinsbrook, Tillingham and Balfour all keep a kitchen going, and Hambledon’s restaurant is in the Michelin Guide.
• Somewhere to stayRathfinny, Tillingham, Oxney and Denbies all have rooms on the estate, which makes a winter weekend out of it.
• A present insteadMost of these sell a voucher that can be used when the weather improves. See our English wine gift guide.

Opening times and prices come from each vineyard’s own website and were checked in October 2026. Winter hours change more often than summer ones, so check before you travel.