Christmas at an English vineyard

Wreath workshops

The most popular thing a vineyard does in December, and the thing with the fewest places. All of these include a glass of the estate’s own wine and the materials, and you take the wreath home.

Rathfinny’s is the one that is an evening out rather than an afternoon: a welcome glass, the workshop, then dinner.

Festive lunches, dinners and party nights

Three estates run a December programme rather than a single date. All three have a restaurant and all three take group bookings.

• Denbies, Dorking, SurreyFestive lunches throughout December from £49.50 a head. Party nights with a seven-piece band, dinner and a disco to midnight on Saturday 5, Saturday 12 and Saturday 19 December, starting at 7.30pm, with more evenings on Friday 27 November and Friday 4, Thursday 10, Friday 11 and Friday 18 December. The Santa Express runs on the vineyard train. There is a hotel on the estate, so nobody has to drive home, and Dorking station is a 15 minute walk.
• Balfour at Hush Heath, Staplehurst, KentChristmas Day lunch on Friday 25 December, £165 a head for five courses in the Winemakers’ Kitchen, with a walk through the vines first. Party nights on Thursday 10, Friday 11 and Friday 18 December, 7pm to 11pm, £65 a head for three courses and dancing. A festive winter menu runs in the kitchen all month. The free shuttle from Marden station runs Friday to Sunday.
• Hambledon, HampshireA festive winter menu in the restaurant from November, and Christmas Eve lunch on Thursday 24 December, £105 a head for a five-course tasting menu. New Year’s Eve runs from 8pm to 1am on Thursday 31 December.

Markets and late shopping evenings

The cheapest way to spend a December afternoon at a vineyard, and the easiest to do on the way to something else.

• Rathfinny, Alfriston, SussexThe Sussex Christmas Market, Saturday 5 and Sunday 6 December. The market runs 11am to 3pm and the cellar door shop 10am to 5pm, with a glass of Sussex wine included while you shop.
• Balfour, Staplehurst, KentA festive shopping night on Thursday 26 November, 6pm to 9pm, with wine, live music, mulled cider, mince pies and local stalls.
• Hambledon, HampshireA Christmas shopping weekend in the cellar door on Saturday 5 and Sunday 6 December, and a festive Sip and Shop on Saturday 19 December, tasting wines, spirits, port, sherry, chocolate and preserves station by station.
• Birchden, Groombridge, SussexFestive cheese and wine on Friday 11 December, £40 a head. Christmas trees are sold on the farm.
• Godstone Vineyards, SurreyIts Christmas Cellar Door runs on Saturday 5, Saturday 12 and Saturday 19 December. Godstone opens on booked days rather than regular hours, so these are three of its last chances of the year.
• Mountfield Winery, SussexIts Christmas taste and shop on Friday 11 and Saturday 12 December closes the 2026 calendar. Mountfield opens on event dates rather than regular hours, so this is one of the few chances to visit.

One-off Christmas tastings

• Henners, Herstmonceux, SussexThe Big Christmas Wine Tasting on Saturday 5 December. It is held at Herstmonceux Castle rather than at the vineyard, so check the address when you book.
• Albury, near Guildford, SurreyThe wine and cheese tasting runs on Saturdays and Sundays right through November and December: three Albury wines with English cheese, and a winter walk through the vines before or after. There is also a Christmas sip and paint on Saturday 5 December.
• Rathfinny, Alfriston, SussexNot Christmas as such, but the season’s tours are on. The winter tour and tasting is £34 and runs Saturdays and Fridays from 30 October, and a one-hour Sussex wine tasting is £24 on Sundays from 1 November.
• The Grange, HampshireA winter tour and tasting on Saturday 12 December, which is the estate’s last date of 2026.

Booking it without being caught out

• Book the workshops nowWreath workshops are the first thing to sell out, and most vineyards run only two or three dates. If a date matters, book it before the end of October.
• Check who is drivingAlmost none of these are walkable from a station. The exceptions are Denbies, 15 minutes on foot from Dorking, and Balfour, which runs a free shuttle from Marden on Fridays to Sundays. Our vineyards by train guide has the rest.
• Christmas Day and Christmas Eve are separateBalfour serves lunch on Christmas Day, Hambledon on Christmas Eve. Neither is a tasting, and both need booking well ahead.
• If the dates do not suitA voucher works all year and is often the better present. See our English wine gift guide, which compares what each one covers.
• Going in January insteadPlenty of cellar doors stay open right through, and a few run a January date of their own: Godstone’s Medium Dry January is on Saturday 16 January 2027. Our guide to English vineyards open in winter says which stay open and which shut until spring.

Questions people ask

Dates and prices checked against each vineyard’s own website on 19 October 2026. Small estates change winter dates at short notice, so confirm before you travel.