Tour and tasting at Flint Vineyard
A tour of Flint Vineyard in the Waveney valley with a tasting of its wines.
Good to know The same price as booking with Flint, which charges £25 a place.
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Vineyard guide · Earsham
Visiting Flint Vineyard
Flint Vineyard is a family winery in the Waveney Valley near Bungay, first planted in 2016 and known for Bacchus and for bringing the Charmat method of sparkling wine to England. Visit for a tour or tasting, lunch at Flint Kitchen, and a glass in the barn.
Flint at a glance
| Founded | First vines planted 2016 |
|---|---|
| Known for | Charmat method sparkling wine, and barrel-fermented Bacchus |
| Grapes | Bacchus, Pinot Noir, Pinot Noir Précoce, Pinot Blanc and Pinot Gris, plus disease-resistant PIWI varieties such as Solaris and Cabaret Noir |
| Open | Cellar door Tuesday to Sunday, 10am to 4pm, and until 7pm on Fridays |
| Booking | Book tours and tastings ahead, lunch can be booked or taken as a drop-in |
| Tours from | £15 |
| Food | Flint Kitchen, lunch Wednesday to Sunday, 12pm to 2.30pm, with Sunday roasts and a monthly Supper Club |
| Dogs | Welcome, on a lead because of wildlife in the vineyard |
| Children | Welcome, under-18s join tours free but do not taste |
| Stay | No accommodation on site, the vineyard lists places to stay in Bungay, Beccles and nearby villages |
| By train | Norwich, about 30 minutes by car |
Checked on the vineyard’s own website in October 2026.
About Flint
Flint was set up by Ben and Hannah Witchell. Ben left a career in IT to study winemaking at Plumpton College, graduating with a first class degree and awards for top winemaking student and best research project, then took his first winemaking job in Beaujolais. Back in England, he used Met Office data to choose south Norfolk, one of the driest and sunniest parts of the country, and the couple have been based at Earsham since 2015.
The first vines went in during 2016: just under three hectares of Bacchus, Pinot Noir, Pinot Noir Précoce and Pinot Blanc on a south-east-facing slope of free-draining sandy, gravelly and flinty soil, which gives the vineyard its name. Pinot Gris followed in 2018, and the vineyard has since grown to 18 hectares, with more planting in 2026, its tenth anniversary year. The winery and laboratory were built in the farm’s old grain store. Flint calls its approach ’Organic Plus’: it is not certified organic, but it makes its own choices on soil health and biodiversity, and a 2018 profile of the vineyard described weed control without herbicides.
Flint pioneered the Charmat method in England, making sparkling wine with its second fermentation in sealed tanks, as for Italian fizz, partly from hardy PIWI grape varieties. Its Bacchus is fermented in a mix of old barrels, concrete and oak foudre. The wines are sold by Fortnum & Mason among others, and in 2026 Flint was named Best Food and Drink Producer at the Norfolk Rural Business Awards.
The wines
Flint makes sparkling, white, rosé and red wines. The two Charmat sparkling wines, a white and a rosé, blend PIWI and other aromatic grapes for a fresh, fruity style. Bacchus comes as a crisp, tropical varietal wine and as Fumé, a bone-dry Bacchus fermented in old barrels, concrete and oak foudre. Silex is a barrel-aged white blend that changes each vintage (the 2023 is led by Chardonnay with Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris and Pinot Noir), and Précoce is a light, juicy red from Pinot Noir Précoce. Small-batch wines go to members of the Flint Wine Club. If you know English sparkling wine mainly as traditional method, the Charmat wines are the ones to try here. Where to buy them.
Tours and tastings at Flint
Everything is at Camphill Farm: the cellar door and shop, a barn wine bar with a log burner for winter, the garden and the winery. The cellar door opens Tuesday to Sunday from 10am to 4pm, and on Fridays the wine bar stays open until 7pm. Flint Kitchen serves a weekly changing lunch of local, seasonal food from 12pm to 2.30pm, with Sunday roasts every Sunday through November and December and a Supper Club set menu one Friday a month. Tastings run Tuesday to Sunday, and tours go ahead in all weather, with seating for anyone who cannot stand for long. Bookings can be changed or cancelled up to 72 hours ahead. The site has smooth concrete paths to the shop, wine bar and winery, flat gravel and grass to the garden and vines, wheelchair-accessible toilets, baby change and high chairs. In summer, free Flint Fridays bring live music and street food from May to September; they return in 2027.
| Experience | Price | Length | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| Guided Wine Tasting A guided tasting of a selection of Flint wines with a member of the team, in the cellar room or outside overlooking the vines. Spittoons are available, and under-18s cannot take part. | £15 per person | 30 minutes | Tuesday to Sunday, times vary |
| The Flint Tour A walk through the vineyard and the winery with the cellar door team or winemakers Ben or Oli, then a tasting of four wines, outside if the weather allows. You can add Friday lunch of small plates for £24.50 or a Sunday roast for £29.50 when booking. | £25 per person, under-18s free | 2 hours | Friday and Sunday at 10am |
| Flint Sundays: Christmas Fayre A relaxed, family-friendly afternoon at the vineyard with street food, artisan food producers, crafts and mulled wine alongside Flint’s wines. Dogs on leads are welcome. | Free entry, no booking | 12pm to 4.30pm | Sunday 29 November 2026 |
Book these on the Flint website.
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Buy Flint wines
5 bottles in stock with our wine partners this week. Prices are for a single 75cl bottle.
Sparkling
Flint Charmat White
A fruity tank-method sparkling white from Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Pinot Blanc, with some of the base wine fermented in neutral oak.
£22.99at WinebuyersBuySparkling rosé
Flint Charmat Rosé
A tank-method sparkling rosé full of strawberry fruit, with Pinot Noir and Bacchus in the blend and a faint nutty note.
£22.99at WinebuyersBuyWhite
Flint Silex Blanc 2023
A taut, mineral white with lime, citrus peel and green apple, plus a herbal note running through it.
£28at WinebuyersBuyRosé
Flint Rosé 2025
A deeply coloured but fresh rosé with wild strawberry and raspberry, plus white peach from Pinot Blanc and Chardonnay.
£20at WinebuyersBuyRed
Flint Pinot Noir Precoce 2024
A juicy, smooth red led by Pinot Noir Précoce, with bramble fruit, white pepper and soft tannins.
£20at WinebuyersBuy
Getting there
Flint is at Camphill Farm on Middle Road, Earsham, about 5 minutes by car from Bungay, 15 minutes from Beccles, 25 minutes from Diss and 30 minutes from Norwich. The vineyard puts the trip from London at about 1.5 hours by train followed by about 25 minutes by car; it does not name a station. On shop and tour days, drive up the slope and turn right around the back of the winery to park, with blue badge and low-mobility spaces in front of the winery. On busy event days, park in the field at the bottom of the vineyard and walk up beside the vines.
Make a day of it
Bungay, a small market town on the River Waveney, is five minutes away, and Beccles is a quarter of an hour further east. Both have places to stay that Flint lists on its website, along with farm stays, shepherd huts and glamping in the surrounding villages. Norwich is about half an hour north for a longer day out.
See every vineyard you can visit in our Suffolk and Norfolk directory. Our other Suffolk and Norfolk vineyard guides: Giffords Hall.
Questions people ask
Do you need to book at Flint Vineyard?
Yes for tours and tastings, which are booked online. Lunch at Flint Kitchen can be booked or taken as a drop-in, and the shop and cellar door need no booking.
How much is a tour at Flint Vineyard?
The two-hour Flint Tour is £25 per person and includes a tasting of four wines. A 30-minute guided tasting is £15. Lunch can be added to the tour for £24.50 on Fridays or £29.50 for a Sunday roast.
Can children go to Flint Vineyard?
Yes, children of any age are welcome. Under-18s can join tours free if you add them to the booking, but they cannot take part in the tasting. There are high chairs and baby change in the barn.
Is Flint Vineyard dog friendly?
Yes, dogs are welcome. Keep them on a lead, as rabbits, pheasants and other animals roam the vineyard.
When is Flint Kitchen open?
Flint Kitchen serves lunch Wednesday to Sunday from 12pm to 2.30pm, with Sunday roasts through November and December and a Supper Club one Friday evening a month.
Is Flint Vineyard wheelchair accessible?
Yes. There is low-mobility parking in front of the winery, smooth concrete paths to the shop, wine bar and winery, and wheelchair-accessible toilets in the barn. The garden and vineyard are reached over flat gravel and grass.