Home / Vineyards / Sussex / Bluebell Vineyard
Vineyard guide · Furners Green
Visiting Bluebell Vineyard Estates
Bluebell sits on an old farm near Sheffield Park, a few minutes from the steam railway it shares a name with, and makes the Hindleap sparkling wines and Ashdown still wines. Come in spring for the bluebells in the woods, and book the wine and cheese tour.
Bluebell Vineyard at a glance
| Founded | First vines planted 2005, first release from the 2007 vintage |
|---|---|
| Known for | Hindleap traditional method sparkling wine |
| Awards | The estate says its wines have won more than a hundred national and international awards |
| Grapes | Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier and Seyval Blanc, with Bacchus, Ortega, Chasselas and Merlot more recently |
| Open | Tasting room and cellar door Thursday and Friday 11am to 4pm, Saturday and Sunday 11am to 5pm, bank holiday Mondays 11am to 4pm |
| Booking | Book tours online; self-guided tastings and the trails need no booking; groups of 10 or more by email |
| Tours from | £24.95 |
| Food | No restaurant; cheese is served on the wine and cheese tour, and wine by the glass on the terrace |
| Dogs | Well-behaved dogs welcome, on leads on the trails |
| Children | Welcome on the trails, no under-18s on tours |
| Stay | An Airbnb within the vineyard grounds |
| By train | Haywards Heath, about 15 minutes by taxi |
Checked on the vineyard’s own website in November 2026.
About Bluebell Vineyard
Bluebell started as a hobby. After a trip to a French vineyard, the owners began building a fine wine collection, then planted their first vines on the site of a former farm in 2005. The first commercial wine came from the 2007 vintage.
The vineyard has more than doubled since then. There are now over 100,000 vines on nearly 100 acres across East and West Sussex, with nine clones of Chardonnay, fourteen of Pinot Noir and four of Pinot Meunier picked by hand block by block. Nearly everything is a single-vintage wine. The sparkling wines go out under the Hindleap name and the still wines under Ashdown.
The wines
Hindleap is the range to taste. The Classic Cuvée is the house blend and the cheapest way in, the Blanc de Blancs 2020 is the pure Chardonnay, and the Barrel Aged Blanc de Blancs 2017 and Meunier 2019 are the ones to try if you have had the others. There is also a Hindleap Rosé 2018 and a sparkling red called Ruby. The Ashdown still wines run to an Estate Blend, a Chasselas, an Ortega, a Pinot Noir, a rosé and Valley View. Chasselas is rare in England and worth a glass for curiosity alone. Where to buy them.
Tours and tastings at Bluebell Vineyard
The tasting room and cellar door open Thursday to Sunday only, so a midweek visit means the trails and nothing else. You can taste without a guide, or sit on the terrace with a glass, but the tours are the better use of a visit and only adults can go on them. They are booked through the website’s calendar, and gift vouchers bought elsewhere have to be sorted out by email first. Bluebell has electric charging points for visitors. The phone line is staffed in office hours on weekdays, and the estate asks people to email if it is down.
| Experience | Price | Length | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tour and Tasting A walk through the vineyard and winery covering how the wine is made, then a tutored tasting of Hindleap sparkling and Ashdown still wines in the tasting room. Over-18s only. | £24.95 per person | 1.5 hours | See the online booking calendar |
| Wine and Cheese Tour and Tasting The same vineyard and winery tour, with the tasting matched to High Weald Dairy cheeses, Brighton Blue among them. Over-18s only. | £34.95 per person | 2 hours | See the online booking calendar |
| Vineyard and Woodland Trails Three waymarked trails that start from the tasting room, through the vines and the woods, which fill with bluebells in spring. Dogs on leads and children welcome. Paths can be muddy. | Free | About 15 minutes to an hour, depending on the trail | Every day in the growing season, no booking |
Book these on the Bluebell Vineyard website.
Buy Bluebell Vineyard Estates wines
None of our wine partners has these wines in stock this week. The vineyard sells them in its own shop, or see our pick of English wines to buy online.
Enjoying this guide?
Our monthly English wine newsletter
What is on at the vineyards, new tours worth booking and the bottles we are drinking. One short email a month, and you can unsubscribe whenever you like.
Getting there
Haywards Heath is the nearest mainline station, about 15 minutes away by taxi, so book one for the return. Brighton is around 40 minutes by car. The estate is at Glenmore Farm on Sliders Lane near Furners Green, and Bluebell suggests searching for Bluebell Vineyard Estates in a maps app rather than relying on the postcode.
Make a day of it
Sheffield Park and Garden, the National Trust’s landscaped garden around a chain of lakes, and the Bluebell Railway’s Sheffield Park station are both close by, and a steam train ride makes a good morning before an afternoon tour. Ashdown Forest is a short drive north. Kingscote Estate, near the other end of the Bluebell Railway, makes a second vineyard for the day.
See every vineyard you can visit in our Sussex directory. Our other Sussex vineyard guides: Rathfinny, Court Garden, Bolney, Wiston, Nyetimber, Henners, Artelium, Ashling Park, Tinwood, Sedlescombe Organic, Roebuck, Ridgeview, Breaky Bottom, Kingscote, Tillingham, Oxney Organic.
Questions people ask
When are the bluebells out?
In spring. Bluebell does not give dates, but bluebells in Sussex woods usually flower from mid-April into May. The trails are open every day in the growing season and need no booking.
Can I bring my dog?
Yes. Well-behaved dogs are welcome, and on the trails they need to be on a lead.
Can children come on the tour?
No. Tours are for over-18s only, but children are welcome on the vineyard and woodland trails.