Home / Vineyards / Sussex / Rother Wine Triangle
East Sussex
Six vineyards in the valley of the River Rother, between Rye, Bodiam and Winchelsea. Several are organic, most have rooms, and two can be reached on foot from a station. Here is what each offers and how to plan a day.
We’re an independent guide, not the official trail. Details checked in October 2026.
Taken from each vineyard’s own visiting information. A dash means the vineyard does not say, so check with them before you travel.
| Vineyard | Where | Booking | Food | Dogs | Stay |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oxney Organic Estate | Beckley, near Rye | Some walk-in | Yes | – | Yes |
| Tillingham | Peasmarsh, near Rye | Book ahead | Yes | – | Yes |
| Charles Palmer Vineyards | Winchelsea | Book ahead | Yes | – | Yes |
| Oastbrook Vineyard | Bodiam | Book ahead | Yes | – | Yes |
| Sedlescombe Organic Vineyard | Cripps Corner, near Robertsbridge | Some walk-in | Yes | Yes | – |
| Mountfield Winery | Mountfield, near Robertsbridge | – | Yes | – | – |
Enjoying this guide?
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.
In order around the triangle, from Oxney near Rye to Mountfield near Robertsbridge.
Beckley, near Rye
One of England’s leading organic producers, making still and sparkling wine, with a tasting barn in an oast house.
Visiting: Drop-in wine flights of four wines, £15, from Tuesday to Saturday between 10am and 4pm, with no appointment needed. Guided vineyard tours with a tasting run at 2.30pm and last about an hour and a quarter, from £30, or more with a cheese and charcuterie board or a picnic lunch. Shepherd’s huts, a farmhouse and barns sleep up to 28.
Peasmarsh, near Rye
A 13th-century farm with 26 acres of organic and biodynamic vines, making low-intervention wines in steel, oak, concrete and clay.
Visiting: Tours and tastings from Friday to Sunday at 11am, 2pm or 4pm depending on the day. The tour lasts about an hour and a half, costs £40 and takes in four wines, with at most seven on a public tour. Booking is essential and public tours are for adults only; private tours for groups of eight or more are £50 a head and take families. The bar is open from 11am to 11pm and the pizza barn from midday to 8pm, with a Michelin Green Star restaurant and 11 rooms in a converted hop barn.
Winchelsea
Forty acres of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay on a south-facing slope a mile from the sea, planted from 2006.
Visiting: Cellar door open Wednesday to Saturday, 11am to 5pm, and Sunday 12pm to 4pm, with bank holiday Mondays on Sunday hours and other times by appointment. Wine flights are £15 a head and picnic hampers £14, taken on the day or pre-ordered. Stays at the 16th-century Wickham Manor. Walk in from Winchelsea on the 1066 Country Walk.
Bodiam
Within sight of Bodiam Castle, overlooking the Rother valley, making still and sparkling wine on the estate.
Visiting: Tours led by the winemakers, ending with four wines and a cheese platter, booked in advance. Informal tastings at the bar. Lodges, a cottage and glamping.
Vineyard website The owners’ tour Stay: Oastbrook’s earth-sheltered cottage
Cripps Corner, near Robertsbridge
Founded in 1979 and known as England’s oldest organic wine estate. The wines are vegetarian and vegan.
Visiting: Open Wednesday to Sunday. Drop-in tastings in the café bar and kitchen need no booking, alongside wine by the glass, charcuterie, ploughman’s and hot drinks. Guided tours with a tutored tasting must be booked and cost £25, or £31 with a cream tea and £37 with lunch. Children come on tours free. Dogs on leads are welcome in the shop, tasting room and gardens, but not on tours or in the vineyard.
Mountfield, near Robertsbridge
A boutique family estate surrounded by ancient woodland, specialising in traditional-method sparkling wine.
Visiting: Intimate tours and tastings on set event dates through the year, from bluebell walks to winery picnics. The 2026 dates close with a Christmas taste and shop on 11 and 12 December, and the 2027 calendar is still to be published.
From Rye. The tightest group is Oxney, Tillingham and Charles Palmer. Take a taxi from Rye station to Oxney for a drop-in flight (Tuesday to Saturday), then on to Tillingham for lunch and an afternoon tour, booked ahead. Finish at Charles Palmer with a flight or a picnic hamper, then walk down to Winchelsea station. If you would rather walk in, Tillingham publishes a 3.5-mile footpath route from Rye station that takes just over an hour.
From Robertsbridge. Mountfield, Oastbrook and Sedlescombe sit close together west of the valley, a short taxi ride apart. Mountfield opens on set dates, so check its calendar first. Oastbrook’s tours are booked ahead, and Sedlescombe’s café bar takes drop-in tastings.
Staying over. Oxney, Tillingham, Charles Palmer, Oastbrook and Sedlescombe all have rooms, huts or lodges on the estate, so a night in the vines is easy to arrange.
On a Sunday. A bus tour runs from Rye and Robertsbridge stations on Sundays in season, visiting three of the six vineyards with lunch. Its last 2026 date is 25 October.
Elsewhere in Sussex, see the Wealden Wine Trail and the South Downs, or every Sussex vineyard on one map.
A round-doored cottage set into the hillside at Oastbrook, near Bodiam Castle. The estate also has a lakeside lodge and glamping.
The Mermaid Inn was rebuilt in 1420, with cellars dating to 1156, and has 31 rooms and a 2 AA Rosette restaurant on cobbled Mermaid Street.
A sixteenth-century coaching inn on Rye High Street, dating from 1575, with an original Georgian ballroom.
A family owned and run country pub on German Street, Winchelsea, with 4 en suite rooms.
A boutique country hotel just outside Battle that sits around a seven-acre lake within 78 acres of ancient woodland, streams and old pasture.
Prices are often the same either way, so compare the booking site with booking direct.
A tour of this boutique vineyard by Bodiam Castle, hosted by the owners, with a tasting of their award-winning wines and the chance to stay on at the bar.
Starts Oastbrook Vineyard, Bodiam, East Sussex
A group of six vineyards around Rye, Bodiam and Winchelsea in East Sussex, set up by Rother District Council in 2025 as part of Sussex Winelands: Oxney Organic Estate, Tillingham, Charles Palmer, Oastbrook, Sedlescombe Organic and Mountfield.
Partly. Tillingham is a 3.5-mile footpath walk from Rye station and Charles Palmer is close to Winchelsea. For Oxney, Oastbrook, Sedlescombe and Mountfield, take a taxi from Rye, Robertsbridge or Battle.
Oxney, Tillingham, Charles Palmer, Oastbrook and Sedlescombe all offer places to stay on the estate, from shepherd’s huts and lodges to rooms in a converted hop barn.
What is on at the vineyards that month, new tours worth booking, and our seasonal picks, from Christmas vouchers to harvest days. One email a month. Unsubscribe whenever you like.
