The Mail on Sunday

A SPARKLING WINE DAY OUT

- SARAH HARTLEY

THERE are more than 200 wine producers in the UK that welcome visitors, according to winecellar­door.co.uk which has an interactiv­e map and directory so you can find your nearest. Most of those listed offer tours, tastings, experience­s and gift vouchers to treat family or friends.

England’s leading winery, Chapel Down, near Tenterden in Kent, taps into every budget with a guided tour from £20 per person and cheese and wine tasting for £50pp, to Fizz And Falconry at £145pp.

Its Deluxe Experience costs £120pp and takes up most of the day. It starts at 12.30 with a glass of Chapel Down sparkling wine in the on-site restaurant The Swan, which has a Michelin Bib Gourmand award. On a dank October day, guests are given drinks fireside before a three-course lunch. In warmer months you can enjoy the terrace, admiring vines and the rolling weald.

After a fortifying lunch (duck leg and apricot terrine, succulent shin of beef, sticky date and Chapel Down porter pudding with toffee sauce and clotted cream) we meet Tom, who leads groups (never more than 20) on a tour of the vineyards and behind the scenes.

Even if you know a bit about wine, you’ll learn plenty – including that the vineyard produces two million of the 13 million bottles of wine produced in the UK annually.

The hour-long tutored tasting will see you taking notes and closing your eyes as you swill and slurp a range of wines. Each guest leaves clutching a gift bag. No surprise what’s inside: your very own bottles of Chapel Down – sparkling and rosé (chapeldown.com).

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