OXNEY ORGANIC VINEYARD: AN AUTUMN TOUR, TASTING & PICNIC.
Visiting Oxney Organic Wine Estate in East Sussex, feels a bit like visiting a family home – that is, a home with excellent English wine. It is intimate, personal and little quirky. Oxney is led by owners Kristen and Paul who bought and developed the land, working alongside a small team. Kristen seems to be hands on and involved in all decisions and that shines through beautifully, a vision made into reality.
If you or a loved one in your life fancies themself as a bit of a wine connoisseur, exploring Oxney Organic Estate could be your ideal weekend activity. Oxney is the vineyard to visit in East Sussex if you like to geek out about soil quality, pesticide free agriculture or all things organics. We stopped by for a tour, tasting and picnic – a gloriously balanced combination of exploring the vines, learning, sipping wine and then quality time as a couple with some food.
In this blog post you can find out more about Oxney Organic Estate and our experience of a recent autumnal visit.
About Oxney Organic Vineyard
Oxney Organic Wine Estate is probably the most well known fully organic vineyard in the UK and until recently, it was also the largest.
My experience visiting Oxney taught me two things.
One – being a truly organic wine estate is not easy, especially when you take organics and sustainability as seriously as Oxney. From the wine bottles and the corks to the way they manage fungus and pests on the vines – Oxney has to think about every little detail. Even the soil is certified as organic.
Second – their wine is made with skill, mastery and absolute attention to detail. As we walked around the vineyard, we learnt that two whole vines go into each bottle of Oxney’s fine fizz. And, everything from pruning to harvest is done by hand. Added to that, many of their vintage wines may have been sitting in bottle for up to three years before we are allowed to taste them. This is serious stuff – not any old cheap plonk.
Imagine visiting Michelle Roux Jr’s kitchen or Manolo Blahnik’s workshop – that’s what I felt visiting Oxney. In short – they are making a beautiful artisan product.
Oxney make small batch wine. To quote our tour guide, they look at how each wine is “expressing itself.” Like some kind of alchemy. Given that Oxney have won awards on the world stage, I’d say the wine is expressing itself pretty darn well.
Oxney Organic Wine Tour, Tasting & Picnic: What to expect
The tour
I’ve always thought it was best to visit English vineyards in the summer, but as we strode around Oxney on a grey October day, my mind changed. There’s something quite fascinating about seeing the vines stripped of their grapes, leaves glowing in the colours of autumn. The vines are at rest, hibernating for winter. Aren’t we all. But my goodness, they still looked beautiful at Oxney.
Our tour guide Paola, let us roam around the vineyard in our wellies showing us the difference between Pinot Noir and Chardonnay vines. We learnt about the wine cycle at Oxney, Paola showcasing her knowledge and passion about the estate and wine in general.
Once we had finished our stomp around the vineyard, we called into the winery to see where the good stuff happens. Real wine geeks will enjoy this part – our tour guide’s knowledge of the ins and outs of wine-making meant that we all learnt some new titbits. Plus, it really gave us a sense of the love and care that goes into making each bottle of Oxney wine.
The tasting
Next, to the tasting room. A perfectly timed entrance – any longer and I think I would have been tempted to start raiding the barrels in the winery. The space was set out so beautifully, with a glass for each wine.
I must admit, my inner nerd got a wee bit over-excited when I saw that we had each been given a little book to record our wine tasting notes. It’s these small touches that make Oxney a great place to visit – nothing is overlooked.
The picnic
After our tasting, feeling the pleasant light-headedness of a few wine samples – it was time for our picnic. It wasn’t the sunniest of days when we visited Oxney and I was a little nervous about rain ruining our picnic parade. Thankfully, the team at Oxney have thought about this – there’s a gorgeous covered tent area, and warm woollen blankets, so there was no risk of soggy sandwiches with a side of frostbite.
The jolly picnic included a glass of Oxney’s delicious Rosé, giving us the chance to try another of their showstopping wines. This is a pale pink still wine, brimming with juicy fruit but smooth as you like. It matched perfectly with the cured meat platter and local cheese.
So to the wine
Oxney is known for their fine English wine, so I have to admit that by the time the wine tasting came around I was very much ready to get involved.
‘Classic Rosé 2019’ – this is the one you want for your Christmas canapes or special celebration. Delicate, complex, refined. My partner-in-wine’s fave of the four.
‘Classic 2019’ – classic by name, classic by nature. A blend of Pinot Noir, Meunier and Chardonnay – the one for lovers of Champagne or Pinot driven fizz. Like fine art in a bottle.
‘Classic Blanc de Blancs 2019’ – for me, this was my top fizz of the day. 100% Chardonnay – punchy, zesty and blooming fizzy. The sort of acidity that almost makes you scrunch your face up – in a good way.
‘Chardonnay 2022’ – a Silver medal winner at the Wine GB awards. Buttery and creamy but not OTT as the lemon notes cut through. As Mark Darcy said to Bridget “I like you very much, just the way you are.”
Staying overnight at Oxney Organic Wine Estate
If you wanted to extend your stay at Oxney, they have some snazzy accommodation options.
There are larger houses for groups, which would be ideal for a (well-behaved) hen party or similar. A “little barn“, which sleeps four and has a wood-fired stove for cosying up with a glass of wine. Or, for a romantic weekend away – choose from two quirky Shepherds Huts. Each has a picnic table with outdoor space, enough mod-cons for weekend, and a wood burner.
What I think is particularly lovely, is that if you book a stay at one of the Shepherds Huts, you get a wine tasting, tour and picnic included. So that’s one day of your weekend away taken care of! If you’ve got a car, you can get to nearby Camber Sands to blow off the cobwebs the next day.
How to get to Oxney Organic Wine Estate
The vineyard is in Beckley, close to Rye. The nearest train station is Rye – which can be reached from elsewhere in Kent/ Sussex, via Ashford International. For anyone coming from London – trains leave from London St Pancras (1 hour 6 minutes.)
There are no public transport options from Rye, so a taxi is required. It’s recommended to book this well in advance as taxis are in short supply.
If you are driving, Sat Nav directions or Google Maps should take you directly to Oxney. You’ll also see some brown signs indicating directions to the vineyard off the A268.
Find out more and book
You can find out more about Oxney and book a visitor experience here on their website. A wine flight costs £12, whereas you can book a tour, tasting and picnic for £55 per person.
*My experience at Oxney was gifted. All opinions are my own.
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