English Wine Guide

Here are the best of the vineyards in Devon that you can visit for a marvelous day out.

Map of vineyards in Devon

Here’s a map of the vineyards in Devon that you could visit.

About Devon

Located in the heart of the Southwest of England, Devon is renowned not only for its stunning landscapes and coastal views but also for its burgeoning wine scene.

With a climate that is surprisingly conducive to viticulture, thanks to its mild weather and protective topography, Devon offers a variety of vineyards that produce some exceptional English wines.

As someone who spent three happy years in Devon at university, I am so excited to see the rise of power house vineyards in one of my favorite counties of England.

Here’s your guide to some must-visit vineyards in Devon.

Do they make wine in Devon?

Yes, wine is produced in Devon and there are vineyards you can visit.

Devon vineyards grow a range of grape varieties suited to the English climate. Key varieties include:

• Madeleine Angevine: Known for its floral and delicate characteristics, ideal for pairing with seafood.
• Bacchus: Produces aromatic, crisp wines that often compare to New World Sauvignon Blancs.
• Chardonnay: Primarily used in sparkling wines for its finesse and balance.
• Pinot Gris: Cultivated for its aromatic, still white wines.

The region is dedicated to creating high-quality and innovative wines, which is shown by its increasing success in wine competitions such as the Independent English Wine Awards and WineGB Competitions.

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Best vineyards to visit in Devon

Alder Vineyard: Vineyard in Devon

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The strap line of this winery is “far beyond the bottle”, meaning that a visit isn’t just about the wine – instead, they offer food and al all round experience. In 2023, they won a “Devon Tourism Award” for their efforts. This is a place that you must visit if you are in the Dartmoor area.

What wine does Alder Vineyard produce?

Alder Vineyard specailises in wines made with the unique Madeleine Angevine grape. Originally this was grown in the Loire Valley, but is now proudly grown by Alder in Dartmoor. This grape creates a crisp, but not acidic, off dry pale coloured white still wine or fizz.

Alder also produce a punchy rose made using a Rondo grape variety, a grape used for red or rose which grows well in Northern Europe.

Alder Vineyard: The Low Down

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Calancombe Estate: Vineyard in Devon

Calancombe Estate, near Modbury in South Devon, offers guided tours and tastings, featuring a range of still and sparkling wines. The vineyard is known for its sustainable practices and innovative winemaking techniques.

What wine does Calancombe Estate produce?

Calancombe Estate has won recent GB wine awards for both the Pinot Gris and Bacchus. It also produces a still Ortega and Rose. As well as English sparkling wines

As well as wine, Calancombe Estate also produces fruit liqueurs and gin and cyder.

Calacombe Estate: The Low Down

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Dalwood Vineyard: Vineyard in Devon

Dalwood Vineyard in East Devon provides a quaint and intimate vineyard experience with guided tours available by appointment. They are known for their community involvement and local grape varieties.

I love the story of Dalwood Vineyard – the idea came from a group of villagers who decided to throw themselves into learning about wine and make the dream of a local vineyard a reality.

What wine do they produce at Dalwood Vineyard?

Currently there is one wine for sale at Dalwood Vineyard, this is a fizzy rose made from Seyval Blanc and Pinot Noir with a 2018 vintage. It may be possible to taste other wines during your visit.

Dalwood Vineyard: The Low Down

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Huxbear Vineyard: Vineyard in Devon

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Located near Chudleigh, Huxbear Vineyard is a small, family-run operation offering tours and tastings that focus on sustainable viticulture. The vineyard produces a variety of red, white, and sparkling wines.

What wine does Huxbear Vineyard produce?

Huxbear’s wines all have super fun names which I love. The Orange Bear for example, is a unique orange wine, and The Dancing Bear is a Chardonnay. The still white wine called Corbinian is also very unique, with a blend of Siegerrebe and Schonberger.

All of the wines produced at Huxbear Vineyard are Vegan.

Huxbear Vineyard: The Low Down

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Kenton Park Estate: Vineyard in Devon

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Kenton Park Estate Vineyard was once part of the well known Powderham Castle. It is found close to Exeter in Devon, and is a family run boutique vineyard.

Kenton Park Estate offers a lively atmosphere with events like Friday night cocktails and wine safari tours. They also have accommodation options including luxury glamping.

Kenton Park Estate has so much to offer any guest. And, being so close to Exeter, it’s super easy to get to. It’s a sure fire must visit Vineyard in Devon!

What wine does Kenton Park Estate Vineyard Produce?

Kenton Park Estate Vineyard produces a range of still and sparkling wines. But it doesn’t just stop there – they also make gin, whiskey and cider!

When it comes to the wine from Kenton Park, I love the quirky names of each bottle. “The Grape Escape” for example, is a white blend, partly made from Bacchus. And, “The Gun Dog Escape” is a sparkling English rose wine.

Kenton Park Estate: The Low Down

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Lily Farm Vineyard: Vineyard in Devon

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In Budleigh Salterton, Lily Farm is an artisan vineyard that offers tours and tastings focused on their sustainable, handcrafted wines. The vineyard provides a personal touch with deep knowledge of viticulture.

Lily Farm has won a load of Wine GB awards, so this is a great vineyard in Devon to visit if you want to taste the best of the best.

What wine does Lily Farm Vineyard produce?

Lily Farm Vineyard makes an inviting selection of sparkling and still wines. They offer a white Bacchus which won a wine GB award last year. A Rose (made from Seyval Blanc and Rondo) and a Red (made from Pinoit Noir and Rondo).

Lily Farm Vineyard: The Low Down

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Lyme Bay Winery: Vineyard in Devon

Lyme Bay Winery, located in Axminster, is known for a broad range of products including English still and sparkling wines, fruit wines, liqueurs, and ciders. They offer a detailed tasting experience at their Cellar Door.

What wine does Lyme Bay winery produce?

One of the unique things about Lyme Bay wine is that it is made from a variety of grapes from different growers in England. A large portion of Lyme Bay’s grapes are grown in Essex, known for English chardonnay.

Lyme Bay winery also make Bacchus, Rose and Red (Pinot Noir) as well as a range of different sparkling wines.

Lyme Bay Winery: The Low Down

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Old Walls Vineyard: Vineyard in Devon

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Situated in Bishopsteignton, this vineyard provides tours and tastings with spectacular views over the Teign Estuary. They also offer luxurious accommodations on-site.

What wine does Old Walls Vineyard produce?

Old Walls Vineyard makes a variety of still and sparkling wines. The Priory White is made from an interesting grape, the Reichensteiner. They also make some interesting wines with fruit, such as a Elderflower white wine and an elderberry red wine.

Old Walls Vineyard: The Low Down

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Pebblebed Vineyard (Darts Farm): Vineyard in Devon

Near Exeter, Pebblebed offers a community-oriented vineyard experience with a tasting room where visitors can enjoy their range of wines. The vineyard emphasizes organic practices and involvement in local viticulture.

Pebbledbed is part of Darts Farm, which offers a shopping, dining and spa experience. The idea being that the farm can sell direct to customers. Darts Farm also positions itself as “somewhere you can spend a day”, sampling local food and drinks.

What wine does Pebblebed Vineyard produce?

Pebblebed Vineyard produces a range of wines. The sparkling wine, made using the traditional champagne method, are award winning.

They also make a still white which is a blend of Madeline Angevine, Phoenix & Seyval Blanc. A still rose, which is a blend of Seyval Blanc & Rondo and a still red which is made from Rondo, Regent & Pinot Noir.

Pebblebed Vineyard: The Low Down

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Sandbrige Barton Wines: Vineyard in Devon

Formerly Sharpham Wine, located near Totnes, this vineyard is famous for its award-winning English wines and stunning location on the banks of the River Dart. They offer comprehensive tours and tastings, with accommodation nearby.

Sandbridge Barton Wines has an extensive history, with the first wines being produced in 1980. Over the years, the vineyard has changed and is now in a new location by the River Dart.

What wine does Sanbridge Barton Wine produce?

Sandbridge Barton has a number of labels under it’s umbrella of wines. You’ll find “Sharpham Wines”, “Sandbridge Barton Wines” and wine label called “Don’t feed the ponies.” The latter of which is an experimental line of wines made with limited filtration.

Sanbridge Barton Wine: The Low Down

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Saunton Vineyard: Vineyard in Devon

This boutique vineyard in North Devon focuses on producing a variety of wine styles in a picturesque setting. They maintain a low-intervention approach to winemaking and offer seasonal openings for tastings and events. The ethos of the vineyard is to “work closely with nature.”

Saunton Vineyard is found in the beautiful area of North Devon, close to the surf beach of Braunton. Being less than one mile away from the sea, this is a fantastic vineyard in Devon to visit whilst you’re exploring the north coast.

What wine does Saunton Vineyard produce?

Like the minimum intervention approach at Saunton Vineyard, the selection of wine is delightfully simple. For this still wines, there’s a white “Longboarder” made from Solaris grapes, an orange wine “Wild Burrows” and a rose “Bay”, made from Rondo grapes.

Saunton Vineyard also make one sparkling wine and two exciting Pet Nat (minimum intervention fizz). The first is “Crow” a white, and the second “Puts”, a rose.

*For more information on Solaris and Rondo grapes – find my guide to the unusual wine grapes in England here.

Saunton Vineyard: The Low Down

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Swanaford Vineyard: Vineyard in Devon

In Bridford near Dartmoor, Swanaford Vineyard produces small batches of artisan wines, specializing in sparkling and still wines. They offer guided tours by appointment and focus on sustainable wine production.

Swanaford was set up by a couple called Ben and Caroline Goulden who moved to Devon from London in 2013. Since 2017, the couple have been inviting guests in to the vineyard. Today, they run events, such as wellness weekends and more.

What wine does Swanaford Vineyard produce?

Swanaford Vineyard produces white and rose wines, both still and sparkling. This includes a crisp white made from Siegerrebe and Schonberger, as well as a Bacchus. In the sparkling range is a sparkling rose and a limited release Classic Cuvée.

Swanaford Vineyard: The Low Down

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Tamar Valley Vineyard: Vineyard in Devon

This vineyard provides a rustic experience with a focus on traditional winemaking processes. They offer tours and tastings showcasing their range of red and white wines.

Tamar Valley offers the opportunity to volunteer at the vineyard, so watch out on their website if you want to get involved!

What wine does Tamar Valley Vineyard produce?

Tamar Valley makes a couple of very interesting white wines from the Madeleine Angevine grape. This grape grows well in Devon and Cornwall, but is originally grown in France. They also produce a Rondo based red wine. Delicious!

Tamar Valley Vineyard: The Low Down

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Torview Wines: Vineyard in Devon

Located in a scenic part of Devon, Torview offers tours and tastings with an emphasis on educational vineyard experiences. They produce unique and award winning red wines.

Torview is a small family run vineyard with a big heart and oodles of wine experience – they previously worked in Californian vineyards, before starting out in Devon.

What wine does Torview Wine produce?

Torview produces wines made from Pinot Noir, as well as Dornfelder, Rondo and Acolon grapes. They credit the unique climate and conditions created by their location near to Dartmoor. The Acolon is a particularly interesting and unusual English wine!

Torview Wine: The Low Down

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Venn Valley Winery: Vineyard in Devon

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Known for their New World style wines produced in the heart of Devon, Venn Valley offers tastings and tours that highlight their innovative wine making technique.

Venn Valley is a vineyard created from the heart by a couple, Tony and Alina. Both had professional careers before turning their hand to creating a vineyard. To this day, the couple say that they continue to take pride in tending to their vines by hand.

What wine does Venn Valley Winery produce?

Venn Valley winery produces white and rose wines, and a couple of different sparkling options. The Venn Valley Pinot Noir is a delight – a super light wine at 11.5% with the palest colour palette and undertones or rose.

Venn Valley Winery: The Low Down

Wellhayes Vineyard: Vineyard in Devon

Wellhayes Vineyard produces sparkling wine using traditional methods and offers informative tours that include tastings of their award-winning wines.

The vineyard was started in 2008 by Simon and Alison Routh and in 2014 they enjoyed their first harvest. Since then, the vineyard has gone from strength to strength and you can now visit it and taste the sparkling wine produced at Wellhayes Vineyard.

What wine does Wellhayes Vineyard produce?

Wellhayes Vineyard exclusively produces English sparkling wine. Their wine is a unique blend of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier and Reichensteiner.

Wellhayes Vineyard: The Low Down

Vineyards in Cornwall

If you’re visiting Cornwall as well as Devon, you may be interested in our guide to the best vineyards in Cornwall – find it here.

Where to next?

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