Albourne Estate is a family-owned boutique vineyard and winery overlooking the South Downs, just 8 miles from Brighton. They craft small quantities of exciting and distinctive still and sparkling wines using only carefully grown grapes from their own estate.

Tours of the Vineyard and Winery

Tours are led by either the owner and winemaker, Alison, or a member of the winemaking team and the group size is strictly limited, giving you unrivalled first hand experiences and in depth knowledge.

Tours start with a walk around the beautiful 30 acre vineyard where you will learn about many of the challenges and joys of growing grapes for wine in England – including explanations on site selection, vine planting and vineyard management practices throughout the year.

The route then continues to the Winery and Bottle Store to see the equipment used in making wines with detailed explanations of the processes involved in both still and sparkling wine production providing an insight into what makes Albourne Estate wines so special. Lastly, you visit the new Tasting Room with unrivalled views over the vineyard and the South Downs National Park, where you will enjoy a tutored tasting of 4 of Albourne's current releases including still, sparkling and fortified wines.

A Light Bite

Sussex charcuterie and cheese platters are available from the cellar door during opening times. More elaborate picnics of local produce may also be pre-ordered.

About the Owner

After a career in multi-national marketing, Alison Nightingale decided to replace the politics and pressure of juggling work and a young family to study viticulture and winemaking at Plumpton College part-time (as have many other UK vineyard owners and workers) while her daughters were of pre-school age.

What's it like to make your own wine?

Making wine is fascinating, and running the vineyard and winery is involving, fun (at times!), extremely hard work, nerve-wracking, stressful and challenging; but Alison is her own boss and able to juggle the needs of family with this new family business.

As with most things, it is through hands-on practice that the complexities and skills of vine growing and wine making are mastered, and Albourne Estate are traversing the first steps of this very long path with creative exploration and commitment.

Albourne Estate Wines

From the very beginning, Albourne Estate's wines made a splash in the English wine world, winning Wine of the Year with their very first Bacchus release.

Unlike many Sussex wine producers, Albourne Estate produce a range of very fine still wines, as well as a full range of sparkling wines, including Classic Cuvée, Blanc de Blancs, Blanc de Noirs and Rosé. They are the creators of 40 Vermouth, named after the number of botanicals that go in to create its unique flavour and also launched the first Bacchus Frizzante, England's first wine produced with this tank fermentation method.