Our mission statement is to have you go home with a better understanding of where your wine comes from and a better understanding of what it takes to produce that wine.

We are looking forward to welcoming you for a few hours escapism, enjoy the tranquillity and peacefulness at Blackdown Ridge. Learn about the varieties and management of our vines throughout the year, the wine making process from vine to bottle, then taste our award-winning English wines. Call me for more details on 07908989566.

Recent reviews

Just to thank you for such a wonderful visit yesterday.  We all had the best day!

It was lovely to meet you and gain an understanding of the passion and endeavour you have invested in making Blackdown Ridge winery what it is today!  I particularly found the understanding of the growing and care of the vines fascinating - every day is a school day.

Your time is clearly so precious so we thank you for being so generous with us yesterday.

It always makes a wine so much more special when you have stood in the vineyard where the grapes are grown and winery where it was made.  Lovely memories for us all which we will re-live when ever we open a bottle.

Thank you again for giving us all such a wonderful visit.

 I visited the Blackdown Ridge vineyard with two close friends, one of whom, is a ‘bit of an expert’ on all things vino!

Finding the correct front gate to the vineyard was the only testing activity of the day!

 We were welcomed by Lucinda and immediately her very amiable approach set the tone for our visit. It was clear Lucinda is very knowledgeable on all aspects of viticulture & oenology and her delivery style was as if a good friend had ’as if by magic’ acquired wine expertise.

 We had a brief, but adequate, visit to the adjacent vineyard (the weather was a tad wet) and then settled down to the main course, which was tasting the wines on offer.

 While answering a plethora of questions from ourselves, (including testing ones from ‘the expert’) Lucinda walked us through the vineyard’s history, operation and wines. She also talked us through the very testing, but equally amazing, period of COVID lockdown, when she became the self-appointed wine maker. This proved she could ‘talk the talk’ and ‘walk the walk’ or vice versa.

 We all enjoyed ourselves, purchased wines, passed on positive stories to others and those included comments on Lucinda’s natural ability to ensure, regardless of topic, a good ‘customer experience.’ A fairly modern term, but one that fits nicely. 

 And, I understand my friends returned for another visit with a larger group, a month or two later. A good reflection on the Blackdown Ridge vineyard.

 Thank you

Reviewed on Trip Adviser

Short notice tour of vineyard followed by wine tasting.

Lucinda gave us a really informative and interesting tour of the Blackdown Ridge vineyard showing us the processes from vine to bottle in what has to rank as some of the most beautiful countryside in Sussex. Explaining each stage from choosing grape variety, planting, pruning, disease control through to harvesting and the various activities involved in producing the different wines in concise and understandable language that revealed her deep knowledge and passion for the business. Our group of 10 were then shown into the main house for an equally informative and enjoyable tasting. Highly recommended.

 

Dear Lucinda

Thank you so much for arranging our winery tour last Saturday. You were so very welcoming and it was great being shown round by someone who was so knowledgeable about the whole process. It was particularly interesting to see a relatively new winery and to learn about its development over recent years. You were very accommodating during the tasting and we all thoroughly enjoyed the wines in lovely surroundings. We look forward to receiving (and drinking) the wine that we ordered in the near future!

Thank you once again for your generosity and please pass on our warmest thanks.

Dear Lucinda,

Thanks for a wonderful tour and wine tasting on Friday, my Mum and I had a lovely time and we’ve recommended you to everyone! I also tried the red wine with my friend yesterday and will be back to buy some more - I’ll be in touch, but let me know if your stock starts to run out! Thanks again for a wonderful experience, we loved the vineyard and your informative and friendly tour and tasting.

Hello Lucinda,

I just wanted to say what a fantastic afternoon we had at Blackdown Ridge. The tour of the vineyard was very informative and you certainly knows your stuff! The wines were superb – even the red – and I don’t drink red!! All in all a great tour. We look forward to receiving our wines by courier and will definitely be recommending the tour and the wines to our friends.

We had a brilliant time last night, thanks to Lucinda! You are so knowledgeable about your wines and clearly so committed to the Winery!

From your opening talk inside a rather chilly warehouse to the welcoming warmth of the Big House, we were intrigued, educated, delighted and surprised by your informative chat. The processes from vine to bottle were explained clearly; you handled some complex questions with a dexterity that revealed the depth of your knowledge. To think that so much was done by hand in a relatively small space was amazing! The bottling, the corking, the labelling all having the human touch.

Adjourning to the warmth of the Dining Room, we enjoyed the tasting, as you led our imperfect ‘noses’ in search of the fragrant tones each press produced. Very cleverly, you left us wanting more!

It was a truly excellent evening, enjoyed by each one of us! We came away knowing more than when we arrived; we came away glowing with pride in our English wines - or was that the warm fire and the tasting!? We came away confident we would be back for more!

I hope you too found the evening enjoyable and not too stressful!

Our thanks again to you both, and to Professor Cook for opening his house to us.

Chantries Rotary Club - winter wine tasting evening

We had a lovely weekend (staying at Lythe Hill Hotel) thank you, but unfortunately it went too quick. We did enjoy the vineyard tour very much and our tour guide was spot on and so down to earth and had no problem answering all of our questions, we thought the wine was fantastic, we also tried to pitch to some pubs and restaurants😃 Thanks for showing us around and telling us all about your job. We will be in contact to order some more wine soon. We love to support local business and will return in the summer when everything is in full bloom.

We will definitely recommend to friends and family.