Ridgeview Estate - award-winning English sparkling wine producer
Not only is Ridgeview English sparkling wine one of the most well-known English wine brands across the world, Ridgeview wine estate is a great wine tourism destination, with lots to discover and enjoy!
The stunning views at Ridgeview Wine Estate
Nestled in the rural East Sussex countryside, just 10 miles from the city of Brighton on the English south coast and overlooking the beautiful Sussex South Downs, lies an English wine gem and one of the most established and respected UK vineyards, Ridgeview Estate.
An introduction to Ridgeview Estate
Ridgeview is a very successful family wine business, set up by IT entrepreneur Mike Roberts MBE and his wife Chris, back in 1995. Having sold his computer company, Mike decided to fulfill a dream and establish a UK vineyard and winery, capable of producing outstanding sparkling wines that could one day rival Champagne.
Mike purchased a piece of land in Ditchling, East Sussex, with the most incredible view over the South Downs Ridge and the dream became reality with the planting of Champagne grape varieties - namely Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier - and Ridgeview Estate was born.
Similar to English sparkling wine icon Nyetimber, just a few miles away in West Sussex, Mike decided to only produce sparkling wines and to produce them in the same way as in Champagne, by the traditional method and using the three Champagne grape varieties.
After Nyetimber, Ridgeview was one of the early pioneers in the English sparkling wine revolution.
Just a few years after planting the vines, Mike built a fit-for-purpose winery, with the first English underground wine cellars and the first wine, bottled in 2000, won an award for ‘Best English Wine’. Since those early days the awards have kept coming, the customer base around the world has kept growing and Ridgeview English sparkling wine has graced the tables of several high profile Royal engagements.
Today Ridgeview Estate is led by the second generation of the family - Tamara became CEO in 2013 and brother Simon is Head Winemaker. Sadly Mike passed away in 2015. He had been made a ‘Member of the British Empire’ (MBE) in 2011 for his services to the English wine industry.
Ridgeway English sparkling wines
Ridgeview wines - Source: Winekeller
Today almost all of Ridgeway wines are English sparkling wines and as well as producing some 300-500,000 bottles of their own wine each year, they also produce about 200,000 bottles under contract for other growers, using their extensive winery facilities and winemaking know-how/experience. They also produce a lot of own-label English sparkling wine for major brands like Marks & Spencer, for example.
In addition to the original vineyard around the estate, which is almost 30 years old now, Ridgeview sources grapes from partnership UK vineyards, also in Sussex, but also in other English southern counties, for example Kent, Suffolk, Essex and Herefordshire. Sourcing grapes from multiple sites ensures that Ridgeview can produce different styles of wines, but it also protects them from challenges thrown to them by the English weather. In total they source grapes from some 80-90 hectares of vineyards.
The original winery was replaced a few years ago and all of the wines are made here, using mainly stainless steel tanks to produce fruit-forward, fresh wines.
A successful global sales and marketing strategy has ensured that a good proportion of Ridgeview wines are exported.
Sustainability
The family is passionate about leading the way in the English wine industry, when it comes to ethical practices and sustainability. Not only is Ridgeview a certified ‘B Corporation’ (the first English vineyard/winery to achieve this), it is also a founder member of Sustainable Wines GB. Biodiversity in the vineyard and the estate’s woodlands is a priority, as are the use of solar panels to generate electricity, the control and recycling of water on site and sustainable packaging.
Visiting Ridgeview Estate - wine tourism
Wine tourism is important to Ridgeview and they welcome visitors 7 days a week. We can highly recommend visiting.
Where is Ridgeview?
Ridgeview is located on the London to Brighton rail route, just 2 miles away from Burgess Hill train station, so although in the rural South Downs countryside it has good transport links.
Wine tours and wine tastings
Ridgeview offers a large range of winery, cellar and vineyard tours and wine tastings. See here for details.
You can visit the vineyards and enjoy self-guided walks through the vineyards and surrounding woodlands. You can also enjoy a tour of the winery.
We enjoyed a fabulous wine tasting after our vineyard and winery tour, where we tasted wines from across the range, including:
Bloomsbury Non vintage - Ridgeview’s signature wine, a light wine with great acidity and lots of citrus/apple flavours
Fitzrovia Non Vintage - a beautiful creamy, strawberry-flavoured rosé
Blanc de Blancs 2019 - a single estate wine, with fabulous citrus/elderflower flavours - lots of ageing potential (note, we also tasted wine from the magnum and this was wonderfully complex, a bit rounder, but still with great acidity)
Blanc de Noirs - 50% Pinot Noir, 50% pinot Meunier - lovely wine with beautiful berry flavours
Oak Reserve Chardonnay blend - 5 years on the lees, wonderful dried fruit flavours
You can purchase wines directly from the wine shop.
Ridgeview Restaurant
Ridgeview also has a vineyard restaurant,‘The Rows & Vine’, which offers seasonal dishes, paired of course with the award-winning Ridgeview wines. In the Summer you can sit outside, overlooking the vineyard, which we can imagine must be lovely. We visited in the late Autumn so couldn’t of course experience this, but we would love to return in the Summer months!
Things to see and do in the area, close to Ridgeview Wine Estate
Sussex is home to many glorious things, Goodwood racecourse, Brighton Pier, Seven Sisters Cliffs, Arundel Castle and there are many pretty seaside towns such as Brighton, Worthing and Littlehampton to explore on the beautiful English south coast. Sussex is also home of course to the beautiful Sussex South Downs, with its stunning countryside - a great place for walking and hiking.
For ideas about what to do on and around the coast in Sussex, visit: ‘Sussex by the Sea’; ‘Discover Sussex’; ‘Visit South-east England’; ‘Sussex Exclusive’.
The stunning South Downs
Sussex wines
Wine tourism in the UK is reaching new heights and for wine lovers, a must-visit UK wine region is the county of Sussex. Not only is the South East of England known as the wine capital of the UK, Sussex wines are held in great esteem and rank with some of the best, especially for English sparkling wines.
Sussex and its surrounding counties are dominated by limestone chalk soils, resulting in the region's ability to produce high-quality grapes for sparkling wine (similarly found in the famous area of Champagne, France). Also, the cool climate preserves the acidity needed to make top tier sparkling wine.
Conclusion
Ridgeview’s place in English Wine is assured and we can highly recommend visiting this lovely part of East Sussex for a tour, wine tasting or meal. We visited in early Winter, which was great, but we’d certainly like to return in the Summer months when you can dine outside and enjoy the vineyards, the woodlands and the nature.
