UPDATED - UK wine tasting & tour at Sandridge Barton, Devon
Sharpham Wine has moved down the River Dart to a site which has been producing the grapes for their wines for years - the beautiful Sandridge Barton Estate
Beautiful Sandridge Barton vineyards, South Devon
Devon wines make it a wine tourist destination too!
Devon is a hugely popular tourist destination with its fabulous coastline, seaside resorts and rolling hills - but did you know Devon, in the UK’s West wine region makes some great wines too? And did you know there is a great wine tourism destination just waiting to be explored in the South Hams and Dart Valley, just close to popular Torbay in South Devon??
In 2021, we visited Sharpham Wine Estate on the River Dart, near Totnes in Devon. We had a fabulous wine tour and wine tasting, but vowed to return once Sharpham Wine had completed its planned relocation to a new site just 3 miles downriver at Stoke Gabriel, called Sandridge Barton. We did indeed return, in August 2022, to Sandridge Barton Wines - the new home of Sharpham Wines!
Read on to discover what a great UK wine tourism destination this is!
About Sandridge Barton
Sharpham wines have been produced in the beautiful Dart Valley, for the last 40 years. The first Sharpham vineyard was planted in 1981 on the west bank of the River Dart and over time Sharpham wines have become synonymous with typically light, refreshing and aromatic English wines.
In 2022 Sharpham Wine relocated its winery and visitor centre away from the original Sharpham Estate site, where the lease was expiring, to a new site called Sandridge Barton, just 3km downriver. This presented an incredible opportunity to develop a new state-of-the-art winery and visitor centre, but also to extend their range of wines and to achieve greater sustainability in their farming and winemaking.
The move was completed in Spring 2022 and Sandridge Barton Wines was born!
Sandridge Barton Wines nestled in the lovely Dart Valley
The new Sandridge Barton wines premises
Sandridge Barton Estate
The 450 acre Sandridge Barton Estate is located in a fabulous setting, on the east bank of the River Dart, in a south-facing bowl, just south of Stoke Gabriel in the beautiful South Devon countryside. This farming estate, now home to 2 vineyards (see below), has a really interesting history and was the base for US forces stationed there in World War 2.
The new winery and visitor centre is based at Lower Well Farm on the estate.
Sandridge Barton vineyards
In addition to the lease expiring on the Sharpham Estate land, the vines in the original Sharpham vineyard, which had served Sharpham Wines so well for over 40 years, were past their best. With the future in mind, Sharpham Wines were already making a lot of their wines from grapes grown away from Sharpham on a 24 acre vineyard located at Sandridge Barton, which was planted in 2008. This of course made the transition to Sandridge Barton in 2022 a much easier task as the vineyard here was already well established.
The original Sharpham vineyard is no more, but the team are continuing the legacy and vision for their wines through the 2008 Sandridge Barton vineyard, which now produces over 60 tonnes of grapes a year from 24 acres. The vineyard site was carefully selected for its optimum grape growing conditions, in a south-facing bowl that gently slopes towards the Dart, benefiting from the warming influence of the tidal river as well as the Devon sunshine. From here there are breathtaking views across the Sandridge Barton Estate.
Sandridge Barton vineyards, Devon
A new Sandridge Barton vineyard - ‘Stonyfield’
The next chapter in Sandridge Barton Wine’s story has been written through the planting of a new vineyard, called ‘Stonyfield’ on May 19th 2022, just a 10 minute walk from the winery at Lower Well Farm. What is incredibly exciting about this 8 acre plot of land is that it is situated on calcium-rich limestone bedrock, unique to South Devon, but common in some of the world’s top vineyard sites. This is an ideal soil and terroir for Burgundy and Champagne grapes and as such 8000 vines have been planted here, including Pinot meunier, four different clones of Chardonnay and five different clones of Pinot noir, including Burgundian and Champagne clones.
This new vineyard, which is expected to be harvested in 2024, will give Sandridge Barton really exciting opportunities to produce new and different styles of wines.
This new vineyard brings the total area under vine to 32 acres. Read more about the Sandridge Barton vineyards here.
Devon wines - Sharpham Wine
The soil in this region of Devon is very iron-rich with a bit of volcanic soil, giving amazing flavours to the wine. The grapes grown here are suited to this terroir, the cooler climate and the longer ripening season and include Madeleine Angevine as well as some traditional Germanic grape varieties including Bacchus.
The new limestone vineyard will enable a greater focus on the Burgundy grapes Chardonnay, Pinot noir and Pinot meunier.
Over the years Sharpham has been widely recognised as producing some of England's best wines, mainly still wines up until this point, with some English sparkling wines, which offer intense fruit flavours and aromas.
Many of the Sharpham wines have achieved award recognition, including their sparkling, whites, rosés and their pinot noir red wine.
The new Sandridge Barton winery
The new state-of-the-art winery was built in 2020. This has enabled Sandridge Barton to control end-to-end all aspects of the winemaking process, including the production of their sparkling wines, by the traditional Champagne method. The close proximity of the winery to the vineyards means optimum freshness of the grapes, before they are pressed.
Our visit to Sandridge Barton Wines
We visited Sandridge Barton during a stay with my mum who lives in nearby Brixham, Torbay.
We combined it with a visit to nearby Totnes and Stoke Gabriel, but there are lots of options for a day visit to the area, a weekend or longer! There’s not a shortage of things to do - see later!
Arriving at Sandridge Barton we were really impressed straight away by the parking facilities (in a barn, out of the rain!!), the wayfinding signage which was really helpful and informative and also the disabled access, which was excellent.
We went straight into the new Gallery Tasting Room (to escape the rain!) and again were so impressed - this time by the design of the whole space, bright, airy and modern, but sympathetically renovated, exposing old wooden beams to reflect the farm’s history and heritage.
Staff were on hand to welcome and guide us and were extremely welcoming - especially as we had our dog with us!
Our wine tasting
As we had already tasted some of the Sharpham wines, we opted to taste those that were new to us and then couldn’t resist ordering a bit of cheese and some bar snacks to accompany the wines!
Firstly we tried 3 different sparkling wines: the Sparkling Reserve Extra Brut 2015, the Blanc de Blancs 2013 and the Sparkling Pink, 2015.
All of these English sparkling wines are made by the traditional Champagne method and now, with the new winery facilities, all made from vine to bottle, in house. We loved all of these wines, but our favourite was the Blanc de Blancs!
We then went onto the Estate selection 2021, which is made from the Madeleine Angevine grape. This was just the second time we’ve tried this grape and really liked it - it was fresh, and aromatic - English Summer in a bottle! We then sampled the Pinot Noir Rosé 2021 and finished with the Pinot Noir, 2021, which was a revelation and delicious! The common opinion is that we are a few years away from being able to make really good Pinot noirs in England - but we really enjoyed this one!
We would have loved to try the ‘Little Bee’ Pinot Gris, 2020, but unfortunately it was out of stock! We had tried the Sharpham Pinot Gris last year and then purchased a couple of bottles because we enjoyed it so much - and this one is actually an unfiltered ‘orange’ wine, made with very little intervention. It was a shame we couldn’t try it, but it’s great to see an English winery innovating and experimenting with wines.
The team were on hand to chat and share lots of information about the move, the new premises and plans for the wines, which was wonderful. The cheese platter and bar snacks were excellent and we found the whole tasting relaxed, enjoyable, informative and extremely tasty!!
Following our tasting we were shown around the new winery which was very impresssive. They have lots of space to manage the whole process of producing, storing and selling wine - now and into the future - and state-of-the-art equipment to enable them to enjoy greater efficiencies and experiment with their wine production moving forwards.
Vineyard Walk
Now that the rain had stopped we decided to stretch our legs and do the marked Vineyard Walking Trail - heaven for our dog who had been waiting patiently! We walked up through beautiful apple orchards, into and around the ‘Quarry Wood’, which brought us out by the new Stonyfield vineyard. This felt like a special place and we join the team at Sandridge Barton waiting to see what this unique piece of land will produce in a few years time! The whole walk is just 1.3km, taking about 30 minutes - perfect to walk of some of the cheese and wine!
Useful information for your Sharpham Estate vineyard tour
Where to find Sandridge Barton
Sandridge Barton can be found down some very narrow, typically Devon roads, between Brixham, Totnes and Dartmouth, nearly the lovely village of Stoke Gabriel. You will need a car to get to the estate. There are regular trains to Totnes, Paignton and Newton Abbott from London and Reading. See further instructions for finding Sandridge Barton here.
A note of caution - as with any popular coastal area, South Devon roads can get congested in the poular Summer months, so leave lots of time!!
Address: Sandridge Barton Wines, Waddeton Road, Stoke Gabriel, Devon, UK, TQ9 6RL
Wine tours and wine tasting options
Sandridge Barton offer a comprehensive range of guided and self-guided wine tastings. Please make sure you book in advance via the website!
You can choose to taste a flight of 4 wines at leisure for just £10 and maybe select from the delicious range of bar snacks to accompany it, or a small or large cheese platter. Or you can choose to have a fully guided tasting experience for £20, with one of the wine experts taking you through a tasting of 3 wines, including cheese and a short tour of the winery.
You can enjoy your wine tasting in the Gallery Tasting Room our outside on the lovely Lower Terrace outdoor space.
A full vine to wine wine tour will be available in 2023, for £30pp. A walking trail around the estate is available to all who visit!
Circa at Sandridge Barton - Restaurant
Circa is the new restaurant and a core element of the Sandridge Barton winery and premises. Circa at Sandridge Barton is managed by head chef and co-founder Rob who, along with his team offers a wonderful seasonal menu which showcases the incredible local produce in this part of Devon. Brixham fish, estate-reared South Devon beef and local organic vegetables are all on offer and if the number of people in the restaurant on the rainy Monday we visited is anything to go by, this restaurant is going to be a real success.
Next time we’re down in Devon, we shall definitely be booking lunch here!
Wine shop
There is an excellent wine shop just next to the Gallery Tasting room where you can purchase, wines and other local produce such as cider, chutnies and Sharpham cheeses!
Sharpham cheese:
A visit to Sandridge Barton not only includes wine - but cheese too!
Sharpham Dairy has been making award-winning cheeses for over 40 years and you can taste their wonderful cheeses at Sandridge Barton. Order a cheese platter and you won’t be disappointed! Here are the Sharpham cheeses available at Sandridge Barton.
Fancy staying at Sandridge Barton?
If you fancy staying at Sandridge Barton, you can book a beautiful 6 bedroom Georgian property or a boathouse which sleeps 4, right on the River Dart. In addition, there is the 4 bedroom Lower Well Farmhouse directly next to the winery, which is in the final stages of being converted to another beautiful holiday rental opportunity.
Where to buy Sandridge Barton wines:
Sandridge Barton wines are available through a few local independent wine retailers in Devon, but mainly through their website and at the cellar door.
Places to visit in South Devon, Torbay and the Dart Valley - Travel Guide
Where do you start here?? There’s so much to do!
Devon is about spending time at the coast, but in this area there is the beautiful River Dart and inland you have the stunning Dartmoor National park. This is a helpful website for visiting Devon, but here are some of our personal recommendations - knowing this area pretty well as we do..!
The stunning coastal path on the English Riviera
The coast:
Visiting Sandridge Barton is perfect for spending time on the ‘English Riviera’ - An area of stunning scenery, great beaches, coastal walks, fishing harbours and lovely towns and resorts.
We may be biased but try to find time to visit the lovely fishing town and harbour of Brixham. Many people just go to neighbouring resorts Torquay and Paignton - these are very typical tourist resorts, but with Brixham it is less touristy and you get to see a real working fishing port and harbour. When here also make time to visit breathtaking Berry Head for the history and views! Babbacombe which is further round the coast from Torquay is also lovely and has a great model village!
The River Dart and inland:
The River Dart is simply stunning - a boat trip is always recommended, perhaps combined with a trip on the steam railway? - or for those more adventurous, how about seeing the Dart by Kayak?
Visit Dartmouth:
The main town on the river is Dartmouth, famous for its rich maritime heritage and amazing situation at the mouth of the river. There’s so much to see and do here - there’s several great events and festivals to enjoy - for example the Port of Dartmouth Royal Regatta in August and the Food Festival in August - and some lovely beaches in the area. It’s a great place for foodies and those who love boats. Loving wine is just an added bonus!
There are some great country parks around Dartmouth including the River Dart Country Park and Woodlands theme park, which our children loved when they were younger!
Dartmoor national park is the place to visit if you like to get your walking boots on and explore the stunning countryside.
Visit Totnes:
Totnes is a lovely town with some quaint and quirky shops, excellent places to eat, a great market and of course strolling by the river.
Smaller places on the River Dart which we really love include Stoke Gabriel, Dittisham and Galmpton - and we would also recommend a visit to Agatha Christie’s former home - Greenway.
Where to stay and where to eat around Sandridge Barton
There are many options here, but in terms of a personal recommendation here are a few of our favourites:
For a lovely hotel setting, we would recommend the Berry Head Hotel in Brixham overlooking Torbay. You can also get a good meal here.
If Bed & Breakfast is more your preference we loved our stay at the Driftwood B&B in Brixham (boutique B&B, adults only) - excellent quality, service and breakfasts and a unique spot overlooking the town.
You can’t go wrong with Simply Fish and RockFish in Brixham for seafood. Also in Brixham try the The Curious Kitchen in Middle Street, for breakfast, brunch and lunch! Just further along Middle Street in Brixham, try The Wine Loft for a great choice of wines by the glass, deli food and tapas. See here for lots of suggestions for Totnes.
If you fancy an excellent dining experience try 2 award-winning restaurants in Dartmouth - The Angel and The Seahorse.
Finally - for a special occasion, there is Gidleigh Park just on the edge of Dartmoor. An award-winning, luxury manor offering a top-end culinary dining experience - also consider the afternoon tea - and activities like tennis, putting, croquet and fly-fishing. We can also vouch for their wine selection, having been a supplier of several of our wines to Gidleigh back in the days of our wine business!
Conclusion & personal highlights
We love this part of the world and were delighted to visit the new premises at Sandridge Barton! We were really impressed with the overall wine tourism offer that has been developed, the facilities, the service and also the wines. Exciting things are happening at Sandridge Barton so if you find yourself in Devon, make sure you pay them a visit! You won’t be disappointed - we definitely weren’t!
Refer to our web pages for more information about UK wines and the West wine region of the UK
