Places we visit

Yearlstone Vineyard

Situated in the sleepy Exe valley, Yearlstone Vineyard is one of the oldest vineyards in the UK. Roger and Juliet White bought the vineyard in 1994, adding a state of the art winery and a café with a lovely outdoor terrace looking out over the beautiful river Exe valley. The vineyard covers over 7.5 acres and as well as the vineyard, there is a mature orchard with many apple trees, from which excellent cider is made.  Even in peak summer this part of mid-Devon is sleepy and quiet, apart from the sounds of various birds of prey and corks popping in the café-winebar.

Sharpham Vineyard

This thousand year old farm consists of five hundred acres owned by the Sharpham Trust. The house, designed in 1770 by Sir Robert Taylor, overlooks the fields and wooded slopes above the River Dart, two miles downstream of the ancient market town of Totnes. Not only does Sharpham produce some exceptional Devon wines, but it also has a milking herd of Jersey cows from which it produces a range of cheeses, some of which will be available for tasting and purchase on the day of your visit. 

Pebblebed Vineyards

Pebblebed vineyards covers around 22 acres on two sites at Ebford and nearby Clyst St George, near Topsham just to the South of Exeter, with the modern winery situated at Marianne Pool Farm, Clyst St George. The two vineyards are less than kilometre apart on South facing slopes above the very picturesque river Exe. The vineyard produces five wines, a white, a red, a rosé as well as a sparkling white and rose.  

Old Walls Vineyard

The Romans started growing grapes here nearly 2,000 years ago, so it’s obviously a great place to produce wine. Old Walls produces four types of wine, white, red, rose and sparkling, and grows a wide variety of grapes. The vineyard also has a lovely Tea Room with a covered outside eating area overlooking the spectacular countryside and is one of our favourite lunch time stops. 

Lily Farm Vineyard

Lily Farm is situated just outside the East Devon seaside town of Budleigh Salterton situated on the Jurassic Coast, England’s first natural World Heritage Site. Alan and Faye first planted 200 vines on the sandstone slopes at their small farm back in 2005. Nowadays 1,950 vines have superseded the farm, although they do still have some chickens. This boutique vineyard has won international recognition following the International Wine Challenge 2014 Silver Medal for their Sparkling Rosé 2010.

Froginwell Vineyard

The Froginwell Estate is situated on 25acres of rolling pasture land, it’s actually just over the border in East Devon, but we don’t hold it against them.  Still in its relatively early stages, the vineyard was planted in 2005 and is approximately 1 acre in size. They grow six varieties of grapes, five white and one red, with the white Seyval Blanc variety as the main crop. They also make cider and have a fab café on site.

Eastcott Vineyard

Eastcott Vineyard is situated just outside Okehampton, to the north of Dartmoor. The vineyard consists of around 6 acres of vines, divided into two fields. The first one contains the traditional Champagne grapes, Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier and Chardonnay, the latter being the only Chardonnay growing in Devon that we know of. It also has Rondo, a popular modern hybrid now grown extensively in England. The other field has been planted with further disease resistant hybrids, Seyval Blanc and Solaris.
Eastcott produces a range of internationally recognised English sparkling wines, including a sparkling rose, and all the sparklings are made on the premises, using the ‘methode traditionelle’ To complement the sparklings, the vineyard also produces a couple of whites and a rose.