Camel Valley Royal Warrant Vineyard

How to Complete

6 steps curated by Wine Memories

1. 📜 1

   Stand Where the RAF Pilot Looked Up and Saw Vines

   history Free

   📍 WHERE: The vineyard viewpoint on the approach road to Little Denby Farm, Nanstallon, Bodmin PL30 5LG. Park and walk up the steep lane — the view opens across the south-facing slope before you reach the winery.

   💡 WHAT: In the 1980s, an RAF display pilot named Bob Lindo stood on this same hillside watching the grass turn brown every summer. He had flown Vulcan bombers, Jaguars, Gnats, and Hunters for 16 years — including the RAF's display team, where he performed aerobatics at air shows all over the world. When he retired and bought this farm with his wife Annie to raise a family, he watched those sun-drenched slopes year after year until one day he asked the question: if the grass burns, could vines thrive? He did a vintage in Germany, read every book he could find, and in 1989 planted 8,000 vines. The world's most decorated RAF display pilot had just become Cornwall's first serious winemaker.

   🎯 HOW: As you walk up the lane and the vineyard comes into view, look south down the valley toward the River Camel. The slope faces almost due south — maximum sun from sunrise to sunset. This is what Bob saw: a natural amphitheatre of ancient Cornish slate that holds heat like a storage heater, warming the soil long after the sun drops. Now look at what you're NOT standing on: there's no chalk here. That's the Sussex vineyard story. This is slate and granite — geologically ancient, completely different from Champagne's soil, and responsible for wines no Sussex vineyard can replicate.

   🔄 BACKUP: The shop is open Mon-Fri 10am-5pm. If you arrive outside terrace or tour hours, simply walk the grounds and absorb the setting — there is no entry fee to visit the property.

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2. 📜 2

   Spot the Vines Annie Has Pruned 35,000 Times with Her Own Hands

   history Free

   📍 WHERE: On the sun terrace overlooking the vineyard. The lower section of vines directly below the terrace is the one you're looking for — ask any staff member to point out 'Annie's vines'.

   💡 WHAT: There are very few vineyards on Earth where every single vine has been pruned by one person, every year, for every vintage. Annie Lindo is one of those people. She has pruned her own 5,000 vines single-handed every year for 28 years, by hand with secateurs — the millionth cut with her own hands happened somewhere in that row in front of you. Her son Sam, three-time UK Winemaker of the Year, was so moved by this that he made a special cuvée in her honor: Annie's Anniversary Brut, made from 100% Seyval Blanc grown on those exact vines, which won the Lord Montague Trophy and was featured on ITV's 'Cornwall' series. This is a wine that exists because one woman refused to let a machine touch her vines.

   🎯 HOW: Wine by the glass is served on the sun terrace, garden and tasting room Monday to Friday 10am to 5pm (book online first — there's a £5/person booking fee refundable against wine purchases, max 5 people, 90-minute slots). Once seated with your glass, look down at the lowest rows nearest the terrace. That specific block of Seyval Blanc has never been machine-harvested, never been pruned by anyone but Annie. If Annie's Anniversary Brut is available in the shop, buy a bottle. It is not made every year.

   🔄 BACKUP: The view is free to absorb even without booking terrace service. Walk the public areas of the farm and look down at the vines from above.

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3. 🍷 3

   Taste the Wine That Beat Bollinger in a World Championship

   wine $$

   📍 WHERE: The tasting room or terrace at Camel Valley, Nanstallon, Bodmin PL30 5LG. Ask specifically for the Pinot Noir Rosé Brut or Cornwall Brut.

   💡 WHAT: In 2010, Sam Lindo took his Camel Valley sparkling wine to Verona for the World Sparkling Wine Championships and came home with the Trophy for Best International Traditional Method Sparkling Wine — beating Bollinger and Louis Roederer. In 2011, his 2009 Pinot Noir Rosé was crowned Sparkling Rosé World Champion ahead of Bollinger Champagne Rosé, scoring 95 out of 100 from Tom Stevenson, the editor of Christie's World Encyclopaedia of Champagne. The wine was made on ancient Cornish slate with grapes grown 250 miles west of London, by a maths graduate from Bath who had never planned to make wine at all.

   🎯 HOW: The Daily Guided Tour (10:30am Mon-Fri, April-September, approx £15-20 per person) includes a flight of four flagship wines. The Grand Tour every Wednesday at 5pm (£30 per person, June-September, led by Sam Lindo himself) starts with the Cornwall Brut and runs through a minimum of five wines. Both require advance booking on camelvalley.com — slots release Tuesday morning the week before. When the Pinot Noir Rosé arrives, smell for 'pale peach, red fruits and toasted baguette' — then taste for the 'velvet-textured mousse' that beat the French houses.

   🔄 BACKUP: If you can't book a tour, buy the Cornwall Brut (approx £34) or Pinot Noir Rosé Brut directly from the shop and take a glass on the terrace. Wine is also sold by the glass Mon-Fri 11am-4:30pm.

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4. 🍷 4

   Ask to See the PDO Plaque — England Has Only One Like It

   wine $

   📍 WHERE: On the tour or in the winery — ask your guide specifically about the Darnibole PDO, or look for signage in the tasting room referencing the Darnibole vineyard.

   💡 WHAT: In 2017, after a five-year application process through DEFRA to the European Union, the Darnibole section of Camel Valley's vineyard became the ONLY UK single vineyard to receive a Protected Designation of Origin — England's equivalent of a French Grand Cru designation. All 28 Member States of the EU voted unanimously in favour. The application was based on the ancient slate subsoil and steep south-facing slope being geologically unique — producing wines with a character that could not legally be replicated anywhere else in England. The rules are strict: 100% Bacchus grapes, handpicked, crushed and pressed within 2 hours, the juice cooled to 4°C and then fermented in stainless steel at 13°C, no acidification, no sweetening. The result is what judges called 'an intense, steely Bacchus with a delicately restrained aroma' — not the gentle floral Bacchus you find in Sussex. This is what a wine with protected terroir tastes like.

   🎯 HOW: On the Guided Tour (approx £15-20 per person, 10:30am Mon-Fri) or Grand Tour (£30, Wednesdays 5pm May to September), ask specifically: 'Can you tell us about the Darnibole PDO?' Look for the Darnibole Bacchus on the shop shelf (approx £18-22 per bottle). Buy the Darnibole AND the standard Bacchus side by side — taste them together to feel what a protected single-vineyard terroir actually means in a glass versus the broader appellation style.

   🔄 BACKUP: The Darnibole Bacchus is available direct from the shop Mon-Fri 10am-5pm. You don't need a tour to buy it.

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5. ⛰️ 5

   Find the Roman Fort That Watched This Valley 2,000 Years Before the Vines

   Optional

   adventure Free

   📍 WHERE: Nanstallon Roman Fort (also listed as Nanstallon Fort), about 2.5 miles west of Bodmin town centre (no distance from the vineyard is published), overlooking the River Camel from the south. Walk from the vineyard down toward the river — follow the public footpath signs toward Boscarne.

   💡 WHAT: The Romans arrived in this valley around 60 AD — about 1,960 years before Bob Lindo planted his first vines. The Second Augustan Legion, based in Exeter, built a fort here to control the River Camel trade route and access Cornwall's tin and copper. They occupied it for barely 20 years (60-80 AD) and then left. For nearly two thousand years, the valley was farmed. Then an RAF pilot looked at the sun-baked slopes and asked about vines. The Romans would have understood immediately — they planted vineyards across every territory they controlled, always looking for the same things: south-facing slopes, good drainage, heat retention. Bob Lindo, without knowing it, chose one of the most Roman sites in Cornwall to start his vineyard.

   🎯 HOW: After your tasting at Camel Valley, walk the public footpath north down the hill toward the river and follow signs for Nanstallon. The fort earthworks are visible from the south side of the river — you'll see the raised bank and ditch outlines in the fields. It's free to access as it's visible from the public footpath. The walk takes about 20-30 minutes each way from the vineyard. Come with a glass of Bacchus in mind: you'll drink a wine born from the same ancient slate soil the Roman soldiers walked on.

   🔄 BACKUP: If the footpath is muddy (common in autumn), the fort is also accessible by car — drive into Nanstallon village and park near the church, then walk south toward the river. The earthworks are never more than a 10-minute walk from any parking point in the village.

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6. 🍷 6

   Toast England's Only Dual Royal Warrant Wine at Sunset Over the Valley

   wine $

   📍 WHERE: The sun terrace at Camel Valley, facing south-southwest over the vineyard toward the Camel Valley below. Book a late terrace slot (the last slot is typically 4:30pm Mon-Fri, April-September).

   💡 WHAT: Camel Valley holds not one but TWO Royal Warrants — from King Charles III AND from Queen Camilla. They are the ONLY wine brand in the world with warrants from both the King and the Queen simultaneously. The first warrant came in 2018 when they became the first English wine ever granted a Royal Warrant (after supplying Prince Charles's household for years). The second came in May 2024 when Queen Camilla — President of Wine GB — granted her own warrant in her first round. Bob Lindo said: 'Her Majesty has taken a keen interest in the development of English wines and as president of Wine GB has been a terrific source of encouragement.' This wine has been served at a State Banquet at Buckingham Palace for the King and Queen of Spain. It's in British Airways First Class. And right now you can drink it on the terrace looking over the same vines the King drinks, for less than the price of a pub meal.

   🎯 HOW: Book the terrace at camelvalley.com — £5 per person booking fee (refundable against wine purchase). Table service Mon-Fri 11am-4:30pm. Order a glass of Cornwall Brut (the flagship) or Pinot Noir Rosé Brut. Raise the glass toward the valley. You are drinking what King Charles III drinks — made on slate, not chalk, 250 miles further west than any Sussex vineyard, by the son of the RAF's own Vulcan display pilot.

   🔄 BACKUP: If the terrace is full, buy a bottle from the shop (Mon-Fri 10am-5pm, approx £34 for Cornwall Brut) and take it down to the river on the public footpath. There is no better picnic setting in Cornwall.

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Insider Tips

• ✦

  Grand Tour Wednesdays 5pm, May to September - min 5 wines

• ✦

  Daily Guided Tour 10:30am Mon-Fri

• ✦

  Casual terrace tasting available year-round

• ✦

  Try the Cornwall Brut and Annie's Anniversary