Ridgeview

At the Decanter World Wine Awards 2010, Ridgeview's Grosvenor Blanc de Blancs 2006 won the International Trophy for Sparkling Wine over £10, beating five Champagnes. Decanter's tastings director called the result proof of England's membership among serious sparkling producers. The estate's Cavendish NV was the UK government's most-poured sparkling wine in 2024, and the English Sparkling Revolution tour builds on that record.

Two priced visits run in parallel. The Classic Tour & Wine Tasting lasts 1.5 hours at £35 per person, walking the vineyards and winery before a guided tasting above the Chardonnay vines. A Taste of Ridgeview pours six wines in 30 minutes for £20, on the hour from 11am to 3pm. Both are over-18s only; the Ridgeview Wine Estate tour is the longer one.

Tours run year-round, so there is no closed season, though this is a working vineyard and winery and the tour trail can close at short notice. Terrace dining at the restaurant is a spring and summer arrangement. Ridgefest, the estate's summer music festival, plus Easter trails and Christmas workshops fill the calendar. Walkers continuing to Ditchling Beacon should avoid Sunday 13 September 2026, when its car park closes all day.

Tours are booked online in advance at £35 per person; the 30-minute tasting is £20 and takes walk-ins subject to availability. Tickets are non-refundable and can be rescheduled once, with at least two weeks' notice. The wine bar and shop open from 10.30am. The Rows & Vine restaurant serves Monday to Saturday until 9pm, last sitting 7pm, and Sunday until 7pm, last sitting 5pm. Step-free access covers the estate.

Burgess Hill is the nearest station, with direct Thameslink and Southern services: under an hour from London Bridge, about 15 minutes from Brighton. From the platform the estate is a 10-minute cycle, a 40-minute walk or a short taxi ride. Gatwick is roughly 30 minutes away. Ridgeview belongs to the South Downs Cyclists and Walkers Welcome scheme and keeps secure cycle parking. The estate is a stop on England's Sparkling Wine Route.

Ridgeview is a family sparkling wine estate at Fragbarrow Lane, Ditchling Common, East Sussex BN6 8TP, founded in 1995 by Mike and Chris Roberts. It works in the traditional method from Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier, and sits in Sussex below the South Downs escarpment. A winery, wine bar, shop and the Rows & Vine restaurant share the site.

Mike and Chris Roberts planted the first vines at Ditchling in 1995. England's first underground wine cellars followed in 1999, the year the winery began operating. The first bottling was released in 2000 and won English Wine of the Year, and the Bloomsbury 2002 took IWSC Best International Sparkling Wine in 2005. A new winery opened in 2020 with cellar space for a million bottles.

The estate stands on the Weald rather than on chalk. British Geological Survey 1:50,000 mapping returns Weald Clay Formation mudstone, of the Early Cretaceous Wealden Group, beneath Ridgeview's coordinates at Ditchling Common. Chalk begins about five kilometres south under Ditchling Beacon. The blends draw on Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier, the three Champagne varieties.

Ridgeview publishes its pour volumes: roughly six 25ml measures on a tasting, four 50ml measures on a tour, with spittoons on hand and overnight parking for anyone who should not drive afterwards. Guests who are not drinking are served a Holos sparkling tea flight in place of the wine. Private tours need a minimum of eight guests and are arranged by email.