Great vineyard, great pub, and maybe a wine shop too (Classic Gardening) - Garden Plants and Gardening Forum

Classic Gardening · 11-15-2007, 11:44 AM

Wickham Vineyard

I know I'm rather breaking with tradition here, but as we stumbled on such an interesting alternative to a great garden, I thought I'd tell you about it.
Great Garden
Actually it’s a vineyard. Wickham Vineyard occupies 18 south-facing, gently sloping Hampshire acres half way between Botley and Wickham on the A334.

They offer an audio tour but as it was chucking it down we just took a stroll across to the vines, where the one or two missed grapes we sampled were very sweet and juicy. You can stroll around at will, and we popped in to the winery, which looked surprisingly simple: just a barn housing some very shiny steel vats. Some grape must was mulling gently in one of them.

If you come in October you can see the harvest in full swing, and in April they will be bottling the wine of the previous vintage.

There is also a nature reserve of 7.5 acres of unimproved woodland and marshy grassland packed with meadow flowers.

Great pub
There is a very nice, homely one up the road – The Cricketers Inn at Curdridge
As its name suggests, it looks out over the cricket pitch on the village green, and offers a good Sunday lunch and a nice pint of Abbot Ale or Green King IPA. It’s at Curdridge Lane. 01489 784420

There’s also a restaurant at the vineyard, where Sunday lunch is adequate but sadly no more. Ours took an age to come and, when it did, the roast potatoes looked like they’d been sitting around for longer than we had, and they were parsimonious with the roast beef.

I wanted to try their wines, The red-by-the-glass was off, but the Wickham Dry 2006 white with my smoked salmon starter was wonderfully crisp and bright, and the Wickham Celebration rose I had with my main course was fresh and fruity. It’s won awards.

And maybe a garden centre too?
Not a garden centre, but a wine shop, selling the full Wickham range.

More...

11-15-2007, 11:44 AM	#1
Classic Gardening Green Thumb Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 92	Great vineyard, great pub, and maybe a wine shop too (Classic Gardening) Wickham Vineyard I know I'm rather breaking with tradition here, but as we stumbled on such an interesting alternative to a great garden, I thought I'd tell you about it. Great Garden Actually it’s a vineyard. Wickham Vineyard occupies 18 south-facing, gently sloping Hampshire acres half way between Botley and Wickham on the A334. They offer an audio tour but as it was chucking it down we just took a stroll across to the vines, where the one or two missed grapes we sampled were very sweet and juicy. You can stroll around at will, and we popped in to the winery, which looked surprisingly simple: just a barn housing some very shiny steel vats. Some grape must was mulling gently in one of them. If you come in October you can see the harvest in full swing, and in April they will be bottling the wine of the previous vintage. There is also a nature reserve of 7.5 acres of unimproved woodland and marshy grassland packed with meadow flowers. Great pub There is a very nice, homely one up the road – The Cricketers Inn at Curdridge As its name suggests, it looks out over the cricket pitch on the village green, and offers a good Sunday lunch and a nice pint of Abbot Ale or Green King IPA. It’s at Curdridge Lane. 01489 784420 There’s also a restaurant at the vineyard, where Sunday lunch is adequate but sadly no more. Ours took an age to come and, when it did, the roast potatoes looked like they’d been sitting around for longer than we had, and they were parsimonious with the roast beef. I wanted to try their wines, The red-by-the-glass was off, but the Wickham Dry 2006 white with my smoked salmon starter was wonderfully crisp and bright, and the Wickham Celebration rose I had with my main course was fresh and fruity. It’s won awards. And maybe a garden centre too? Not a garden centre, but a wine shop, selling the full Wickham range. More...

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