Vineyards and wineries in Oxfordshire

Chalk vineyards north of Henley, close enough to walk between.

The vineyards outside Henley-on-Thames are close enough to walk between. Walk Works has run a 13km route linking four of them — JoJo’s at Russells Water, Stonor Valley, Oaken Grove at Fawley and Fairmile in Henley — on the chalk and flint footpaths of the Oxfordshire Way, and a shorter 6km trail from Fairmile to Oaken Grove.

They are part of what OX Magazine described in 2024 as a large cluster in the southern Chiltern hills, just north of Henley, on well-drained chalky soils and slopes below 100m, where most concentrate on sparkling wine from Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier and Chardonnay. Jan and Anthea Mirkowski planted Fairmile in 2013 on a south-facing slope below the 100-metre line, where the Stonor Valley opens into Henley, and Hundred Hills put its vines into the chalky ground of the Stonor Valley in 2014. Wyfold, Barbara Laithwaite’s vineyard near Henley, has its wine made by her son Henry at Harrow & Hope in Marlow.

Elsewhere in the county the vineyards are further apart. Brightwell grows on the alluvial soils of Rush Court, a mile north of Wallingford, and distils an English brandy from its own wine. Hendred, near Wantage, sends its grapes away to be made, and in the 2025 WineGB national competition its Madeleine Angevine took the highest score of any wine from that variety. At Horspath, Sunnyhill is run by Ilir, whose family have made wine in Albania for generations.

Fairmile is within walking distance of Henley-on-Thames station, and Walk Works’ longer route includes transport from the station to its start. For Brightwell the nearest station is Didcot Parkway, with buses to Wallingford from Oxford, Reading and Henley.