Vineyards and wineries in West Sussex
Greensand, where Nyetimber first planted the Champagne grapes.
Greensand, where Nyetimber first planted the Champagne grapes.
In 1988 Nyetimber, at West Chiltington, planted 10,000 vines and became the first wine estate in England to plant only the three Champagne grapes: Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier. The couple from Chicago who owned it believed the south-facing slopes in the lee of the South Downs, on warm greensand and chalk, could make sparkling wine. The first release, the 1992 Blanc de Blancs, came out in 1996. By WineGB’s 2025 industry report, West Sussex is the most planted county after Kent.
Greensand lies under several of the estates around Pulborough. Ambriel grows on warm, free-draining greensand; Nutbourne on green sand the estate says matches much of the Champagne region; and Smock Alley, a co-operative worked by volunteer row-holders, on Lower Greensand loam, its grapes made into sparkling wine by Wiston Estate. Roebuck's home vineyard near Tillington was planted on greensand in 2006, and Stopham grows on free-draining sand. ROSA Magazine puts Bolney Wine Estate, with vines since 1973, on greensand too.
Towards the Downs, Tinwood, near Chichester, was an iceberg lettuce farm before its first vines went in in 2007, and grows on flinty chalk; Sompting Estate planted a chalky slope above Sompting’s Saxon church in 2019. To the north, in the High Weald, are Kingscote, built around a 15th-century tithe barn, and Dillions, with Leonardslee planted on a former golf course at Mannings Heath.
Digby Fine English blends sparkling wine from vineyards across four counties and pours it from a townhouse on Arundel’s high street, a short walk from Arundel station, which has direct trains from London Victoria.
Award-winning in West Sussex
A wine shop, café, restaurant and gin school surround the vines at Ashling Park, a vineyard estate near Chichester dating to 1822.
Bolney Wine Estate is a family-founded vineyard and winery in the West Sussex village of Bolney, with vines planted since 1973.
Highweald Wine Estate is a Sussex vineyard with a walk-in Garden Bar among the vines, sparkling and still wines, and award-winning results in its first year of release.
Nyetimber is a sparkling wine estate in West Chiltington, West Sussex, growing all its own grapes and receiving visitors on ticketed open days and dinners.
Roebuck Estates farms six vineyard parcels across West Sussex, East Sussex and Kent, making vintage-only traditional method sparkling wine.
Tinwood Estate is a former lettuce farm turned South Downs vineyard, with a walk-in wine kitchen and eight lodges to stay in among the vines.
A traditional-method sparkling wine estate on Blackdown in West Sussex, where the River Wey rises, with private events held around the vineyard.
Wiston Estate is a family-run Sussex vineyard whose sparkling wine was used to christen the royal yacht Britannia in 2015.
Albourne Estate is a family-run vineyard and winery near Brighton, producing sparkling and still wines and one of the first English vermouths.
Ambriel is a single-estate sparkling wine producer near Pulborough in West Sussex, with its winery set in the middle of its own greensand vineyard.
Digby Fine English blends sparkling wine from vineyards across four counties, poured from a Grade II listed townhouse wine bar in the middle of Arundel.
A vineyard in Thakeham, West Sussex, with a restaurant, café deli and farm shop in its farmhouse, and guided tours of the vines and winery.
Leonardslee is a Sussex sparkling wine estate planted in 2017 on a former golf course at Mannings Heath, with walk-in cellar-door tastings, a hotel and a restaurant among the vines.
Nutbourne Vineyards is a family-run estate near Pulborough, West Sussex, with vines first planted in 1979 and expanded by the Gladwin family since 1991.
Abingworth is a family-run vineyard near Pulborough, West Sussex, started in 2021 by Chris and Caroline Stedman and their four daughters.
Stopham Vineyard grows sand-soil vines in the South Downs National Park, making precision-tracked still and sparkling wines, with tours most Saturdays through the season.
Dillions is a family-run vineyard in the Sussex High Weald, between Staplefield and Handcross, growing its own grapes for still Bacchus and rosé wine.
All 22 to visit in West Sussex
AbingworthPulborough
AlbourneAlbourne
AmbrielPulborough
Ashling ParkWest Ashling
Bolney Wine EstateBolney
Digby Fine EnglishArundel
DillionsStaplefield
HighwealdHaywards Heath
KingscoteEast Grinstead
KinsbrookThakeham
LeonardsleeHorsham
NutbournePulborough
NyetimberWest Chiltington
RoebuckPetworth
RowfantRowfant
Smock AlleyWest Chiltington
Sompting Estate Vineyard (Titch Hill)Worthing- StophamPulborough
- TinwoodChichester
Villa Elena
WeyborneHaslemere
Wiston EstateWashington
Curated trips in West Sussex
No curated trip runs through West Sussex yet.
Plan a trip to West Sussex
Pin estates onto a map, follow a curated itinerary, or stitch your own weekend together — drive times and tasting hours included.
