Biddenden Gribble Bridge Ortega

About the vineyard

Biddenden

Kent’s original vineyard, Biddenden pride themselves on being a family run vineyard with the second and third generation of the Barnes family managing the estate.

Originally home to a 40 acre apple orchard, the Barnes family started to consider diversifying the farm in the late 1960s as apple prices began to decline.

After listening to a feature on the BBC’s Woman’s Hour programme about English vineyards being replanted, Mrs. Barnes was inspired to turn to viticulture.

In 1969, one third of an acre of vines was planted and Biddenden Vineyards was born.

Today the single estate vineyard spans 23 acres of gentle south facing slopes situated in a sheltered valley, just outside the picturesque Wealden village of Biddenden.

11 different grape varieties are grown here to produce our array of award-winning White, Rosé, Red and Sparkling English wines.

The vineyard has remained family owned and is today run by the second & third generation, drawing on many years of experience in winemaking at Biddenden.

The knowledge which the family has built up over the years can be seen in the quality and consistency of the wines produced year on year.

From the first Biddenden wine, which was bottled in 1973, production has now grown to around 80,000 bottles per year.

All vine work on the estate is still carried out by hand, including pruning, canopy management and picking, with harvest running from mid to late September right through to November.