Gift guide for wine lovers

If you’re planning on enjoying lunch or dinner at our brasserie, you might want to pair your wine with your food. And who better to advise you than Martin Fowke, who has been Three Choirs Vineyard’s winemaker for more than 40 years? Our menu varies with the season, so rather than talk about specific dishes which might no longer be available, Martin shares his thoughts on particular types of dish and how to pair them with our wine. Our Sunday roasts are a highlight of the week at the brasserie, with a choice of beef, chicken or pork. What would Martin recommend you drink with Sunday lunch? He said: “Beef and red wine is a pretty good match. Ravens Hill is a nice lunchtime drink. It’s not a heavy red. It’s got a nice berry fruit character that sits well alongside a joint of beef. “For lamb dishes, I would definitely recommend Pinot Noir. It’s a lightish red with good fruit character. With lamb, you usually have mint sauce, and Pinot Noir sits alongside that really nicely. “Willow Brook goes well with pork dishes. It’s still a dry wine, with just just a little bit of sweetness behind it, and some Siegerrebe grapes in it.” The Willow Brook 2024 is made from five grape varieties – Solaris, Siegerrebe and Reichensteiner, with smaller quantities of Madeleine Angevine and Phoenix. Siegerrebe is one of our flagship wines, made from the largest planting of this grape variety in the country. Martin said: “It is quite an aromatic style of wine, with grapefruit and lychee characteristics, which goes well with spicy foods. Anything with a hint of spice will make an interesting pairing with Siegerrebe.” For fish dishes, Martin recommends the Bacchus – a dry white wine. He said: “The crisp acidity sits well with fish. Bacchus and smoked salmon is a proven success. And our Classic Cuvee cuts through nicely with richer fish dishes, so that would go well with the oysters. Our Rose would also go well with some of the fish dishes, particularly for a slightly lighter fish, like trout.” When our orange wine is available, that pairs well with pork and cheese. We should have the orange wine back for customers to enjoy before the end of 2026. Martin added: “They May Hill and Late Harvest also go well with cheese.” Pairing Three Choirs Vineyards wines with desserts is a bit more tricky, according to Martin. Some of the desserts on our menu contain brandy and he would recommend pairing our 10-year-old brandy with them. Or you can just finish off with your favourite wine! We hope that gave you some food (and drink) for thought for when you dine at our brasserie. But we also know that not everyone wants to pair their wine with their food and there is absolutely no pressure to do so. If you just want to enjoy your favourite wine – or even a beer or soft drink - when you dine in the brasserie, that is absolutely fine with us!

If you want a perfect weekend getaway, Three Choirs Vineyards could be just what you’re looking for – whether or not you like wine! Our vineyard, based in the countryside on the edge of Newent in Gloucestershire, offers a way of really getting away from it all. While around 60% of our customers come from London, we’re easy to get to from Bristol, Bath and the M4 corridor. Oxford, Stratford-upon-Avon and Birmingham are less than two hours away, so we’re centrally located and easily accessible for lots of UK cities. Here at Three Choirs Vineyard, we’ve got 11 rooms and lots of space. Our guests will never feel crowded at Three Choirs. All the rooms have beautiful views across the vines, and most of our visitors are couples. The majority of people stay for two nights, arriving on a Friday evening after work, giving them a full day on Saturday to relax and hopefully some more time on Sunday before getting back to reality. Thomas Shaw, managing director, said: “A lot of our guests say it’s like going away on holiday. It is so much quieter than their everyday lives and that’s what a lot of people want from a weekend getaway. “We’ve got friendly staff, great food and great wine, for those who want it.” “Everybody says they feel relaxed when they leave. We have people who come to us and say they haven’t looked at their phones all weekend. They’ve really been able to switch off.” A winery tour, wine tasting and dinner in our restaurant, complete with more lovely views, are all available to guests. But there’s no obligation to take part. Thomas continued: “There’s lots of space to go for walks in the vineyard. We want our guests to enjoy themselves and relax, whatever form that take for them. The vineyard is a great place to unwind. You can sit in the sun or shade and read a book, if you prefer.” The vineyard isn’t just for summer. It is very pretty and atmospheric in winter, and it is also a really important time for our vines, which are getting ready for another good quality growing season and harvest. And if you want to venture further afield, there’s beautiful walks and beautiful views a short drive away at the Malvern Hills, Forest of Dean or Symonds Yat. If you want shopping, Cheltenham has a great selection of shops or the local market town of Ledbury is a popular choice, with its range of independent shops. If you like history, there are cathedrals at three nearby cities – Hereford, Worcester and Gloucester. Thomas concluded: “Three Choirs is a fairly simple offering. It’s a lovely location, and a bit out of the way, which is exactly what a lot of people are looking for. Guests can relax from the moment they arrive. “There’s lots of wine if they like wine and if they don’t like wine, nobody minds!” That really is a perfect weekend getaway, with something for everyone.

The very first vines were planted at Three Choirs Vineyard in 1974. There was just half an acre of vines, and it was more as an experiment than any serious intention to become English winemakers. Thomas Shaw, managing director of Three Choirs Vineyard, said: “At the start, with only half an acre, Three Choirs produced hardly any bottles of wine. It was just a bit of fun!” We weren’t the earliest English vineyard, but we were certainly in the first five. And that first experiment with vines at Three Choirs was a success, so we started planting more. Once we got to five acres of vines, we had to think more seriously about how to sell the wine. Thomas continued: “In those early days, there was lot of interest in English vineyards from organisations like the WI and University of Third Age. Coachloads of older people were going to vineyards wanting to drink a bit of wine. That market has changed and we don’t have those visitors any more.” Those early grapes were Germanic in origin, which is what best suited the climate at the time. Historically, the English climate has always been closer to that of Germany than France – colder, wetter and with longer winters. By the early 1990s, there were 75 acres of vines here and the winemaking had got a lot more serious! At this point, the big outlet for selling our wine was the supermarkets. We’ve sold to nearly all the supermarkets at different times, including Sainsbury’s, Asda, Tesco, Morrisons and Waitrose. There are also small independent wine merchants who specialise in English wine. Now most high street wine merchants will have an English wine section. These sections are always quite small, because English vineyards are still not huge producers, despite climate change. Three Choirs Vineyard was the third biggest English vineyard in the 90s. Now it is in the top 20. Some of the other vineyards have done a lot of planting in the last 20 or 30 years. Thomas added: “We’ve stayed the same size since the 90s. It’s all the land we own, and I feel it’s the right quantity to be producing – matching our sales to production. “We have seen some of the bigger vineyards taking vines out in recent years because they’re overproducing.” Where is the best place in England to grow vines and produce wine? There’s no straightforward answer! Thomas said: “It depends what you want to produce as to where is the best place to grow vines. You have to consider what your conditions are best for. Everywhere is different. You have to look at your land, take advice and grow the best fruit you can. “Producers of sparkling English wine want to sell for £35 or £40 a bottle, but it’s hard to get that sort of money for a bottle of wine.” English wine has always been predominantly grown in the south of the country because the north has always been too cold and too wet. There is also a South West/ South East split, because the climates between the two regions do differ.

Thinking of coming along to Three Choirs Vineyard for a wine tasting day and not sure what to expect? There is no need to feel nervous. What you can expect is a fun and relaxing day. Thomas Shaw, managing director of Three Choirs Vineyard, said: “A lot of people are intimidated by the thought of going to a vineyard wine tasting. Pompous talk of wine scares people. They’re worried that they need to know a lot about wine and scared of making a fool themselves or asking a silly question. “But we’re here to make it friendly, relaxed and enjoyable. If you know nothing, it doesn’t matter, nobody is going to make you feel uncomfortable.” In the UK, we don’t have a culture of visiting vineyards. But in parts of Europe, Australia and California, visiting a vineyard and tasting the wines is as normal as going to the pub! Here at Three Choirs Vineyard, we offer both guided and self-guided wine tasting sessions. Self-guided sessions include either lunch and a vineyard walk or just a vineyard walk. The guided tour includes a visit to the winery and lunch. For a self-guided session, you do everything at your own pace, with a pamphlet for information. A guided tour is led by a member of staff who will show visitors the winery operation and talk them through the wines. Thomas continued: “There are different experiences depending on what you think you would like. Have a look on the website to see what’s currently on offer and what you feel suits you best.” You can explore the different options on our wine tasting packages page . For a self-guided tour, you can do it as a pair or in a group of up to six friends. For a guided tour, you will join a slightly larger group, but we always keep numbers low, so you have plenty of opportunity to chat to the staff member leading the session. On a wine tasting day, you will taste five wines of 50ml each, which adds up to about a large glass of wine in total. The wines will be selected by the guide or member of staff on duty, but the selection will usually include a red, a rose, a sparkling wine and two whites. Thomas said: “If you don’t like one of the wines, don’t drink it! You might not like all five and that’s OK. When we give you five wines to taste, we want them to be different, so it is possible there will be one you don’t like as much as the others.” You may have seen wine tasting on TV, where someone sniffs the wine, swills it around their mouth and then spits it out. We don’t encourage that here! It can be off-putting and intimidating for others wine tasting with you. We want everyone to enjoy their wine when they come to a wine tasting session, which means drinking it as normal. If you are visiting for wine tasting, do allow time for a walk in the vineyard. We have 75 acres of vines and there is lots of wildlife to see, whatever time of year you visit. We encourage visitors to stick to the trails because we have active rabbits on the vineyard who dig holes in the ground which can be an accident risk! If you are planning to do wine tasting, have lunch, visit the winery and have a walk, we would recommend allowing three to four hours for your visit. You can book a table for lunch or supper in our restaurant here . For a special occasion, a nice, relaxing way to visit is to do wine tasting in the late afternoon, have supper in the restaurant, stay overnight and have breakfast the next morning. You can check availability and book accommodation here . And if you’re visiting for someone else’s celebration, but you don’t like wine at all, you can just have a G&T or something else while your partner, friend or family member is enjoying the wine. Thomas concluded: “There’s something for everyone here. There’s no pressure to like wine or to be interested in it. It’s about relaxing and enjoying yourself in our peaceful vineyard.”

A varietal is a wine made completely or predominantly from a single grape variety. The word varietal is used uniquely for wine. There are a huge number of grape varieties grown all over the world, with some only grown in certain areas – from the northern hemisphere in Canada through to the sunshine of California, the temperate climate of Germany or the traditional wine making regions of France and Italy, down to the southern hemisphere and Australia and New Zealand. When the wine industry in the UK began, vineyards like Three Choirs Vineyard started out with German grape varieties, because we share a similar climate. These varieties include Schonburger, Reichensteiner and Siegerrebe, which have all grown successfully in England. Thomas Shaw, managing director of Three Choirs Vineyard, said: “The problem with German grape varieties is that German wine had a bad reputation. Things like Liebfraumilch and Black Tower were pretty poor quality wines. The Germans did produce some good wine, but they never exported it!” Over the years, the English wine industry has moved away from German varieties to trying to grow more traditional grape varieties like Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. These are seen as more desirable than a lot of the German varieties, but will grow in slightly cooler climates like ours. Thomas continued: “That’s where the English wine industry is now. A lot of what is produced in England is sparkling and is made from traditional French grape varieties and in the traditional French style.” Here at Three Choirs Vineyard, we currently grow Seyval Blanc – a hybrid which has been designed to grow in cooler climates and to be relatively disease resistant. We’ve also got Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and some of the old German varieties like Schonburger and Reichensteiner. The vineyard has been on a rolling replacement programme over the last 10 years. We have 75 acres of vines and over the last decade we have replaced 50 acres of vines – mainly replacing German varieties with traditional grapes. In recent years, there has been a big push, particularly from the New World (countries like USA and Australia) to produce wines from one grape variety like Chardonnay or Pinot Noir. But the classic way of making wine in Europe (the Old World) was to have blends of two or three grape varieties to create your wine. At Three Choirs, we make both single variety wines and blended wines. And visitors to the vineyard can try both. Contrary to the view of many, Thomas believes the best wines in the world today are blended wines. He concluded: “All the grape varieties have different characteristics, which will vary from year to year depending on growing conditions of that year. If you’re making a single variety Chardonnay and it’s not a very good year, you’re not going to make a good wine. “That’s the beauty of the blend – if it’s not a good year for one, it will probably be a good year for another, so you can tweak your recipe.”