Three Choirs hits the headlines

27 June 2025

Three Choirs Vineyards was recently featured in the national media. 

Not only was it named in the feature 11 of the best vineyard stays in the UK in The Times online, it also had an entire feature devoted to it in the Express online and appeared in the world’s longest running women’s magazine.

The People’s Friend is a weekly magazine full of lifestyle, cooking and gardening features, along with short stories and fiction serials.

Ahead of English Wine Week (21st to 29th June), we were featured in an article highlighting three UK vineyards – Aldwick Estate in Bristol, Chet Valley Vineyard in Norfolk and, of course, Three Choirs Vineyards, right here in Gloucestershire.

The article said there are more than 1,000 vineyards in the UK and that winemaking is one of the fastest growing sectors of agriculture. We’re pleased to say that The People’s Friend said Three Choirs is a ‘top-drawer example’ of an English vineyard, producing around 250,000 bottles a year.

The article quotes our managing director, Thomas Shaw, who said: “Three Choirs Vineyard’s focus is the quality of the wines and the visitor experience.”

He added: “As the climate changes, more and more varieties can be grown in the UK.”

The article shared that most of our wine is sold direct to customers online, to wine merchants or consumed by guests at our brasserie at the vineyard, with a small number of bottles sold to Waitrose.

The People’s Friend chose one favourite wine from each of the three producers featured. Its choice from Three Choirs was the Coleridge Hill 2023 – a dry white wine produced from Madeleine Angevine and Phoenix grapes.

The magazine said: “With its fresh fruity aromas, especially apple, it’s zesty on the palate thanks to the ripe fruit flavours, and offers a long, crisp finish.”

A bottle of Coleridge Hill wine from Three Choirs Vineyard - The People's Friend favourite white from the collection

The Times’ online article focused less on the wine and more on our accommodation. The article is a round-up of vineyard accommodation in England and Wales: “From cosy B&Bs to luxury hotels, shepherd’s huts to treehouses.”

The article said: “The reputation of British wine has followed a similar trajectory to that of British food: once an international joke, it is now celebrated at home and abroad. British sparkling wines beat their better-known rivals in blind tastings… 

“The steep rise in wine quality has been matched by a huge growth in wine tourism. Some have simple B&Bs offering little more than a vineyard tour and tasting, while others have luxury hotels with a Michelin-starred restaurant. Wherever you spend the night, all have the same benefit: there’s no argument about whose turn it is to be the designated driver for the evening.”

The Times described Three Choirs Vineyards as ‘Best for a romantic weekend away’.

It said: “Gloucestershire is home to one of England’s oldest commercial vineyards. Three Choirs was planted as an experiment in 1973, and the original half-acre of vines now extends across 75 acres, just south of the Malvern Hills.

“The vineyards produce 12 white, red, rosé and sparkling wines, which can be sampled either on an afternoon self-guided wine tasting and vineyard walk, or with a member of the winemaking team to offer expert analysis; order a bottle of your favourite with a tapas supper in the Brasserie afterwards. 

“The 11 guest rooms are designed with couples in mind. Whichever you book, there is peace and privacy throughout your stay.”


And the Express devoted an entire feature to Three Choirs - I stayed at Three Choirs Vineyards who produce wine for Jeremy Clarkson - it was incredible.

Journalist Sophie Harris wrote: “Summer is the perfect time to stay at a vineyard and to sample some fine wines. I recently took a trip to Three Choirs Vineyards in Gloucestershire, and I couldn't recommend it enough.”

She continued: “Unlike other vineyards I’ve been to, this one is open all year round, meaning you can experience the frosty winter mornings, as well as warm summer evenings. I've been to many vineyards over the years, and Three Choirs Vineyards felt different, more intimate, more welcoming and the best views I've ever experienced.”

Sophie enjoyed her meal at the Brasserie and said the tapas dishes really complemented the wine. She also experienced wine tasting outdoors in beautiful weather, which she described as one of the best wine tasting experiences she’d ever had. The journalist added that she was fascinated by the winery and the different processes for each of the wines we make.

She praised the charcuterie board offered with the wine tasting, as she said she prefers the taste of wine when accompanied by food, but that food isn’t always offered elsewhere.

She wrote: “My favourite wine on offer at the vineyard was Bacchus 2022, an elegant, dry, aromatic wine with intense fruit character. The rosé was also delicious with ripe berry fruit aromas, and it's sold at Jeremy Clarkson’s Farmer’s Dog pub.”

Sophie concluded: “The stay was very enjoyable and relaxing, and I hope to revisit again in the future.”

If you would like to experience what The Times and Express describe, book one of our luxurious Vineyard View Rooms or Luxury Vineyard Lodges to really get away from it all.

It is a real honour to get a mention in three such different, but equally well respected media, and we look forward to welcoming guests who have just discovered us through either The People’s Friend, The Times or Express articles.

More from our blog...

Harvesting grapes at Three Choirs Vineyard

2025: Our earliest harvest ever

29 September 2025
Last month, we told you all about our plans and hopes for harvest at Three Choirs Vineyard. Now, a few weeks on, we can tell you all about how successful it was. Harvest 2025 was the earliest harvest on record for us, after a very dry and consistently warm summer. We started picking two weeks earlier than usual and will finish picking three weeks earlier, at the start of October. Some years, when we’ve had a very late harvest, it has lasted almost until December. But this year has been a fast and furious harvest! We’ve had a bit of rain during September. This can prove problematic during harvest, but we’re pleased to say it was nothing disruptive this year. In fact, the weather has stayed perfect through to the end of September, to keep the grapes in good condition. The positive news is that it wasn’t just an early harvest – it was a good one, with very high quality grapes. The 2025 wines which will start to come out in the middle of next year should reflect that. 

When is the right time to pick the grapes?

28 August 2025
As August draws to an end, the team at Three Choirs Vineyard are gearing up ready for our harvest. But when is the right time to pick the grapes? We don’t have a definite set date for the annual harvest; it all depends on the weather. This year, it looks likely to start a bit early – probably in the first week of September - because of all the good weather we’ve had this summer. That is about 10 days to two weeks earlier than usual. As the climate is changing, the trend is towards picking earlier than we used to. But the harvest still takes the same amount of time. Generally, we would expect the harvest to last for about 10 weeks, but this will depend on what the weather is like and the quantity and quality of grapes on our vines. Here at Three Choirs, we have 14 different varieties of grapes, and they all ripen at slightly different times. The first grape we will pick is Siegerrebe, which is a pinky orange colour when ripe. Siegerrebe makes a white wine, because, as with most grapes, all the colour is in the skin and not the juice inside. Siegerrebe takes 76 days from flowering until the fruit is ready to pick. The timing really is as specific as that! All of the grape varieties have precise timings, although some of them are longer than others. Thomas Shaw, managing director, said: “It’s been a good year, with lots of sunshine. The grapes are fairly small, but that means they should have a nice concentration of flavours and sugars, which is what we need. We don’t need big fat grapes like you get in the supermarket, because they’re full of water.” It hasn’t just been a warm, sunny year, it has been a very dry one too. Will that affect our harvest? Thomas continued: “There was a lot of moisture in the ground early in the year. The roots of our vines go down 12 to 15 foot, so there is still enough moisture down there for them. “Grapes are different from other crops. Some farmers have been struggling this year because their crops have very small roots, and the ground is far too dry for them.” Picking is all done by hand. Fruit is picked and pressed on the same day. Thomas said: “To maximise the quality, we don’t pick when it’s rainy. If it’s raining, we can get a lot of wet fruit into the winery, which dilutes the wine.” So here’s hoping for a dry harvest! Early indications are that 2025 will be a successful year for grapes at Three Choirs. Flowering in late June and early July is a key time for our harvest, and the weather was just what we needed at that time. September and October will be the final decider if 2025 is a good quality year for our wines.
A lady sipping wine from a glass. Wine Tasting at Three Choirs Vineyard

The art of wine tasting: Tips for beginners

7 July 2025
New to wine tasting? It’s for everyone! Learn why there’s no right or wrong and get tips to find wines you’ll love from Three Choirs Vineyard.
Martin, the winemaker, stood in the winery at Three Choirs inspecting a glass of wine

Meet our Winemaker

23 May 2025
Martin Fowke is Three Choirs Vineyard’s winemaker. Now aged 62, he has been with us for over 40 years, having joined in 1984. He studied agriculture and horticulture at the Royal Agricultural College (now Royal Agricultural University) in Cirencester and went to Three Choirs for some work experience. Martin said he ‘fell into’ the industry. He met a girl, who he has now been happily married to for many years. Her father ran an apple and blackcurrant farm and planted a vineyard in 1973. Three Choirs Vineyard was born… He joined when the company was in its infancy and worked his way up quickly. Martin joked: “I was the only one who knew how to use a computer!” He left Three Choirs briefly in the 1980s to go travelling. On his travels, he went to the wine making regions of Australia, New Zealand and California and picked up some tips along the way. On his return to Gloucestershire in 1989, Martin took over the winemaking side of the business. Martin said: “I wasn’t officially trained, there wasn’t the training that is available to young people these days. I worked with my father in law and learned on the job. I had some very good teachers.” Our winemaker loves his job and says he has never looked back since those early days. English winemaking can be more challenging than in other parts of the world, but Martin’s experience means he’s seen it all before and can adapt and change as needed. He said: “Compared to the rest of the world, the English climate is traditionally less reliable. We have different challenges every year, which gives us the opportunity to do different things every year, and the grapes allow us to make lots of different wines. “Now England is considered a bona fide wine producing country. Climate change means we get more consistency with the weather and therefore the grapes and the wine. “Compared to the rest of the England, Three Choirs Vineyard has mild weather, with protection from the Welsh mountains, Cotswold hills and Malvern hills. We get good sunlight and relatively low rainfall. It’s ideal for vines!” Being a relatively small vineyard, Martin enjoys the opportunity to experiment, alongside producing the high quality wines our customers love. “We have a responsibility to produce consistent wines, but the beauty of what we do here is I also have the latitude to be able to experiment. We’re always trying new things and different things. “Our latest success is an orange wine. This is produced in different parts of the world, but not in England. “We’re always looking to change and develop. People’s tastes don’t stay still, and the market doesn’t stay still, so we’re always evolving.” Of all the wines we produce, does Martin have a favourite? “They’re like children – it’s impossible to choose just one! I’m proud of most of them. The newer wines that come on are always interesting. But the ones I hang my hat on are Bacchus and Siegerrebe.” After more than 40 years of winemaking in the Gloucestershire countryside, is Martin ready to move on? “I’ve got a very good team here, who make my life easier. We’ve got a good succession in place, but I don’t plan on retiring any time soon!”
A bunch of black grapes hanging from a grape vine in the summer sun

Behind the scenes: How we harvest our grapes

25 April 2025
Harvesting our grapes here at Three Choirs Vineyard takes place in autumn. But thinking about the harvest starts around the middle of summer

A sustainable vineyard: Our commitment to the environment

28 March 2025
Here at Three Choirs Vineyard, we are committed to being as sustainable as possible. However, the vineyard isn’t organic. We do believe it’s not possible to be fully organic in this country, but we do limit our use of pesticides to the absolute minimum. We probably use about a quarter of what we are legally allowed to use. One way we reduce our use of pesticides is by using foliar feeds made from seaweed extracts. Foliar feeds feed the vine directly through the leaf, allowing the vines to absorb essential elements quickly. The theory behind using these feeds is that, if we keep the vines healthy and strong, they will be better able to defend themselves from disease. In the UK, the biggest risk to vines isn’t from insects, it is from mildew. Mildew can slow down the growth of the vines and reduce both the quantity and quality of the grapes. It can also weaken the plants and make them more vulnerable to disease or insects. Grapes like cold weather in winter and warm, dry weather in the summer. But in this country, we have a lot damp, warm weather, which causes mildew to thrive. If we have a year like we had in 2024, there can be a lot of disease, which impacts our harvest. We don’t have any irrigation in the vineyard, so our water consumption is probably lower than you would expect for a business like ours. In fact, we don’t have a huge amount of water available, so we do have to be careful not to use too much. We use water sprays and pressure to clean out our tanks, which clean effectively using a lot less water than other cleaning methods. Glass production and transport uses a lot of energy. This can have a really negative impact on the wine industry’s sustainability, so it is important to us to use the lightest weight glass we can for our bottles. Thomas Shaw, managing director, said: “The problem is there’s a consumer reaction to the weight of a bottle. People pick up a light wine bottle and think it’s cheap, whereas we pick up a light bottle and say, ‘Isn’t that amazing?’” Although the bottles for sparkling wine are always thicker and heavier – they have to be to take the pressure of the secondary fermentation which takes place in the bottle and causes the bubbles.