Chapel Down Wine Tasting

Wine tasting makes a great alphabet dating letter W idea. We chose to visit the Chapel Down vineyards and winery in Tenterden, Kent.

We attended on a sunny day in June, which was perfect for a tour of the vineyards. The tour is on foot, so sensible shoes are a must. On the tour, we learnt about the vineyard cycle, the grape harvest and the making of the wine. Interesting and informative. However because this date took place a little while ago, I can’t remember any of the technical details. Yes, that’s the reason. Not because I got drunk haha.

We did get some time to explore the Chapel Down grounds by ourselves too. There was even a herd of alpacas in a neighbouring field. I don’t know why that’s relevant, I just like alpacas. They also have a lovely herb garden on the grounds, where they grow herbs for their onsite restaurant plus you can get married there!

The wine tasting was obviously my favourite bit. I’m partial to a sweet rose but it was good to try an assortment. You get given some literature on the wines, plus a pen and a chart indicating the characteristics and flavours of the wines. Then someone talks you through it so you swill the wine in the glass and sniff it before drinking it, the proper way to taste wine… as opposed to just knocking it back haha.

The funny thing was, they had spit buckets available but the only thing that got spat into the bucket was the dodgy tasting water we were given!

Alas, by dinner I was pleasantly drunk. We had a table booked at The Swan restaurant. Fancy food, very delicious. The most memorable part of the meal was the yorkshire pudding. We had one between us but it was big enough to wear as a hat!

Lastly, there is also a shop at the winery. And they sell gin, which is also very good.

The tour and the wine tasting take approximately 2 hours. As we were both drinking and didn’t want to fork out for public transport, we stayed the night at a nearby Airbnb.

If you liked this post you might appreciate my Alphabet Dating series.