Chapel Down — Attraction in Ashford

I wouldn’t recommend this wine tasting to be honest. I appreciate that the weather is out of their hands but there really needs to be some alternate methods put in for rainy days. Understandably our group of girls didn’t want to attend the main section of the guided tour outside as it was heavily raining (although we appreciate the supply of umbrellas) but there was absolutely no where to sit inside to have a glass of wine while we waited for them to come back which seems a little bit silly considering there’s the opportunity to buy wine by the glass? No undercover areas to sit outside so we ended up standing in the shop awkwardly drinking while we waited. The shop staff were blasé and quite rude and we felt as though no one had a clue what was going on. We rejoined the guided tour when they went inside; however were a bit baffled to find nearly all of the equipment used to make the wines was located at their ashford warehouse and we were left with just photos on boards to explain the process to us? Would definitely recommend visiting one of the smaller local non commercial winery’s just for this as it’s quite interesting to see how the wine is made and a huge chunk is missing due to the split in locations… We then went into the wine room to taste the wines where the tour guide spoke absolute jargon and slated off other wine companies (one of which a member of our group worked for). Unfortunately this wine tour is definitely aimed at the more experienced, with 4/5 of the members of our group not really understanding what the guide was talking about and having to get the only experienced member of our group to relay it back to us in layman terms! He spent so long talking in some instances that he then asked us to try the wine when an audible “OH” broke out because everyone had already drank the whole glass after listening to him go off on a tangent for the last 10 minutes! Have done other smaller wine tastings and would definitely recommend them over this, the tour guide didn’t come round and talk to any of the groups individually and didn’t give anyone the opportunity to actually sit and taste the wine and talk about the taste of the wine with each other and what they actually thought because he was there just talking at everyone for almost an hour! And when our group did try and talk together about what we thought of the wine, we got shushed!

Unfortunately could be a stunning place but biggest comment is there needs to be some measures put in for bad weather for some...

Last weekend I visited the gorgeous Market Town of Tenterden, en route to Chapel Down Winery. Very pleasant day I must confess.

Once at Chapel Down, the harvesting I was told, by a very jolly and helpful young member of staff, is timed to exactly within hours so that the grapes are at their premium when picked. So I decided to test.

Wine tasting of their sparkling wine took me by surprise, it was a feeling of fresh, light, happiness rounded of with a flurry of gentle sparkles! Not too fizzy a refreshing and fun wine and to be totally honest, due to the fine balance of flavours, fizz and feelings, better than any champagne I have ever drunk!

I am converted.

This English sparkling wine, is the next go to all rounder I am certain. But that's not all I found amongst the many luxury wines at Chapel Down.

The herbal and rose garden was a delight to sit in and soak up the afternoon sun. Very calming and beautiful, still in bloom, private and peaceful.

Going further into the vineyard experience, I wandered into a field of vines enroute to see the Alpacas there in the bottom field. The only sounds amongst the stillness of the verdant vines were song birds and gently humming bumble bees on ivy flowers of hedgerows. I recommend a day here, there is a restaurant, as yet untried and a wonderful wine and artisan food shop. Well thought out gifts for loved ones and several tours and wine tasting events were taking place in the modern high end class rooms.

I highly recommend visiting alone or in a group,as it has a welcoming and generous atmosphere. All staff are outstanding in customer service and their product knowledge. Both helpful and engaging.

Outside seating and eating areas abound and the cream teas being served looked delicious!

Chapel Down is an award winning and exceptional English Winery, I loved my visit and will be going again very soon.

I cannot recommend it...

Booked a tour for a friends birthday and we were all really disappointed with our experience. The staff were not welcoming at all and the guide was all over the place. One minute he was moaning about the trade and how snobby they were then the next minute he was name dropping industry people, talking about higher level wine production and bragging about how many tastings he went to. We couldn’t really work out if he liked his industry or not. Bizarre. For someone that hated wine snobbery he didn’t foster a very fun and inclusive atmosphere at the tasting. It was really rushed because we only had one glass, it would have been nice to be able to try them side by side so we could compare. We got landed with the most boring wine tasting group I’ve ever experienced, they didn’t look like they were having fun all. We tried to quietly discuss the wines in our group between his explantations and got shushed like we were in a classroom. We have been on many tastings and never experienced anything like this. There also wasn’t anywhere you could sit to just enjoy a glass of wine despite them serving it by the glass in the shop so we just had to stand by the till awkwardly. The only thing that saved it was the visuals, the shop was well presented, they had a lot of stock and everything looked lovely, the vineyard itself was beautiful and well kept. We thought maybe we were just unlucky with the guide we had but a friend who went earlier in the week and had a similar experience. It sounds like some of the staff need a bit of tour training and to work on making a more...