Hambledon Wine Estate — Attraction in Winchester

After months of remaining largely at home due to COVID-19, this outing to Hambledon Vineyard to celebrate a long overdue Wedding Anniversary, coupled with an early Christmas Present, was a welcome break. Expectations were high and the evening certainly didn’t disappoint. We were greeted by Ashlee and Katherine, two lovely ladies, eager to share their knowledge as proud employees of this prestigious Vineyard. I say that because their products have competed against some very famous French rivals and often come out top. Is it too optimistic of me to think that maybe the French will soon be saying they produce their sparkling wines by Methode Hambledenoise! The ground floor wine tasting room had a lovely ambiance. Fairy lights were beautifully entangled with bottles in the window and their products displayed amidst draped fairy lights on the opposite side of the room. The walls covered in pictures of moments of history of the Vineyard. We had the room to ourselves, but in no way did we feel lonely, in fact, it felt as if the event had been laid on especially for us. They looked after us very well as we tasted our way through the white and rosé classic cuvées and the white and rosé première cuvées. As you do, after reading the tasting notes, you offer informed agreement and sometimes disagreement with the experts over their descriptions. To end, we were generously offered a glass of our favourite. Mine was the white première cuvée, but for others in our little bubble, it was the classic rosé. I’m sure it won’t be lost on some, that we took our little bubble to a Winery specialising in sparkling wine! We went for the Festive Grazing Feast supplied by Fig & Lemon – delicious and beautifully presented. Ashlee and Katherine offered advice on what went with which wine. However, the advice was never offered in a stuffy way and our bubble group tucked in driven by desire. Although, being a good boy, I left my Stilton and Manchego for the rosé première cuvée and I wasn’t disappointed! For the final glass, our favourite wine, we were given a mince pie made by Meadow Farm Tearoom on Hayling. Again, just what the doctor ordered – lovely shortcrust pastry and zingy mincemeat. On our way out we were shown the winery. Proud, shining, cylindrical stainless steel towers holding their delicious nectar almost inviting us back in 3-5 years for a taste – assuming we can...

Drink it all in

On an unseasonably blue-skied, bright and warm evening, the Restaurant at Hambledon Wine Estate is something of a ray of sunshine. Making the most of the location, its terrace and panoramic glazing offer views all the way from the vineyards of the South of France. Which is a neat trick from deep in Hampshire's rolling downs.

Once you've crunched up from the car park, the young and vibrant team welcome you into their bright, confortable and uncrowded workplace. Full of people, mind, but far from sitting in each other's laps. The quality of this space is undeniable, though you might think it better-suited to a delightful, indulgent lunch than a romantic evening tete-a-tete. The acoustics are a little harsh, too.

With such a stunning setting, you might worry that the food and wine could struggle to make their mark - but fear not. The menu steps up to the plate (as it were) with a well-judged swing featuring dish after dish that will make you look forward to lots of return visits. It's well-executed and pretty on the plate, too - though our lamb was a little cooler than we generally like, and we had to request the info for the cheese board, which had been deposited without much cheer.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, given the venue, the wines we enjoyed with our meal really knocked it out of the park. From their own excellent fizz, that we had to top-and-tail our evening, via an extremely drinkable first-course Riesling to finding ourselves wallowing in a New-World red, funkily named Torbreck the Juveniles... We'll certainly be going back for the on-site shop, and thinking hard about the wine club.

Nowhere is perfect, but for me this rates as one of the nicer restaurants in Hampshire. Fingers crossed we can get that great weather again and come back for a long...

We had been looking forward to this for along time after a fantastic experience at the previous pop up restaurant but this was a rather disappointing lunch for several reasons

the young server was poorly trained - taking them order for the older male guest before his wife ( not appreciated by his wife) not offering solutions when things were unavailable , having guests pass plates ( fine things when you are In a cafe but not for high end meals) things had already run out at 1p and having only one veggie option is rather unusual these days - especially when you know multiple veggies are coming to a table the bread had clearly been cut hours earlier and was rather stale the meals themselves had a sameness ( the same oils and garnishes) that was rather disappointing and the flavors weee not especially elevated

I really wanted to enjoy this meal and the environment is beautiful ( although the hard balcony fences do block the beautiful views of the valley). Really hoping these are growing pains so will try again...