UK’s answer to Napa Valley

Rosamund Hall visits Sussex to explore the Rother Wine Triangle and finds its vineyards rival the best in the world

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Watching the morning mist rise over the vines while enjoying a cup of tea, I could feel my breath stretch a little longer as my body released some of life’s tension.

I’d just woken up from a deeply peaceful night in a shepherd’s hut located in the vineyards of Oxney Organic Estate. Oxney is one of seven award-winning vineyards that are part of the newly launched Rother Wine Triangle, which I’d been exploring the day before. I was brimming with the boundless energy of the passionate growers and owners who make up this newly formed wine route nestled in the Rother Valley region of East Sussex.

Just a short drive from London (but also accessible by train and then via bike, taxi or foot), you might be struck first that you seldom actually see any vines. They're hidden, waiting to be discovered, within a landscape of deep, ancient country lanes, weaving their way through oak forests and fields divided with hawthorn and blackthorn dense hedgerows.

The vineyards, including Charles Palmer, Carr Taylor, Mountfield Winery, Oastbrook, Oxney Organic Estate, Sedlescombe Organic and Tillingham, form a triangle between the towns of Hastings, Rye and Flimwell.

Bordeaux may have their chateaux, but in England, we are blessed with elegant country estates, of which Mountfield Court, the home to Mountfield Winery, is one. The approach to the handsome red-bricked 18th-century manor is via an impressive avenue of welcoming sweet chestnuts. The tasting room is located alongside the house, inside an old sympathetically renovated stable block. If the weather's fine, you can taste sparkling wines overlooking the wooded parkland with beautiful, extensive views.