Clayton Hills Vineyard: Single-Estate Organic Wines in the Heart of East Sussex
Nestled in the rolling countryside of East Sussex, Clayton Hills Vineyard is a quietly distinctive English estate dedicated to the craft of single-estate, organic winemaking. Run as a family venture and rooted in a deep respect for the land, the vineyard has been managed organically since 1999 and combines more than twenty-five years of continuous certification with a thoughtful, low-intervention approach in the cellar. Each bottle released under the Clayton Hills name reflects the care, knowledge and dedication of the people who tend the vines by hand, and offers what the team calls a true expression of place and purpose.
With sixteen acres of carefully chosen varieties set within a wider 180-acre organic farm, Clayton Hills is a substantial single estate by Sussex standards, in tune with its environment and committed to letting place shape every bottle.
A family-run organic vineyard in East Sussex
Clayton Hills is, first and foremost, a family-run operation. The vines, the soil and the surrounding landscape are managed with the long view in mind, prioritising sustainability and a genuine connection to place over volume or fashion. The vineyards lie at the heart of an 180-acre organic farm, an arrangement that brings real ecological benefits: the vineyard is surrounded by a protected and diverse environment, with established wildlife corridors and habitat that support a healthier ecosystem around the vines.
That biodiversity is more than a side benefit - it is central to the estate's philosophy. Healthy soils, thriving hedgerows and a balanced population of insects and birds all contribute to vigorous, resilient vines, and allow the team to farm without the kind of chemical inputs common in conventional viticulture. The estate has been Soil Association Certified Organic since 1999, giving it one of the longer unbroken organic credentials among English vineyards.
Sixteen acres of vines, hand picked
Within the wider farm, sixteen acres have been planted to vine. The planting is not a monoculture but a deliberate patchwork of varieties, each chosen for its ability to thrive in this particular corner of East Sussex. The vineyard team selects and matches varieties to soil and aspect, rather than forcing a single grape to do all the work, and each block is cared for individually through the growing season.
Harvest at Clayton Hills is done by hand. The estate's grapes are "carefully nurtured and picked by hand," a detail that matters in a cool-climate region like southern England, where selective picking is essential to capture fruit at its best. An acre of Pinot Gris vines in the run-up to harvest offers a glimpse of the calm, contemplative work that brings each vintage to the cellar door.
The grape varieties grown at Clayton Hills
Eight grape varieties are currently grown across the estate's sixteen acres, a thoughtful mix of classic Champagne grapes, German and Alsatian aromatics, and hardy German crossings that have proven themselves in the British climate. The full list is:
- Pinot Noir - the backbone red variety of Champagne and increasingly of premium English sparkling wine.
- Meunier (also known as Pinot Meunier) - another traditional Champagne variety, valued for its softness and fruit.
- Pinot Noir Précoce - an early-ripening mutation of Pinot Noir that can be useful in shorter English seasons.
- Chardonnay - the third pillar of the Champagne trio and a staple of high-quality English sparkling and still wines.
- Bacchus - a German-bred crossing with a strong track record in England, prized for its intensely aromatic still whites.
- Pinot Blanc - a quieter, more delicate relative of Pinot Noir, capable of elegant still and sparkling wines.
- Pinot Gris - the grey-skinned mutation of Pinot Noir, capable of textured, gently aromatic whites when handled with care.
- Regent - a German red crossing bred for disease resistance and cool climates, producing soft, deeply coloured wines.
This blend of varieties - covering traditional Champagne raw material, aromatic still whites, and hardy reds - gives Clayton Hills considerable flexibility. The team can craft traditional-method sparkling wines from the Pinot and Chardonnay base, build aromatic still whites from Bacchus and the Pinot family, and round out the range with the rich colour and supple tannin of Regent.
Low-intervention winemaking, rooted in place
The estate's approach in the cellar is low-intervention winemaking, rooted in care and place. In practice, that means minimal manipulation between vine and bottle - letting well-farmed, healthy fruit speak for itself rather than reaching for additives, heavy fining or aggressive extraction. It is a philosophy that suits English wine particularly well, where the goal is to capture the freshness and detail of a single season in a single glass.
Organic certification dovetails neatly with that philosophy. From 1999 onwards, every input on the farm - from the soil conditioners used between rows to the sprays permitted on the vines - has had to meet the standards of the Soil Association. Combined with hand picking and a low-intervention cellar approach, the result is a portfolio of wines designed to reflect the East Sussex landscape rather than the winemaker's hand.
Wines from Clayton Hills
The wines are available to buy direct from the vineyard, with each release a small-batch expression of a particular vintage and block. To purchase or enquire about current stock and vintage availability, contact the vineyard by email at info@claytonhills.co.uk or by telephone on 07990 977 013.
Bulk grapes by arrangement
In addition to bottled wine, Clayton Hills notes that grapes may occasionally be available for bulk purchase. For home winemakers and small producers, this is a rare and welcome chance to work with fruit from a certified organic, hand-farmed English estate. Availability will vary from year to year depending on yields and the estate's own winemaking needs, so enquiries should be directed to the vineyard in advance of harvest.
Visiting Clayton Hills Vineyard
The vineyard is not a high-volume visitor centre; instead, it opens by prior arrangement, in keeping with its working-farm ethos. Visits to the vineyard are available by arrangement, typically suited to small groups, trade visitors and anyone with a serious curiosity about organic viticulture who wants to see the vines, hear about the season and taste the wines in the environment where they are grown.
Anyone wishing to arrange a visit should contact the estate via email or telephone. The team can talk through current options and tailor a visit to the group in question.
How to contact Clayton Hills Vineyard
The vineyard team can be reached through the following channels:
- Phone: 07990 977 013
- Email: info@claytonhills.co.uk
- Website: claytonhills.co.uk
Because the estate is by-arrangement only, contacting the team in advance is essential - particularly during the busy harvest and bottling periods in autumn and winter.
Why Clayton Hills stands out
East Sussex is already one of the most exciting regions for English wine, with a growing cluster of vineyards making both traditional-method sparkling and characterful still wines. Clayton Hills earns its place in that landscape for several reasons:
- A long organic pedigree. Continuous Soil Association certification since 1999 puts the estate among the longer-established organic vineyards in England.
- A genuine single-estate approach. Sixteen acres of vines sit within an 180-acre organic farm, with the wider land actively managed to support the vineyard.
- A thoughtful variety mix. Eight grape varieties, from the Champagne classics to aromatic still whites and disease-resistant reds, give the team real flexibility to match variety to site.
- Hand-picked fruit. Every grape that enters the winery is selected by hand, supporting quality in a cool, marginal climate.
- Low-intervention winemaking. The cellar approach is deliberately restrained, letting the fruit and the vintage speak.