Kents Green Vineyard - A Family-Run Gloucestershire Vineyard Near Gloucester
Kents Green Vineyard is a small, family-run wine producer nestled in the Gloucestershire countryside, just eight miles west of the city of Gloucester. Run by Charlie Peak with the support of his wife Nicola and their three children, the vineyard is a quietly ambitious home-grown project that combines decades of inherited viticulture with a long-term replanting programme. From its south-facing slopes in the hamlet of Kents Green, the family produces a still dry white wine and a traditional-method sparkling wine, both made exclusively from estate-grown grapes.
What makes Kents Green Vineyard distinctive is its scale and its sincerity. Almost 400 vines are tended by hand, the wine is made at the award-winning Three Choirs Vineyard four miles away, and every bottle is sold directly rather than through commercial outlets. Customers are welcomed to the house by appointment or, for those nearby, supplied via local delivery. It is, in short, a working English vineyard in the truest sense of the word.
Location and Setting
Kents Green Vineyard sits in a south-facing position in the small village of Kents Green, near Tibberton, around eight miles west of Gloucester. The area is well known for its suitability for viticulture thanks to its geographical position within a so-called low rain corridor. The vineyard is surrounded by May Hill to the east, the Malverns to the north, and the Black Mountains beyond - a ring of higher ground that shelters the site from the wettest weather and helps create the dry, mild microclimate that English grape varieties thrive on.
This combination of gentle aspect, shelter, and relatively low rainfall has made the Gloucestershire countryside an increasingly popular location for vineyards over recent decades, and Kents Green is one of its longest-established sites, with vines on the property dating back more than forty years.
History of the Vineyard
The vineyard was originally planted in 1979 by the former owner of the property, making it one of the early English wine sites of the modern era. By the time Charlie and Nicola Peak bought Kents Green House in 2003, an established planting of vines was already in place, and the couple chose to continue nurturing and harvesting the existing stock rather than starting from scratch.
From the start, the Peaks treated the vineyard as a long-term family project. In 2011, a new era began at the site with the planting of 75 replacement vines, the first step in an ongoing programme to gradually substitute the original planting as older vines die off. This careful, phased approach - rather than ripping out and replacing all at once - is typical of small, family-run vineyards that wish to maintain continuity of production while modernising their grape mix.
The Grape Varieties
Kents Green Vineyard currently tends almost 400 vines. The largest single planting is of Phoenix, a hardy German hybrid white variety known for its reliable yields, good disease resistance, and ability to ripen in cooler UK summers. Phoenix contributes body and a characteristic aromatic profile that forms the backbone of both wines made at the estate.
Alongside the Phoenix, the vineyard holds a mixture of other varieties including:
- Riesling - the classic aromatic white, adding finesse and floral lift.
- Orion - another robust German hybrid, often blended for structure.
- Pinot Noir - the renowned red Champagne variety, used here in small quantities within the sparkling wine blend.
- Bacus - a German crossing prized in England for its intense, aromatic character and dependable ripening.
Together, this blend of traditional and hybrid varieties gives Charlie the flexibility to craft two distinct styles: a still dry white and a sparkling wine, both made entirely from Kents Green-grown fruit.
The Wines
Still White Wine - £8 per bottle
The estate's still white is a dry, refreshing wine made from the Phoenix-dominant blend. It is made at the nearby Three Choirs Vineyard, an award-winning Gloucestershire producer whose winemaking facilities are used by several smaller local vineyards. The result is a clean, food-friendly white suited to the kind of dishes one expects in a British summer - seafood, chicken, salads and soft cheeses - though it is equally at home as an aperitif.
Sold directly from the vineyard at £8 per bottle, it represents excellent value for an English wine of single-estate provenance.
Sparkling Wine - £15 per bottle
Kents Green's sparkling wine is the estate's flagship. Made from the same hand-tended grapes - including a proportion of Pinot Noir alongside the white varieties - it undergoes a secondary fermentation to produce traditional-method bubbles. Priced at £15 per bottle, it sits well below the price of many comparable English sparkling wines on the high street, while still offering the toasty, biscuity character that traditional-method production encourages.
Both wines are sold under the Kents Green Vineyard label and are produced in small volumes that reflect the size of the vineyard. As such, availability is limited and tends to follow the rhythm of the harvest.
Visiting Kents Green Vineyard
Kents Green Vineyard does not operate as a commercial visitor centre. Instead, the Peaks welcome personal visits to the house by appointment only, allowing them to give each visitor proper attention and to share the story of the vineyard face-to-face. Anyone wishing to arrange a visit can do so by contacting Charlie Peak directly using the details below.
For those unable to visit in person, the vineyard offers local delivery on orders of a minimum of six bottles. This minimum-order policy allows Charlie and Nicola to keep logistics manageable while ensuring that customers within reach of the vineyard can enjoy the wines without having to travel.
Open Days and Community Fundraising
Although there has been no Open Day at Kents Green Vineyard in recent years due to other commitments, the vineyard has a proud history of opening its gates to the wider community on summer Sundays. Past open days have combined wine tasting and sales with a stroll around the garden, tea and cakes, fruit, vegetable and bric-à-brac stalls, and a treasure hunt for children - making them a much-loved fixture in the local calendar.
These open days have also been a powerful fundraising vehicle for local and national causes. The most recent event, on a sunny Sunday in June 2019, raised £420 for Tibberton School. A July 2017 event raised an impressive £611 for the Alzheimer's Society. Earlier open days have supported Cancer Research, Tibberton Primary School, the R.N.L.I., and Cardiac Risk in the Young. Across all of these events, visitors have generously donated over £2,000 to good causes - a fitting record for a small family vineyard.
The Harvest
Harvest at Kents Green is a family affair. Charlie is assisted by Nicola and their three children, who help with the summer pruning and the picking. The 2020 harvest saw the whole family in action, with Daniel - one of the children - taking a central role alongside the grown-ups, and the cellar stacked with crates of fruit at the end of a long picking day.
This hands-on, multi-generational approach is part of what gives Kents Green its character. The vines are pruned by the family, the grapes are picked by the family, and the wine is sold by the family. It is, in every sense, a true grower's wine.
How to Buy Kents Green Vineyard Wines
Because Kents Green Vineyard does not sell through commercial outlets, the only ways to obtain the wines are:
- Visit the vineyard by appointment - contact Charlie Peak on 01452 790171 or by email to arrange a time.
- Order local delivery - available for orders of six bottles or more, delivered locally from the vineyard.
Both wines - the Still White at £8 per bottle and the Sparkling at £15 per bottle - are subject to availability, and small-batch productions mean that once a vintage is sold out, customers must wait for the next release.
Contact Details
- Address: Kents Green House, Kents Green, Tibberton, GLOS, GL19 3AJ
- Telephone: 01452 790171
- Email: charliepeak@yahoo.com
- Website: https://www.kentsgreenwine.co.uk
A Quiet Corner of English Wine Country
Kents Green Vineyard is a reminder that some of the most interesting English wines are produced not on grand estates but in the gardens and paddocks of family homes. With its south-facing slope, its mix of Phoenix, Riesling, Orion, Pinot Noir and Bacus, and its partnership with the award-winning Three Choirs winemaking team, Kents Green punches well above its weight - producing a still white and a sparkling wine that reflect both the terroir of the Gloucestershire low-rain corridor and the care of the family that tends it.