Mereworth Wines: Award-Winning English Sparkling from a 500-Year-Old Kentish Estate
Mereworth Wines is an award-winning English sparkling wine producer set within a 500-year-old former hop farm in the heart of Kent. Tucked into the rolling landscape near Wateringbury and within an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, the estate marries centuries of agricultural heritage with the precision of modern traditional-method winemaking. From its first plantings in 2016 to the elegant, single-estate sparklings released today, every bottle that leaves the winery has been grown, hand-tended, harvested and crafted on site at Brewers Hall Oast.
What began as a bold vision by founder William Boscawen has become one of the most distinctive boutique wineries in the South East. Today, visitors are invited to explore the vineyard, tour the oast-house winery, taste the wines in the cellar door bar, linger over long lunches on the terrace, and stay into the evening for jazz, pizzas and cocktails beneath the spire of Mereworth Church.
A Kentish vineyard with five centuries of roots
Mereworth - the settlement - is recorded in the Domesday Book and sits in the very heart of Kent. The local land has been cultivated for at least five hundred years, and for much of that time the focus was hops and apples rather than grapes. The area was, in fact, one of the first places in England to plant hops, and the historic Brewers Hall farmhouse and its iconic oast were once filled with pickers bringing in the season's crop. Apples were collected from the neighbouring orchards, and it is even reported that George Orwell was among the hundreds of seasonal pickers who once worked the oast.
With the scaling-down of hop-growing in recent decades, Kent has re-invented itself as one of England's most exciting wine regions. In 2017 William began the careful restoration of Brewers Hall Oast, transforming the historic kilns and outbuildings into a working winery just a stone's throw from the vineyard. The same building still carries the weight of its agricultural past; the difference now is what fills it. Inside the roundels, Kentish Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier grapes are gently pressed, fermented and aged into traditional-method English sparkling wine.
The Greensand Ridge terroir
Mereworth's vineyards overlook Wateringbury and sit perfectly positioned on the Greensand Ridge. Aspect, elevation, climate and the free-draining, rocky greensand soil combine to create the ideal conditions for cool-climate viticulture. The first vines were planted in 2016 and the team has continued to refine the planting ever since, carefully matching clones and rootstocks to balance character, complexity and consistency vintage after vintage.
Three varieties dominate the vineyard - the same three historic grapes that form the backbone of Champagne:
- Chardonnay - the foundation of the winery's elegant White from White cuvée, thriving on the rocky slopes of the ridge.
- Pinot Noir - providing structure, depth and the colour behind the White from Black and Pink cuvées.
- Pinot Meunier - adding fruit, roundness and aromatic lift to the blends.
All vineyard work is guided by precision viticulture: regular soil and leaf analysis, careful weather monitoring and a great deal of time spent among the vines. Pruning, shoot selection, trellis management and tucking are carried out by hand, varying year-on-year to suit the uniqueness of each season. The aim is straightforward - to reduce the vineyard's environmental footprint while consistently producing fruit of the highest quality.
A philosophy rooted in Kent
Mereworth's winemakers firmly believe that English wine, and especially single-estate English sparkling, can stand shoulder to shoulder with the very best in the world. As the team puts it, every step from clone selection to the moment a bottle is dégorgé is driven by a desire to keep raising the bar. The contract winemaking service - offered to trade clients through the trade enquiries page - applies that same precision to fruit from other growers, but the Mereworth label itself is reserved exclusively for estate-grown grapes at the perfect point of maturity.
The English sparkling wines
Three cuvées sit at the heart of the Mereworth range. Each is made solely from grapes grown and harvested on the estate, with no bought-in fruit, and each is crafted in the traditional method, with secondary fermentation in bottle producing the fine, persistent mousse the winery has become known for. The current release is the 2022 vintage, available in single bottles, three-bottle gift boxes and six-bottle cases.
Pink 2022
An elegant and graceful rosé sparkling wine distinguished by purity and freshness. The colour is clear and bright, a pale pink with an orange-rose-gold variation, and the nose lifts with tart red berries - strawberry, raspberry and cranberry - accented by white blossom, sweet pea and a subtle touch of dried flower. On the palate, the body is generous, the bubbles smooth and refined, and the acidity brisk yet well-calibrated. Autolytic character integrates seamlessly, bringing finesse and roundness without ever overpowering the fruit.
- Pink 2022 - single bottle - £45.00
- Pink 2022 - 3-bottle gift box - £135.00
- Pink 2022 - 6-bottle case - £270.00
- Pink 2020 Magnums (in-store only, limited availability) - £110.00
White from White 2022
100% Chardonnay, estate-grown and crafted as a single-vintage traditional-method sparkling. Pale lemon-green in the glass with intense flavours of quince and peach underpinned by a delicious secondary layer of biscuit and macadamia. Critics have described it as "a luminous, luxurious and lively wine with a faint orchard-blossom nose, a buoyant, silky mid-palate and a succulent, chalky finish" (Matthew Jukes, Vineyard Magazine, August 2022). Tom Surgey and Oz Clarke called it "artisanal, authentic, 'proper stuff'" - cream-textured and mineral-led with bright white fruit and a toasty complexity reminiscent of a croque monsieur.
The Chardonnay clones and rootstocks have been selected specifically for the rocky slopes of the Greensand Ridge, producing fruit that captures the crisp character of the surrounding apple orchards, the tropical notes of a hot Kentish summer, and a subtle hoppiness that nods to the crop that once dominated these fields.
- White from White 2022 - single bottle - £45.00
- White from White 2022 - 3-bottle gift box - £135.00
- White from White 2022 - 6-bottle case - £270.00
White from Black 2022
The newest release in the Mereworth cellar - a traditional-method sparkling made predominantly from Pinot Noir, with the colour pressed gently from the black grapes rather than bled off as rosé. Look out for the 2022 vintage, currently rolling out as the latest release and available in the same single-bottle, three-bottle and six-bottle formats as the rest of the range.
- White from Black 2022 - single bottle - £45.00
- White from Black 2022 - 3-bottle gift box - £135.00
- White from Black 2022 - 6-bottle case - £270.00
Multi-bottle orders automatically receive a 5% discount on three bottles and 10% on six bottles across the Pink 2022, White from White 2022 and White from Black 2022. Collect in person from the winery and the wines arrive in a stylish gift box; postal orders are shipped in specialist packaging designed to protect bottles in transit.
Beyond the cellar: the spirits range
Mereworth's small-batch spirits programme applies the same winemaker's discipline to non-grape drinks. The result is a tight trio of products that pair beautifully with the sparkling wines or stand brilliantly on their own. Each is built around Kentish ingredients and the estate's own honey.
Marourde - the original aperitif
Marourde is the ancient name for the Mereworth estate, and it is also the name given to the winery's reinvention of the world's oldest drink. Marourde is a thoroughly modern English aperitif, made by steeping herbs and botanicals in estate honey wine - mead. The result is a beautifully balanced bittersweet with a lingering, zesty orange finish. Enjoy it on its own over ice, lengthened with tonic as a spritz, or stirred into cocktails. A 500ml bottle retails at £24.00.
Marourde draws inspiration from founder William Boscawen's time working with Martini in Italy, where the daily ritual of the aperitivo - meeting friends for a bittersweet drink at the end of the working day - became etched into his approach to flavour. As part of the wider brand, Marourde supports a network of 70 bee hives near the vineyard, with honey from those hives blended into every batch. The ancient Greeks called honey wine ambrosia, the drink of the gods, and at Mereworth that mythology is being given a thoroughly modern English twist.
Oak-aged gin
Crafted using equipment from the winery, Mereworth's Oak-Aged Gin is built on a 100% distilled wheat spirit and a specific recipe of blended French and American oak designed for winemaking. Juniper, coriander seed, angelica root and black pepper round out the botanicals. The result is delectably smooth with hints of nutmeg and vanilla and a long, warming-spice finish. Head winemaker Scott Gebbie describes the oak as the centre of the spirit's being, harmonised with the other botanicals. A 500ml bottle retails at £34.00.
The Negroni pack
"The Mereworth Negroni" blends the nutty, spicy flavours of the Oak-Aged Gin with the aromatic, zesty Marourde and Campari. The pack contains one bottle of each, ready to stir over ice with a twist of orange. The complete pack retails at £75.00.
Cellar door, bar and kitchen
The combined winery bar, kitchen and shop gives visitors the rare chance to enjoy the drinks in the very rooms where they are made. Thursday to Sunday guests can simply drop in for a glass, a bite and a seat on the terrace. Monday to Wednesday the winery opens by appointment only and is available for private functions. The winery serves all of its own drinks, alongside a selection of local guest ales and lagers on tap, cocktails, ciders, soft drinks and hot beverages.
Food at Mereworth
The kitchen turns out breakfast at the weekend, generous ciabattas and small plates at lunch, and stone-baked sourdough pizzas in the evenings. Highlights include:
- Breakfast menu (Fri-Sun, 9am-11.30am).
- Main menu (Thu-Sun from midday).
- Stone-baked sourdough pizzas.
- Fresh oysters and charcuterie boards.
- Generously filled ciabattas for relaxed lunches.
- A dedicated afternoon tea service.
- Children's menu.
The drinks list is built around the estate's own wines and spirits, with guest ales and lagers on tap, cocktails, ciders, soft drinks and hot beverages available alongside. Dogs are welcome inside the winery and out on the terrace, and free parking is available on site.
Kitchen and bar opening hours
- Thursday: 12pm - 7pm
- Friday & Saturday: 9am - 9pm
- Sunday: 9am - 5pm
- Afternoon Tea: Thursday - Sunday, 2.30pm - 4pm
Winery tours and tastings
All tours begin with a welcome glass of one of Mereworth's award-winning sparkling wines. From there the guide leads guests through the winery to see where the grapes are crushed, pressed, fermented and aged, explaining the traditional method step by step. The visit concludes with a fully tutored tasting of the sparkling range. Sturdy, closed-toe footwear with good grip is recommended, and tours run in all weathers. Children and pets are unfortunately unable to attend due to the working production areas.
Weekend Tours & Tastings
Saturday and Sunday tour slots at 11am, 1pm and 3pm run for approximately 90 minutes from arrival to departure. After the tasting, a table is reserved so guests can relax and enjoy the rest of the afternoon in the winery.
- Price: £35.00 per person (Loyalty Members £30).
- Duration: approximately 90 minutes.
- Book via the weekend tours page.
Midweek Tours and Tastings
The Thursday afternoon tour at 1.30pm runs for around 60 minutes and is the perfect accompaniment to a leisurely lunch in the winery.
- Price: £30.00 per person.
- Duration: approximately 60 minutes.
- Book via the midweek tours page.
Friday Evening Tour, Tasting and Pizza
The newest of the trio starts at 6.30pm and includes a cocktail on arrival, a full guided tour and tasting, and a stone-baked sourdough pizza to finish at a reserved table in the winery. Guests must be over 18.
- Price: £48.00 per person.
- Duration: approximately 60 minutes, plus pizza.
- Book via the Friday evening tour page.
Gift vouchers for tours
Tours can be gifted as either an e-voucher or a physical card, both available from £70.00 and redeemable against the winery tour and tasting for two, three or four guests. Vouchers are valid for 12 months from the date of purchase.
Afternoon tea at the winery
Mereworth's summer afternoon tea pairs freshly prepared sandwiches, sweet treats and perfectly baked scones with Tregothnan loose-leaf tea and, of course, Mereworth's own sparkling wine. Available Thursdays, Fridays and weekends with sittings at 2.30pm, 3pm, 3.30pm and 4pm, the experience is family-friendly - a dedicated children's menu (£18.00 per child) is available - and dogs are welcome in the winery. Vegan and gluten-free menus are available on request.
Sparkling Afternoon Tea
From £18.00 per person, bookable via the Sparkling Afternoon Tea product page. Standard pricing is £34.00 per adult; the lower starting price reflects the children's option.
Afternoon Tea Week - midweek wine flight
To celebrate Afternoon Tea Week, the midweek special on Thursday 13th and Friday 14th August 2026 pairs the traditional afternoon tea with a guided wine flight of all three sparkling wines. £38.00 per person, bookable via the midweek wine flight page.
Afternoon Tea Week - weekend with live music
On Saturday 15th and Sunday 16th August 2026, the weekend afternoon tea is paired with live piano music. From £28.00 per person, bookable via the weekend afternoon tea page.
Afternoon tea vouchers - both e-vouchers and physical gift cards - start at £68.00 and are redeemable against Sparkling Afternoon Tea for two, four or six guests. For bookings over ten guests, the team can arrange a group afternoon tea; enquiries can be sent to admin@mereworthwines.co.uk.
Music and events calendar
Throughout the year the winery runs a packed calendar of live music, markets, masterclasses and seasonal celebrations. The current programme is anchored by the Summer Sessions and the upcoming Sparkling Wine Masterclass. Full details and tickets are available via the events calendar.
Upcoming events
- Afternoon Tea Week - Afternoon Tea with a Guided Wine Flight - Thursday 13th & Friday 14th August 2026.
- Pas Elgin - Live Piano - Saturday 15th & Sunday 16th August 2026, 2.30pm - 4.30pm.
- Afternoon Tea Week - Sparkling Afternoon Tea with Music - Saturday 15th & Sunday 16th August 2026.
- Live Saxophone - Summer Sessions - Saturday 29th August 2026, 5pm - 8pm.
- Laura Lawton - Live Jazz - Bank Holiday Monday 31st August 2026, 12pm - 3pm.
- Sparkling Wine Masterclass - Friday 18th September 2026, 7pm - 9pm. £45 per person (£40 for Members).
Sparkling Wine Masterclass
The Sparkling Wine Masterclass is the season's headline event. Hosted between 7pm and 9pm (with the bar staying open until 11pm), the evening takes guests on a tour of five sparkling wines from across the world:
- Franciacorta Mozzafiato Brut NV, Ferghettina, Italy.
- Crémant d'Alsace Cuvée Julien, Dopff au Moulin NV, Alsace, France.
- Cava Juve & Camps Gran Reserva 2022, Penedès, Spain.
- Hunters, Miru Miru, Marlborough, Brut NV, New Zealand.
- Mereworth White from White 2022 - classic method English sparkling, made on site.
Each wine is paired with a thoughtfully selected charcuterie and cheese board. Tickets are £45 per person (£40 for Members) and are available via the masterclass product page.
Sunday Jazz Brunch
Every Sunday morning the winery hosts Laura & Co Jazz Brunch, with a guest musician performing between 11am and 2pm. The brunch menu is served from 10am to 1pm and entry to the music is free. Performance details are released monthly, with past performers including Leon Greening, Stephen Bridgland, Alex Lovell, Stuart Jackaman, Victoria Bass and Harry Whitty.
Private hire and celebrations
The brewery-oast setting makes for a memorable backdrop for almost any gathering. The dedicated events team handles everything from the first enquiry through to the day itself, designing bespoke experiences that pair the food, drink and venue to the occasion. Three distinct spaces are available, each with its own atmosphere and capacity, and exclusive hire of the entire winery is offered for the biggest occasions.
The spaces
- Brewers Hall Oast - the main winery, with a fully stocked bar, formal and relaxed seating, space for dancing and a band or DJ, and access to the terrace. Capacity: 120 standing, 60 seated.
- The Barn - a flexible blank-canvas space suitable for markets, exhibitions, wellness classes, photo shoots and smaller events. Capacity: 50 standing, 40 seated.
- Cellar Door - an intimate room between the main winery and the production space. Capacity: 30 standing, 25 seated.
Exclusive hire of the entire winery is suited to milestone birthdays, anniversaries, engagement parties and evening wedding receptions, with capacity for 60 guests seated or 120 for a buffet. A limited offer of 15% off evening venue hire is currently available for the last remaining September and October 2026 dates. Banqueting menus cover hot feasting buffets, sit-down three-course meals, charcuterie and pizza buffets, and canapés for drinks-led events, with wines paired to the menu and non-alcoholic options always available.
Corporate hire
Mereworth Wines offers a distinctive alternative to traditional conference venues for team socials, client entertaining, networking events, corporate wine tastings, informal presentations and end-of-year parties. The Cellar Door seats up to 25 with a screen available for presentations, while the full winery accommodates 60 seated or 100 for a buffet. Complimentary parking and convenient access from mainline rail services into London and across Kent make logistics straightforward.
Wakes and celebrations of life
The team also caters wakes and celebrations of life, offering a calm and supportive setting with light refreshments, buffet options and drinks packages tailored to suit the occasion. Enquiries can be directed to events@mereworthwines.co.uk.
Christmas at the winery
The historic oast transforms for the festive season with private Christmas lunches, end-of-year dinners and full parties for teams of all sizes. Long tables, seasonal menus, plenty of fizz and the option of exclusive evening venue hire make the winery a memorable choice for Christmas 2026. As the team notes, the best Christmas celebrations are the ones planned ahead - November and December prime dates fill quickly. Enquiries can be directed to events@mereworthwines.co.uk via the Christmas functions page.
Filming and photography location
Set within an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and within easy reach of London, Mereworth Wines offers film crews and photographers a peaceful yet visually striking backdrop. The vineyard, the characterful Brewers Hall Oast and the rustic barn each carry their own atmosphere, from contemporary campaigns and lifestyle shoots to period-inspired productions. The estate benefits from abundant natural light and flexible access.
Gift cards and vouchers
For those who can't decide, Mereworth offers both physical gift cards and e-vouchers in denominations of £10, £25, £50 and £100, redeemable against any product from the winery or against food and drink at the winery. Gift cards are valid for 12 months from purchase and can be posted directly to the recipient or collected in person. The team also offers dedicated vouchers for afternoon tea and tours - both as e-vouchers and as physical cards - that allow the recipient to choose their own date.
Shop the winery
The online shop carries the full range of wines, spirits, gift packs and vouchers. Special collections to explore include:
- Hall of Fizz - the sparkling collection.
- Shop the Winery - the full wine and spirits range.
- Gift Packs.
- Spirits - Marourde, Oak-Aged Gin and the Negroni Pack.
- Mereworth Drinks.
- Afternoon Tea Vouchers.
- Tour & Tasting Vouchers.
- Mereworth Wines Christmas Market.
All orders are shipped in specialised packaging designed to protect bottles in transit, and collecting from the winery brings the bonus of a stylish gift box. Loyalty card holders enjoy exclusive member discounts throughout the year.
Plan your visit
Mereworth Wines is at Brewers Hall Oast, Tonbridge Road, Kent, ME18 5JD - just a short drive from the M20 and with convenient access from mainline rail services into London Victoria, London Bridge and other London terminals, plus direct routes across Kent. The winery is easily accessible by car, with free parking on site, and lies close to several scenic walking and cycling routes through the surrounding countryside.
Opening times
- Monday - Wednesday: by appointment only and for private functions (open 10am - 7pm on Mon 31st August).
- Thursday: 12pm - 9pm.
- Friday: 9am - 11pm.
- Saturday: 9am - 11pm.
- Sunday: 9am - 7pm.
Contact details
- General enquiries and table reservations: admin@mereworthwines.co.uk
- Events, tours, corporate and private hire: events@mereworthwines.co.uk
- Trade and contract winemaking: sgebbie@mereworthwines.co.uk
- Telephone: 01622 817 795
Tables at the bar can be booked online via the booking page. Tours, afternoon teas, tastings and the Sparkling Wine Masterclass should be booked via the individual product pages linked above. The winery is active on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and Pinterest.