Joyce Barnes
Founder
Planted the first vines at Biddenden in 1969, turning the family apple farm to viticulture.
Biddenden Vineyards is Kent's original vineyard, a Barnes family farm since 1969 near Biddenden making English wines, ciders and apple juices, with a vineyard shop and tours.
Biddenden Vineyards is Kent's original vineyard, owned and managed by the Barnes family since 1969.
The farm was originally a 40 acre apple orchard, and Joyce Barnes planted the first third of an acre of vines as apple prices declined in the late 1960s. Today the second and third generations of the family run a single estate of 23 acres of gentle south facing slopes just outside the Wealden village of Biddenden, growing 12 different grape varieties.
Around 80,000 bottles are produced each year, and all vine work on the estate, from pruning and canopy management to picking, is still carried out by hand, with harvest running from mid September through to November. The vineyard shop sells the estate's white, rose, red and sparkling English wines alongside its ciders and pressed apple juices, and visitors can walk the vines on open, guided and self guided tours through the year.
4.7
From 156 Google reviews
Quiet location, well-kept winery and vineyards. Excellent wines.
Excellent tour and tasting session. Great wines and ciders. Friendly and knowledgeable tour guide.
Visited the vineyard yesterday. Our tour guide Barbara was brilliant and looked after us so well. Prior to the tour we bought two glasses of their amazing apple juice and Barbara overheard us talking about my wife being designated driver, and so she asked my wife if she would like to have a variety of their juices to try whilst my son and I tried their wines; brilliant service. On our tour we learnt a lot and it was wonderful not only to visit at a time of year that we saw the variety of grapes on the vine, but we also got to see the grapes being harvested by hand and speak to the pickers. We were also lucky enough to see the grapes being loaded into the press. It was also great to learn that this was a fourth generation owned family business. After the tour in their beautiful grounds, we sampled six of their wines which were beautiful (their dessert wine is beautiful and has to be tasted to be believed). We also had their charcuterie board, all of local produce which was excellent. The cheeses were so good. The day would not have been complete without coming away with a few bottles of their wines and juices from their shop which also sold lots of other local food products. A great afternoon out, great customer service, great venue for money and would highly recommend it to anyone; where you are a wine connoisseur or a novice like me. Thank you Biddenden Vineyards.
Gribble Bridge Lane, Biddenden, Kent TN27 8DF
Sunday, 11am to 4pm
We do not hold prices, availability, parking, access details or event dates for Biddenden Vineyards. The farm answers those directly on its own site, by phone or by email.
The wines and even cider were great. Especially like the sparkling white.
Absolutely fantastic vinyard, with a large selection of estate wines, the sparkling reserve is outstanding as well as the sparkling rose. A very enjoyable and informative tour with tastings of 6 of their wines and a fantastic local foods platter. Barbara knows her stuff and is great company, so good we came away with a mixed case of wine.
A lovely place to sit and chill with a glass of excellent wine and some nibbles.
We visited Biddenden Vineyards while travelling with our children and were really looking forward to showing them a vineyard. The adult ticket was £15 per person and included a tasting of three wines, which seemed reasonable. However, we were surprised to be told that children were also charged £15 each, despite the fact that they could only taste some apple juice. We didn’t feel this offered fair value, so we decided to leave without visiting. What made this even more disappointing was that we subsequently visited nearby Chapel Down, where the experience was much more family-friendly. Entry to the vineyards was free, and those who wanted to could purchase a £15 wine tasting. There was no charge for children. We had a fantastic time at Chapel Down, tasted some excellent wines and bought a few bottles to take home. So, a heads-up to anyone travelling with children: based on our experience, we wouldn’t recommend stopping at Biddenden Vineyards. There are better, more welcoming options nearby for families.
What a fantastic place! With great cider.
What a fabulous place to visit!! We had a telephone query on the morning of our pre-booked visit and staff were very accommodating. On arrival we received a friendly welcome from the team before heading out to the vineyard, winery and cider press with Barbara and helper - both very knowledgeable and entertaining. It was interesting to hear of the three-generation family ownership and changes made over the years to ensure high quality harvests. Six tastings, with an informative tasting notes leaflet, were a great introduction to their delicious sparkling & still wines. The optional sharing platter, with local cheeses, was a lovely addition Staff were engaging throughout and questions were encouraged. A very enjoyable, relaxing afternoon, highly recommend.
We just wanted to say what an amazing day we had and it was all thanks to our tour guide Barbara!! You can tell she absolutely loves what she does and she was so chatty and lovely with us all and couldn’t do enough for us. We were a group of 4 in our late 20s and it was just the perfect fun activity day out. Thank you again Barbara you really made it a great experience!
Done the Easter Egg hunt here, very nice farm shop, great vines and fruit juices. Friendly staff and good parking.
Done the Easter Egg hunt here, very nice farm shop, great vines and fruit juices. Friendly staff and good parking.
Heartily recommend a visit here. Self guided tour, tastings and nibbles all for £65 for three of us. Had an amazing time, shop people were lovely. One of your party needs to have the apple juice tasting menu, or you'll need taxis 👍🏻
Came here on one of the weekdays. This vineyard is amazing, they offer £10 wine tasting tour where you get to walk at the vineyard and towards the end you get three glasses to taste. If you get a bottle from there, you get £5 rebate. It’s a really nice place to visit looking at the staffs plucking the grapes and also the factory making the wine. Would recommend others to come here for sure.

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