EVENT: Wine Festival Winchester 25th-26th November

This year English Wine is showing in full force at the annual Wine Festival Winchester, with producers from Hampshire, Dorset, Kent and Sussex all brining a selection of their latest and great wines! Scroll down of this post for a chance to WIN A PAIR OF TICKETS.

Wine Festival Winchester is a feast of wine, food and fun which takes place on the last weekend of every year in Winchester’s glorious Guildhall. Co-hosted by Masters of Wine and BBC1 Saturday Kitchen presenters Susie Barrie and Peter Richards, the festival features hundreds of wines on free pour plus food, gifts, music and masterclasses plus a charity prize draw (this year in aid of the Murray Parish Trust). Every visitor gets a free Wine Festival tote bag plus Riedel wine glass to take away. Already the subject of rave reviews, the festival will this year see the launch of a brand new App based on its unique Follow Your Taste scheme. Players choose which wine style suits them and then have to find six wines in this style around the festival, rating them as they go. Players can win prizes and will also be sent the list of wines they rated after the festival.

Wine Festival Winchester is all about celebrating the very best of British so we’re delighted to have our strongest ever line-up of English wine producers at the 2016 event. Given Winchester’s location, it’s no surprise that Hampshire is once again a major focus, with top-quality producers Hattingley Valley, Exton Park, Hambledon and newcomer Raimes showing their wines. What’s more, Waitrose will be showing their local Leckford Estate fizz and Danebury are teaming up with The Grange Festival to allow people to explore a music and wine crossover, which should be fun. We’re also proud to host Dorsest producers Furleigh Estate and Bride Valley, run by renowned English wine writer Steven Spurrier and his wife Bella. On top of this we have top-class representation from Kent (Chapel Down) and Sussex (Nyetimber, Wiston). Every year it’s clear that our visitors make a beeline for our English wine exhibitors, to taste and buy for festive drinking, so it’s really exciting that the festival is becoming known as a great place to try top quality English wine.’