3. Cherry Garden

 An old estate map from the mid-19th century named this field as the Cherry Garden Meadow and the vineyard below as the Watch House Meadow. The Watch House referred to a building that overlooked the Gunpowder Mills within the grounds of Chilworth Manor today which served as a guard house. To honour and reflect this history, we now host wine tastings and other memorable experiences from our very own ‘Watch House.’ 

The work for the Cherry Garden Meadow extension started in 2021 and was planted in May 2023. It is populated with the Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier varieties used in our sparkling wine. We do not expect it to yield crop until 2026 and the first bottle of wine will not be ready until 2031. 

 

Chilworth's brand new 'Watch House'

 

For Children: 

Q: How old is the oldest bottle of wine in the world? 

CLUE: It is over 13 times older than the oldest person in the world. 

A: Almost 1700 years old. The Speyer wine bottle is believed to be the oldest bottle of wine in the world. It dates back to Roman times and was unearthed from a tomb in Germany. It is currently on display in the Pfalz Historical Museum in Germany.

 

Grapes growing in the Watch House vineyard

 

Navigation: 

Walk along the bottom of the Cherry Garden vineyard, turn left, and go up either Rows 11, 12, or 13. When you reach the top of the row turn right and carry on up the hill until you reach two benches for a well earned sit-down.