What a delight to be absolutely immersed in nature. What unbelievable views over the rolling countryside. Down an extended avenue of closely-knit lime timber, I drove to achieve Denbies Winery Lodge. And what a mess of choices it provided by way of trails, actions, eating places, retailers, and wildlife.
This boutique 4* lodge is about within the dramatic Surrey Hills and North Downs. It’s very near Gatwick Airport and a nice 15-minute stroll from numerous prepare stations (Dorking, Field Hill, and Westhumble) with London solely 20 miles away.
Through the years a number of members of the Royal household have come, linking traditionally with Prince Albert who, in 1851, planted a tree right here. Named after the unique household house owners the Denbies property has just lately been owned and managed by pioneer Christopher White. How rewarding it’s to get pleasure from partaking in somebody’s imaginative and prescient. How fantastic that nature can reinvent herself. For this former pig farm and woodland now has 265 acres at the moment below vine, the primary of which have been planted in 1986 and whose first harvest (which might come as late as the top of October) 3 years later. Certainly it’s England’s largest winery with a manufacturing capability of as much as 1,000,000 bottles.
It’s additionally very ‘sustainability-conscious’ being Britain’s first carbon internet zero winery.
The lodge is constructed round an enthralling former white cottage that’s now the nucleus of an array of two small adjoining buildings and an annex. It has 17 rooms (costs ranging from $225.00 in off-season and $385.00 in excessive season). They felt so recent and new having solely opened simply earlier than Covid instances. They’ve a contemporary nation vibe and, consistent with the property, they characteristic wallpaper with colourful scenes of birds sitting amongst vines. The loos are well-finished with gray tile flooring and all of the luxuries you’ll need.
I had each Conventional English Afternoon Tea, dinner, and breakfast ‘en plein air’ at The Winery Restaurant. Inside, previous the pure bark lining the partitions, are giant conservatory-style concertina home windows and a steel pergola. It had such an exquisite ‘indoors-outdoors’ really feel. I sat beside an previous stone wall and an apple tree to look out at swallows darting at will beneath the small, landscaped garden with its sheltered cabanas. The extra rapid view was of the yellowy-green vines punctuated with previous oak timber earlier than trails led me to the conifers lining the horizon. These alluring paths drew me right into a dreamy narrative as I ruminated the place their journey may finish and what may lie on the opposite facet.
I liked my cherry tomato and watermelon gazpacho, adopted by aubergine gratin and parsley cream sauce. The presentation was wonderful and the fayre pretty priced. For my meals pairings, there was crimson, white, rose, and dessert wine on supply from the winery’s barrels with 2022 a very good 12 months made with single grapes.
Subsequent door Denbies Wine Library has a curvature to suggest a wine barrel. This lounge is each smooth and classy and has an extended burgundy leather-based banquette beneath funky pendant lighting. On show are all facets of the wine-making course of, a variety of Denbies’ vintages, and a wall lined with vintage riddling racks.
A mess of eating places provides option to these staying a number of nights. Locals additionally come to expertise each The Conservatory Restaurant set in an unlimited ethereal atrium and, exterior, the Hatch on the Garden Take Away. Right here merchandise from the native Dorking Brewery and Chimney Fireplace espresso are promoted. Three flooring up in the primary complicated and open for lunch is The Gallery Restaurant affording spectacular views throughout Surrey.
There’s a mess of retailers on this complicated with an on-site store, a farm shop-cum-deli with native produce, and a mini-nursery tempting me to remove my very own vine.
There’s a mess of actions with public footpaths, cyclists and runners. I may have explored the winery with a information or jumped on the outside miniature prepare and visited the indoor vineyard. As an alternative, I set off, as is my wont, alongside a number of of the property’s seven miles of strolling trails.
There’s a mess of walks previous rows of grape-laden vines that resemble musical notation with their distinctive gnarly roots and wireframes. The panorama was nearly my very own other than a momentary explosion of Boy Scouts joyful of their freedom and their exploration. I did share it really additionally with a mess of wildlife comprising badgers, roe deer, kestrels, butterflies, goldfinches, and woodpeckers.
The lodge and property, with its pleasant employees for whom nothing was an excessive amount of bother, appears effectively on target to achieve the requirements of its signature emblem which has a hand reaching in the direction of 5 stars as an ambition set for its general standing. What an incredible place to return and keep.
