A Members’ Journal
Lucy Thomas, bestbritishbubbly, belongs to our Members’ Club. Here, she tells us how well it has worked for her.
My journey around the Wine Garden of England started long before the Members’ Club existed. It was a visit to Gusbourne with my sister back in 2021 that opened our eyes to the amazing wine tourism we have in this country. At the time, very few people knew about it and it sparked the idea for my Best British Bubbly website.
We were excited to discover more, and a couple of years later spent a blissful weekend based in Tenterden where we enjoyed a tour and tasting followed by superb dinner at Chapel Down. The
following day, we treated ourselves to a lunchtime platter, a walk in the vines and a tutored tasting at Balfour Estate. It was a fabulous 48 hours of locally sourced food, wine flights and lots more knowledge about the growing English wine industry. It turns out we missed a trick as Biddenden is just down the road from where we were staying, so it would have been easy to combine that too.
I live in the Midlands, so my Kent wine trips require more time and logistical planning than those who live in the south and have easy access to the beautiful Wine Garden of England.
When I saw details of the Summer Celebration, I knew it would be my perfect day out. All the members of the Wine Garden of England come together for a fabulous afternoon of wine tasting, street food and live music. We went along in 2024 and loved it.
When the Members’ Club launched in 2025, it seemed a great way to visit more of the diverse vineyards and wineries in the collaboration. Each one is affectionately given a nickname, and having already visited‘ The Luxury Escape’,‘ The British Icon’ and‘ The Rural Masterpiece’, we were ready for more. We also knew we didn’ t
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