Winelands: English Wine Week in Lewes, Sussex
Celebration of Sussex wines returns to Lewes
After the huge success of last year’s inaugural festival, Winelands is back!
With some new vineyards, and many new vintages from the well-established producers.
Winelands is a week-long festival for wine lovers, local producers and industry experts to celebrate the world-class still and sparkling wines of Sussex, taking place in and around Lewes between the 8th and 13th June 2026. English Wine Week, the nationwide celebration, takes place one week later, from 20th to 28th June.
The Winelands festival will include a grand tasting of Sussex wines supported by local food producers, an event at local Lewes auctioneer Gorringe’s, a film night at the award-winning Depot cinema, and various wine producer events and wine-pairing dinners.
Producers include (full list below) Mousehall, Rathfinny, Rowfant, Sugrue South Downs, Wildstone, Winklestone and Wiston, and geographically cover the breadth of Sussex, from Oxney in the east to Tinwood in the west. Some will be showing their wines in Lewes for the first time.
Sponsoring this year’s festival are law firm Mayo Wynne Baxter, real estate agency Knight Frank LLP, and accountants, tax planners and business advisors Carpenter Box. Each one of these firms provide invaluable professional support to the growing number of Sussex wine producers.
Lewes is a vibrant town in the heart of the South Downs National Park, an hour by train from London and 15 minutes from Brighton, offering many good restaurants, two wine bars, lovely pubs and countless cafés. There are many producers in easy reach of Lewes, who also offer a wide range of wonderful hospitality.
Sussex is a major force for wine production in the U.K., with 140 vineyards, and accounts for nearly 30% of total U.K. production. It is also the only U.K. county to carry a Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) certification issued by the Government in 2022, akin to the much-recognised ’Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée’ (AOC) system employed throughout France which guarantees quality and production standards.
With Plumpton College, the U.K.’s undisputed leader in wine education (which Decanter magazine calls ‘the cradle of the UK wine industry’) nearby, Lewes is a growing community of wine and other professionals committed to developing this exciting local industry. All our event sponsors, organisers and hosts live locally.
Winelands is a not-for-profit organisation set up by a group of wine professionals, enthusiasts and local businesses.
The Events
Monday 8 June – Launch event in Fitzroy House, Lewes, hosted by the Winelands team for sponsors and local council representatives (invitation only) with wines from Henners of Herstmonceux.
Wednesday 10 June: Olly Smith, Lewes’s own celebrity wine expert, launches his new book ‘Death by Noir‘, released in June 2026. Ticketed event at Gorringe’s in Lewes with wines by Artelium Wine Estate of Streat, East Sussex.
Thursday 11 June – 6pm: Screening at Depot of ‘Sour Grapes’ film with a talk and Q&A by the director, Jerry Rothwell, and blind tasting to “spot the fake wine” hosted by Master of Wine Mike Best. Followed by a reception with Plumpton College wines.
Friday 12 June: Tribute to the late great Peter Hall, founder and winemaker of Breaky Bottom in Rodmell, the ”Gandalf of English Wine” (invitation only).
Saturday 13 June: The Grand Tasting at All Saints Centre, Friars Walk.
Lewes Town Mayor Adrian Ross will open the doors at 12 noon. Subsequent tasting sessions at 2pm and 4pm. This will be a walk-around tasting of 90 minutes each with 16 producers pouring their own wines. Tickets £5 each, available online, including an exclusive ISO Winelands tasting glass to keep.
On Saturday 13 June: Masterclasses
During the Grand Tasting, there will be a limited number of places for ticket holders to attend masterclasses on sustainability in wine production, and ageable English wines at nearby wine shop Symposium (1 minute walk). Each masterclass will be a chaired panel discussion with 3-4 producers showing wines which relate to the subject.
Address: Symposium, 32 Lansdown Place, BN7 2JU.
In addition, several retailers and restaurants in Lewes will be enhancing their Sussex wine offering for the Winelands week, and laying on producer / wine-pairing dinners. These will be run by the venues themselves and cross-promoted under the Winelands banner.
Participating restaurants include (tbc): Dill, No. 34, Caccia & Tails, and Squisito
Participating independent wine shops (tbc): Harvey’s, Maggie’s, Seasons, and Symposium
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Producers for the Grand Tasting:
| Vineyards confirmed | Website | Contact name |
| Oxney Organic | Oxneyestate.com | Kristin Syltevik |
| Mousehall | Mousehall.com | Nick Siersema |
| Wildwood Vineyard | wildwoodvineyard.co.uk | Paul Olding |
| Winklestone Vineyard | Winklestone.co.uk | Tom Dewhurst |
| Sugrue South Downs | SugrueSouthDowns.com | Callum Edge |
| Mountfield | Mountfieldwinery.com | Lucy Fraser / Anna Bourne |
| Stopham | stophamvineyard.co.uk | Marie Davies |
| Oastbrook | oastbrook.com | Nick Brewer |
| Tinwood | tinwoodestate.com | Art Tukker |
| Rowfant | therowfantvineyard.co.uk | Chris |
| Kingscote | kingscoteestate.com | Lesley |
| Nutbourne | nutbournevineyards.com | Olivia |
| Dillons | dillionsvineyard.co.uk | David Trott |
| Wiston | Wistonestate.co.uk | Kirsty Goring |
| Rathfinny | rathfinnyestate.com | Amy Penfold-Handley |
| Albourne | albourneestate.co.uk | Alison Nightingale |
Contacts for Winelands: cheers@winelands.co.uk
Dominic Buckwell (Chair) dominic.buckwell@gmail.com 07973 406415
For tickets and further information, visit www.winelands.co.uk and follow @winelands.lewes
WINELANDS: 8 - 13 June 2026 