Recently I had the pleasure of hosting senior leaders from global media agency MediaCom with some of their amazing clients on a day trip to the award-winning English vineyard Gusbourne in Kent (only 40 min away from London by train).
We enjoyed a truly world-class wine day, sipping fizz in the sunshine amongst the vines with the bunches of grapes bursting with flavour as harvest was in full swing.
We left from St Pancras having started the day with Searcy’s champagne breakfast.
As we jumped off the train in sunny Kent we were met by luxury Mercedes cars and transported to Gusbourne where we sampled fine English sparkling wine and canapes.
We explored the vineyard in the beautiful early autumn sunshine, enjoying the fresh air and stretching our legs as we walked between the vines before we were greeted under an impressive old oak tree with a Burgundian style of chardonnay.
It was such a sunny day, the English weather was perfect (for a change!) and the networking and client conversations were in full flow. We decamped back to onsite restaurant The Nest for lunch on the first floor overlooking the vines and the winery below so we could see the tractors coming in with of boxes of grapes ready to be pressed.
After a exquisite three course lunch with wines to match plus a very exciting vertical tasting we were taken into the winery and get up close to all the action. Our final glass of wine was fresh pressed wine 2022 which won’t be available for 3 more years!
England has a fabulous selection of vineyards within easy reach of London and of course the best way to experience them is on a hosted Elizabeth & Wine corporate or private client day among the vines. Get in touch for more information about organising your very own English vineyard visit.