Christmas brought us a Gift Ideas for Two package with a choice of vineyards to visit around the UK, including a spot of wine tasting. Sounds good, so we registered the voucher online and booked our tour of Kerry Vale Vineyard just outside Newtown, Powys in mid-Wales. These tours run from March to October so July seemed a good choice, especially as we planned to travel onwards to Llandudno after the visit.
It was easy to find – basically turn right at Newtown and head for Churchstoke on A489 – as it is right on the road with a big sign for the vineyard and café/shop. We had a perfect day, warm and sunny, and everything was ready for our arrival with tea or coffee and biscuits. There were about 20 people in the group and the owner showed us around the vineyard, very friendly and professional in his presentation of how they started the vineyard and how it is maintained.
It is fascinating to see the different varieties of vines up close – they have three varieties – and you can easily see how much hard work is needed to keep them trimmed to perfection for the yield of grapes they want. By combining the varieties, Kerry Vale produces three white wines, two Rose, and three reds and we were treated to a generous tasting of two whites, a rose and a red wine with a chance to try the others later downstairs in the café if you were staying for lunch. A very pleasant couple of hours with an option to stay longer for food if you want to. You can book direct with them or look out for one of the Gift Experience packs as it is an enjoyable present to someone else or, indeed, yourself!
Did you Know? The practice of clinking glasses for toasts originates from Roman times when the goal was to avoid poisoning by splashing the drinks into each other’s glass. Apparently.
