Can you tour Woodchester Valley Vineyard?

Yes. Vineyard tours and tastings are pre-booked, run in small groups through the warmer months, and take around two hours. They are for over-eighteens. The cellar-door shop is open without booking the year round.

What does Woodchester Valley make?

English sparkling and still wines, the sparkling made the long way by the same method as Champagne. The still wines have won at international level, the Sauvignon Blanc among them.

Where is Woodchester Valley Vineyard?

In the valleys at South Woodchester, near Stroud in Gloucestershire, with a separate cellar-door shop on the A46 between Stroud and Nailsworth.

Visiting Woodchester Valley Vineyard: Tours, Tastings & Cellar Door

Woodchester Valley is a family vineyard in the old cloth valleys above Stroud, making traditional-method sparkling and award-winning still wine on very old ground. Here is how to visit, what they make, and where it sits.

At a glance

How to visit: The cellar-door shop is walk-in; vineyard tours, tastings and events are pre-booked and for over-eighteens. No walk-ins on the tours.
Where: South Woodchester, near Stroud, Gloucestershire, in the valleys south of the town.
Best time to visit: Tours run through the warmer months, roughly April to October; the cellar door is open the year round.
How long to spend: Around two hours for a tour and tasting.
Parking: At the vineyard and the cellar door.
Getting there: Nearest station Stroud, direct from London Paddington in around ninety minutes, then a taxi. By car, off the A46 between Stroud and Nailsworth.
Dog friendly: Only on the dedicated vineyard dog-walk events, not on the tours.
Family friendly: The cellar door yes; the tours are over-eighteens only.

Visiting Woodchester Valley Vineyard: parking, getting there, when to go

Woodchester Valley spreads across south-facing sites in the steep valleys below Stroud, where the fast water once ran the cloth mills. There are two sides to a visit: the cellar-door shop, on the A46 at Woodchester, which is a walk-in; and the vineyard tours and tastings, up at the vineyard itself, which are pre-booked, for over-eighteens, and run in small groups through the warmer months. A classic tour takes around two hours.

The nearest station is Stroud, with direct trains from London Paddington in around ninety minutes, then a taxi; by road the cellar door is on the A46 between Stroud and Nailsworth.

Woodchester Valley Vineyard questions, answered

Can you tour Woodchester Valley Vineyard?: Yes. Vineyard tours and tastings are pre-booked, run in small groups through the warmer months, and take around two hours. They are for over-eighteens. The cellar-door shop is open without booking the year round.
What does Woodchester Valley make?: English sparkling and still wines, the sparkling made the long way by the same method as Champagne. The still wines have won at international level, the Sauvignon Blanc among them.
Where is Woodchester Valley Vineyard?: In the valleys at South Woodchester, near Stroud in Gloucestershire, with a separate cellar-door shop on the A46 between Stroud and Nailsworth.

The slopes that grow it are the old cloth valleys, where fast water once ran the mills and the rows of vines now catch the afternoon sun. It is a new use for very old ground, and the ground seems to have taken to it.

The Cotswolds has always made its money from what grows well on a hillside and keeps quietly until it is ready. Once it was wool. Now, among other things, it is this.

The story moves through this world. Begin Chapter One →