Best Wine Tasting Venue - Mannings Heath Estate  

Mannings Heath Golf and Wine Estate is voted Best Wine Tasting Venue 2023 in South East England, in the LUXlife Restaurant and Bar Awards 2023.  

Guests to the 500-acre estate near Horsham in West Sussex can enjoy a tutored wine-tasting experience for just £10 per person, a tasting journey of estate wines from the owner’s South African vineyards at Benguela Cove Lagoon Wine Estate.    

Johann Fourie, the award-winning estate winemaker, says:  

“The vineyard position at Benguela Cove is unique, at the edge of the southern coast of South Africa. The south-easterly sea breeze is chilled by the Benguela Current flowing up from Antarctica, cooling the grapes during the sunny growing season. This makes for a longer than usual ripening period and ideal temperature variations, which play a key part in the superb quality of the wine”.   

A popular self-drive buggy tour of the vineyards is available for just £20.00 per person. Departing from the beautiful, historic clubhouse at Mannings Heath, guests have the fun of driving a golf buggy up the winding pathways and over the Kingfisher Golf Course, which is set in an area of outstanding natural beauty.   

Guests tour the extensive vineyards, which consist of 50 acres of different wine varietals, where a guide provides a talk on the vineyards, Sussex Wine and the English sparkling wine revolution. Visitors then return to the clubhouse to enjoy a tutored tasting of five estate wines from Benguela Cove.    

The wine tour experience can also include an authentic Sabrage demonstration for £25 per head. Guests can try out the technique of opening a bottle of sparkling wine with a sabre which, it is said, was first carried out by Napoleonic cavalrymen on horseback. The experience includes a complimentary bottle of the Benguela Cove Cuvee58 MCC to open.    

There is also the all-day wine-tasting Mannings Heath Experience at £100 for two people. Upon arrival, guests are taken on a self-drive buggy tour of the vineyards, for a talk on the evolution of Sussex Wine, before returning to the clubhouse for a tutored wine tasting and a three-course meal at The Vineyard Kitchen.  

Barry Anderson, head of the estate’s wine operations, says:  

“Guests to the estate are invited to join us on our journey, to visit the vineyards and hear our story as we prepare to launch our Sussex Wines in 2024. They can join our wine club and enjoy the offers on wines and our special events programme, which includes dinners with our winemaker and a harvest lunch in the autumn.”  

LUXlife's judging panel and research team take into consideration the commitment, expertise, and innovation shown by nominees. They assess nomination information, voting information and supporting evidence that the venue has supplied, along with the results from their own extensive fact-checking and research.  

For further information visit www.manningsheath.com/wine-tasting