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Thirty-four members and their guests attended the visit to the Winery at Highdown. The visit commenced with a quick visit to the vines to see some of the current crop and the methods used in the cultivation of the vines. All of the white grapes had by this time been harvested, but the red grape vines were still heavily weighted with grapes, which were due to be harvested within the next few days.

We then assembled in the ‘lecture / dining room’ for an interesting talk by Ross, the co-owner of the Winery, on the history of wine making in the UK, and on the Highdown Winery in particular.
This naturally led on to a demonstration of the way to taste wines with tips on what to look for and how to classify them. We were then invited to test a number of different white, rose, red, and sparkling wines produced at some of the different wineries in the UK; each tasting leading to a discussion of the merits or otherwise of that particular wine. These tastings served to demonstrate how right Ross is when he says that English Wines have really improved over the last few years, and that now they can compete on taste and quality with the best.

A superb buffet, followed by teas and coffee was then provided for the group to bring the visit to a close.

After the Buffet Lunch, the group had the opportunity to visit the Winery Shop, if they wished, to view or purchase any of the wide range of English Wines on offer (plus a number of beers and other speciality products).