The Farm

And... breathe.

To understand what makes Birchden special, let’s take a stroll.

From the moment you set foot on our beautiful 23-acre working farm, your shoulders drop. As time slows, you pass beehives and chickens to be greeted with the Pinot Noir vineyard. Each of your senses sharpens, and your breathing deepens as the morning sun kisses your face.

You stop to take in the teeming lakes, keeping an eye out for nesting geese, before meandering through the bird-loud orchard and dewy two-acre wildflower meadow. You feel the tangible sense of nature’s healing powers course through you.

Finally, you head through the Bacchus field towards the Tasting Den. And, since you’re here, you’ve surely earned a glass of wine.

Step this way

Apple Juice

You can’t leave Birchden Vineyards without grabbing some of our delicious home-grown apple juice. Pressed from a blend of hand-picked crab apples and cooking apples.

We have just planted 30 more fruit trees in our new orchard. Some were planted for the birds and bees, and some for us to enjoy! We look forward to offering more juice blends in the future.

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Discover the taste of Birchden Vineyards' Raw Honey

Alongside our amazing wines at Birchden Vineyards, we also make raw, unfiltered and 100% pure honey. It's light and fragrant, with a woody, earthy sweetness, and the slightest hint of salted caramel.

What makes our honey special? Our lucky bees collect nectar from the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, known for its ancient woodlands, wildﬂower meadows, and farmland. Through this biodiversity of nature, nectar is collected from
a myriad of different plants each day giving our honey complexity of flavour.

The honey is collected in small batches from our apiaries in East Sussex and West Kent, and strained in our purpose built 'Honey Cabin' to maintain the quality. We extract it, strain it and jar it all at Birchden Vineyards.

UNFILTERED | 100% PURE | UNHEATED

JUST AS NATURE INTENDED.

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MORE ABOUT BEES....

Bees make honey from nectar and honeydew. They use their tongues to suck the nectar from flowers and bring it back to the hive in their 'honey gut'. The hard-working bees deposit the nectar in the honeycombs and here it dehydrates into the delicious honey we all love.

The flavours, colour, smell, and medicinal properties of honey are all dependant on the type of flowers and trees that are in season across the year. Different plants create different flavours in the honey.

Most people think that the main source of nectar is from the flowers, but this is a misconception. When bees come out of hibernation in early spring, it is the trees that provide most of the nectar and pollen. Hazel, alder, and willow trees all provide an early source of pollen.

Once spring is in full bloom, the bees have a myriad of nectar producers to choose from. Hedgerows are filled with blackthorns and hawthorns, orchards are filled with apples, plums and pears, and wildflower meadows are covered in daisies, dandelions, bluebells, and poppies. This variety of plants is what creates the unique flavours of Birchden Vineyards' Raw Honey.

Twitcher heaven

Birchden Farm’s unique positioning makes it an important part of wildlife linkage between Groombridge Place and Broadwater Warren. A recent birdlife survey noted that to identify over 40 bird species in a two-hour survey is “quite remarkable”.

The study revealed that, along with thriving numbers of more common English birds, regular visitors also include Swallows, Lesser Redpolls, Bullfinches, Marsh Tits and Garden Warblers – and even the very rare Waxwing can make an appearance.

Listen out for the Cuckoos from April, and Jays, Kestrels and Mistle Thrush nesting in the Eucalyptus trees. We’ve had occasional Kingfisher sightings, usually heard approaching along the woodland stream and remaining briefly to fish from the island in the lake. You might also spot Cormorants, Grey Wagtails, Lesser Whitethroats and Whitethroats, and of course the Golden Finch.

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