Kent Wine Tours / Vineyards / Chartham
Vineyard guide · Chartham
Chartham is a small family vineyard on chalk above the River Stour, about three miles from Canterbury, making still and sparkling wines from vines planted in 2013. It opens on Saturdays only. Book a tour with the owners, then have a glass in the old farm courtyard and look round the free art gallery.
| Founded | Planted 2013, on a farm where vines were recorded nearby in 1303 |
|---|---|
| Known for | Traditional method sparkling wine and still Bacchus and Pinot Gris |
| Awards | London Wine Competition 2026 gold for Blanc de Blancs 2022 and Blanc de Noir 2021; Decanter World Wine Awards 2022 silver for Rosé de Noir Brut 2019 and Pinot Noir 2020 |
| Grapes | Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris and Bacchus |
| Open | Saturdays, 10.30am to 5pm |
| Booking | Tours and tastings must be booked ahead online, the shop and gallery need no booking |
| Tours from | £25 |
| Food | No café, but picnics are welcome in the courtyard after a tour, and wine is sold by the glass |
| Dogs | Well-behaved dogs on leads are welcome, including on tours; please clear up after them |
| Children | Under-18s can join tours with an adult and are given soft drinks |
| By train | Chartham, about 50 metres away and six minutes from Canterbury West |
Checked on the vineyard’s own website in October 2026.
Vines are nothing new here. The vineyard’s own history notes that vineyards in this part of East Kent appear in the Domesday Book, and that in 1303 Prior Henry of Eastry, of Canterbury Cathedral, built a manor at neighbouring Deanery Farm and planted vines there, with the costs recorded in the Cathedral Archives. The present vineyard was planted 710 years later, in 2013, on part of Burnt House Farm. The farm’s old mansion burnt down in 1730, but its dovecote survives as a scheduled monument, and it appears on the wine labels.
Burnt House Farm covers nearly 40 hectares of arable land, pasture, coppice and ancient woodland. Roz, a former GP whose family has owned the land for about 70 years, runs the vineyard with her husband Richard Goodenough, a former university lecturer, and their son Andy, the vineyard manager. Stephen Skelton MW advised in the early years. The first 1.6 hectares of vines went in in May 2013, and half a hectare of Burgundy-clone Pinot Noir followed in May 2014. The rows run up and down a south-facing slope of flinty loam over chalk, just below the North Downs Way, and the farm’s chalk pit is a designated geological site whose layers match those of the Champagne region.
Family, friends and volunteers pick by hand, usually from late September into October. The grapes go the same day to Litmus Wines at Denbies in Dorking, where John Worontschak and Matthieu Elzinga make the wine, and it then comes back to the farm’s cellar. At the London Wine Competition 2026 the Blanc de Blancs 2022 and Blanc de Noir 2021 each won gold, and in 2022 the Rosé de Noir Brut 2019 and Pinot Noir 2020 won silver at the Decanter World Wine Awards.
All the wines are made from grapes grown on the farm. The sparkling range includes a Blanc de Blancs, made only from Chardonnay, and a Blanc de Noir and a Rosé de Noir, both from Pinot Noir, and you can buy the three as a Sparkling Trio. Of the still wines, try the Bacchus, which is fresh and aromatic in the style of Sauvignon Blanc. There is also a Pinot Gris and a rosé, with a still Pinot Noir in some years. Recent bottles start at about £16 for Bacchus and £20 for Pinot Gris, with the sparkling wines from about £30. Where to buy them.
Saturday is the only day to come. The cellar door shop is in the old farm courtyard and sells wine by the glass, bottle or half case. The free gallery keeps the same hours, with art and craft exhibitions in the converted cow barn, the workshop studio and the Great Barn. Tours and tastings are booked through the online shop. There is no café, but you are welcome to bring a picnic to eat in the courtyard afterwards, so the 11am tour fits neatly before lunch. By the car park a small demonstration vineyard shows each grape variety, and you can see the old dovecote. Parking in the farmyard is free. Visitors with mobility or sight needs are asked to get in touch beforehand so the team can help. At harvest, from late September to early October, volunteer pickers can join the team by contacting the vineyard.
| Experience | Price | Length | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| Guided Tours and Tastings A behind-the-scenes walk round the main vineyard with co-owner Richard or vineyard manager Andy, followed by a tutored tasting of still and sparkling wines. Each session takes 15 to 22 people. In bad weather Richard gives an illustrated talk and tasting in the Great Barn or the gallery instead. | £25 per person | About 1.5 hours: 45 minutes in the vineyard, then a 45-minute tasting | Saturdays at 11am and 2pm, February to December |
| Melissa Dachtler exhibition Melissa Dachtler’s first solo show at the vineyard: semi-abstract landscapes, mostly on large canvases, with energetic brushwork influenced by Impressionism. It is shown in the converted farm buildings that serve as the vineyard’s gallery. | Free | Drop in | Saturdays, 31 October to 19 December 2026, 10.30am to 5pm |
Book these on the Chartham website.
Coming up at the vineyard, from its own website. All vineyard events.
Christmas
A staging of A Christmas Carol in the vineyard’s unheated Great Barn, about 85 minutes long. Chartham wines are on sale, and warm clothes are advised.
Wednesday 9 December, two performances · 4pm and 7pm · Book ahead
4 bottles in stock with our wine partners this week. Prices are for a single 75cl bottle.
Sparkling
All Chardonnay, made by the traditional method in Kent with a focus on freshness and precision.
Sparkling rosé
The vineyard's first sparkling rosé from its own Pinot Noir, gentle and creamy with raspberry, strawberry and a hint of spice.
White
A dry, aromatic Bacchus with gooseberry and floral notes, a good choice for anyone who enjoys Sauvignon Blanc.
Red
A pale, fresh Pinot Noir from the Stour Valley near Canterbury, with red cherry and elderberry flavours.
Few English vineyards are easier to reach without a car. Chartham station is about 50 metres from the entrance and six minutes by train from Canterbury West, on the line that also serves Wye, Ashford International and London. Trains run about 28 times a day on weekdays, with fewer at weekends, and the 1A bus between Ashford and Canterbury stops at Chartham station. You can also walk or cycle about three miles along the river from Canterbury on the traffic-free Great Stour Way (National Cycle Route 18). By car, use CT4 7HU and leave the A28 Ashford Road at the turn signposted for Chartham. The entrance is on the left immediately after the turn.
Canterbury, with its cathedral, is about 4.5 miles away, and the walk or ride along the Stour with the vineyard at the far end makes a good half day. Chilham, a village with a square and a castle, is about three miles away. Mount Ephraim Gardens near Faversham is about 5.5 miles away, and Brogdale, home of the National Fruit Collection, about nine. The North Downs Way runs just above the vineyard.
See every vineyard you can visit in our Kent directory. Our other Kent vineyard guides: Chapel Down, Gusbourne, Balfour, Westwell, Warehorne, Silverhand, Domaine Evremond, Yotes Court.
Saturdays only. The shop and gallery open from 10.30am to 5pm, and tours run at 11am and 2pm from February to December.
In bad weather Richard gives an illustrated talk and tasting in the Great Barn or the gallery instead of the vineyard walk.
There is no café or restaurant, but you can bring a picnic to eat in the courtyard after your tour, and wine is sold by the glass at the shop.
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