Hambledon is located on the South Downs in Hampshire and is England’s oldest commercial vineyard, originally established by Major General Sir Guy Salisbury-Jones in 1952.
Following a multi-million pound regeneration of the estate by Ian Kellett and his family, who bought the property in 1999. Intrigued by the properties winemaking heritage Ian undertook extensive research which convinced him that sparkling wines were the future and in 2005 Ian planted a 10-acre ‘test bed’ of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier to see which of the 27 different combinations of vine clones and rootstocks gave the best results.
Today the Hambledon estate comprises 50 acres of vineyards and a new gravity-fed, state-of-the-art winery - the only one of its kind in the UK.
