The Summer Garden of England
Apart from the parkland surrounding the house, the rest of the 1,000 hectare estate until the beginning of this century was used for agriculture. Now 21 hectares are under vine. Our joyful vintner explains the vineyard uses the double fermentation Champagne method for the sparkling wine it produces. She says, “We blend Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier to create our balanced and complex final signature wines. Chardonnay brings elegance and finesse; Pinot Noir delivers structure and depth; and Pinot Meunier adds a fruity profile.” Located high on the North Downs in Kent, the vintage wines of the Squerryes Estate are a distinct expression of the terroir – such a great French word – and winemaking methods.
But first we spin by Squerryes Court to get a glimpse of the house and lake and parkland. The house is at the top of a gentle rise to the south of Westerham (the Winery is to the east). The two most famous sons of this historic town are General James Wolfe and Sir Winston Churchill. Both gentlemen were friends with the owners of Squerryes Court. John Warde and Anne Warde signed the interwar visitors’ book at Chartwell, the Churchills’ nearby residence. Squerryes Court is the quintessential English country house. The Pevsner guide to Kent: West and the Weald by John Newman (1980), states, “The epitome of the hipped roof house, as popularised by Sir Roger Pratt’s Clarendon House, Piccadilly, handsome in its proportions and unusually craftsmanly in its warm red brickwork.” Sir Nicholas Crisp bought the estate in 1681 and completed the house five years later. In 1731, John Warde bought the house and estate.
We head off to the Squerryes Winery Restaurant in time for the last of the summer sparkling wine. Our ebullient vintner tells us the Head Chef is from the west of Ireland. Seamus McDonagh trained at the Galway Mayo Institute of Technology. “A lot of my food is based around the French cooking classics,” he shares. “I just like to add a bit of a modern twist.” We’re fine wining and dining and reclining on the terrace on a sunkissed evening watching shadows creep across the vines. Marmite butter, smoked cod roe, Scottish King Scallops, barbequed aubergine marinated in chimichurri, chocolate sponge cake … everything we love.
Vintage Rosé 2021 is the perfect accompaniment to our meal. This vegan wine disgorged in August last year is 75 percent Pinot Noir and 25 percent Pinot Meunier. Laura Evans, Squerryes Master of Wine, describes its tasting notes, “Delicate pink. On the nose crunchy red fruits, redcurrant, sun ripened strawberries and raspberries. On the palate, notes of strawberries and cream pink grapefruit and minerality.” The warm climate and chalk soil of Kent are ideal for such high quality sparkling winemaking.
Henry Warde is the eighth generation of the family to live in Squerryes Court. He relates, “‘Licet Esse Beatis’ is our family motto, meaning ‘permitted to be joyful’, so we like to say that we’re in the business of creating joy! Treasured letters tell how my ancestor Sir Patience Warde traded wool from the Estate with the French for red wine which he then sold to the hardworking people of London bringing some pleasure to their days.”
He continues, “It felt like the tides were changing when centuries later a very well known French Champagne house came to Squerryes looking to buy some of our land on which to grow their vines. My father John and I decided to walk away from those negotiations and instead set about planting 36 acres of vines ourselves back in 2006. The ‘long thirsty wait’ that my father spoke of when the first vines were planted has been well worth it. We are already enjoying recognition for the quality of our vintage wines.” Our jubilant vintner tells us the Winery now sells 100,000 bottles a year.
Wine GB’s 2025 Industry Report states that there are now 1,104 vineyards (totalling 4,489 hectares under vine in England and 91 hectares in Wales) which together produce 9.1 million bottles a year (6.2 million of sparkling and 2.9 million of still). Plantings are up 510 percent since 2005. The most planted grape varieties in descending order of dominance are Chardonnay (31 percent of the total hectarage), Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier, Bacchus, Seyval Blanc, Solaris, Pinot Gris, Reichensteiner, Rondo and Pinot Blanc (one percent of the total hectarage). Actually there are now 99 grape varieties in England and Wales including just three hectares of Merlot and a lonely two hectares of Riesling.
England now has 10 wine growing counties. Again, in descending order of scale is Kent (almost one third of the total hectarage), West Sussex, Essex, East Sussex, Hampshire, Surrey, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Devon and Suffolk (below two percent). Squerryes Winery is in line with the regional breakdown: the top Southeast varieties are Chardonnay followed by Pinot Noir and finally Pinot Meunier. Champagne watch out!
Astounded, bedazzled and mesmerised are just some of the non hyperbolic reactions to the impromptu performance on the 1788 early English square piano in the first floor reception room. Such textural gossamer playing defies belief when combined with elevated clarity and determined dexterity of movement. Shooting up and down the dynamic spectrum pedal free, the pianist’s fingerwork of polyphonic transparency immediately strikes the balance between articulation and atmospherics. He finds an almost Celtic lilt in George Frideric Handel’s courtly triple time dance on John Broadwood’s tightly tuned instrument. The resultant robust soundscape ripples with Promethean masculinity. Monetising this concert level of piano playing will surely keep the Wolfe from the door.
