The drive down Titchfield Lane gives you fair warning that Quob Park Estate is not a weekend hobby project. The 180-acre Hampshire estate opens up gradually — vines first, then the winery buildings, then the wider grounds — and there’s a quiet seriousness to it that you notice before you’ve even parked. This is a working vineyard with genuine ambition, and from the moment you arrive, that’s apparent in the care taken over every detail.
The land itself has a history stretching back to the Domesday Book, when this part of Hampshire was recorded as a Deer Park. The more recent chapter began with Rob and Tracey Terry, who married here in 2008 and returned with a plan. Wine commissioning started in 2013, the first vines went in during 2015, and the estate has been building steadily ever since — adding a restaurant, a spa, accommodation and a cookery school to what is, at its heart, a serious English sparkling wine producer. Their second venue, The Old House Hotel, sits five minutes away in the centre of Wickham. Built in 1707 as the last coach house on the London to Portsmouth road, it’s now a ten-room Grade II listed hotel with individually designed suites, all refurbished in 2023. A complimentary shuttle runs between the two.
The wine is the point of departure for everything else at Quob Park. Hampshire’s chalk geology — Cretaceous in origin — and a microclimate running roughly 1.5°C warmer than the surrounding area make this corner of the county genuinely suited to growing the classic sparkling varieties. The estate produces English sparkling wine exclusively from its own vines, and every bottle is aged for a minimum of six years before release. That’s a standard you’d associate with the finest Champagnes, and it reflects a philosophy that isn’t interested in rushing. The tasting room holds over 1,000 bottles and more than 100 wines available by the glass through tasting machines — a setup that rewards curiosity and makes it easy to explore properly.
Vineyard tours run daily at 11am and 2pm, covering the winemaking process from vine to bottle in a structured 45-minute format. In September, harvest tours give visitors a closer look at the estate in its most active season. Beyond the standard tour programme, the experience at Quob Park has unusual depth for a vineyard visit. The kitchen follows an estate-to-glass-and-plate philosophy with around 90 percent of ingredients sourced within 30 miles — supported by the estate’s own potager gardens, orchard, apiary and winery. Michelin-trained chefs run the restaurant, and the cooking takes its cues from what’s growing and producing on the land around it. It’s fine dining with a direct connection to place, rather than fine dining as a separate luxury layer.
Dogs are explicitly welcome at the estate, which given the scale of the grounds feels entirely right — there’s space to breathe here. Children are welcome too, and the range of things to do across a full day visit is wide enough that it works for groups with different interests. The Rose Spa and Fitness centre adds another option: a thermal suite, relaxation lounges, and 15 treatment options including pregnancy-friendly services. There’s also a cookery school and a gardening school running from the estate, which gives Quob Park an educational dimension that goes well beyond the standard vineyard tour format.
For those staying overnight, the 13 suites spread across the two venues make this a credible destination for a weekend rather than just a day trip. The Old House Hotel in Wickham puts you in a Georgian building in a market town, while rooms at the estate itself keep you closer to the vines. Either way, you’re in a part of Hampshire that’s unhurried and largely unknown to the weekend crowds that descend on the Downs.
Fareham station is approximately five miles from the estate, with regular services from London Waterloo running the route in just over an hour. The nearest town is Wickham, a short drive from the estate and home to the Old House Hotel for those who prefer a town-centre base. If you’re coming by car, the estate sits just north of Fareham off the B2177, accessible enough from the M27 to make it a straightforward drive from Southampton or Portsmouth. From London, the combination of a direct train and a short taxi or arranged transfer makes this a realistic and rewarding day out — especially if you book a tour, stay for lunch, and let the afternoon take care of itself.
