The lane that leads to Kinsbrook Vineyard winds through the West Sussex countryside near Thakeham, and by the time the farmhouse visitor centre comes into view, you already have a sense that this place operates a little differently from the traditional English wine estate. There are no airs here. The converted farmhouse is open, easy and genuinely welcoming — free parking, dogs trotting about on the grass, the smell of something good coming from the kitchen. It feels less like a heritage attraction and more like somewhere people actually come back to regularly, which, as it turns out, they do.
Kinsbrook was founded in 2017, when Joe Beckett and Rebecca Dancer planted their first vines on what is now known as the Orchard Site. At the time, they were among the youngest vineyard owners in the UK — a fact that partly explains the vineyard’s energy. Rather than building something that looked backwards, they built something that looks forward. The main Picketty site followed between 2018 and 2022, alongside a third plot, bringing the total to more than 45,000 vines spread across three distinct growing sites. The farmhouse visitor centre opened in 2022, completing the picture. The whole project has moved fast, with intention.
The planting choices are ambitious. Kinsbrook grows all seven traditional Champagne varieties — Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris, Arbane and Petit Meslier — alongside Bacchus. That breadth of planting is unusual, and it signals a winemaking approach that is genuinely curious about what English terroir can do with the full classical palette rather than just its most familiar members. The signature style is sparkling, which puts Kinsbrook squarely in the tradition of the Sussex chalk and clay belt, but the range extends into still wines, and the commitment to regenerative and sustainable growing practices runs through everything they do. The kitchen gardens supplying the restaurant are part of the same thinking — grown here, eaten here.
A visit typically centres on a tour and tasting, which runs at around ninety minutes and includes three wines. Tours run every day — Kinsbrook is open seven days a week, year-round, which puts it in a small category among Sussex vineyards. Pre-booked public tours cost around £40 per person, and private tours are available at the same rate. The format takes you through the vines and the production side before settling you down with a glass, and the staff are clearly picked for genuine enthusiasm rather than formal ceremony. The bar is set at knowledgeable and friendly, not intimidating.
The restaurant is the other reason to factor in extra time. Wednesday to Sunday it runs a small plates lunch menu, with weekend brunch on Saturdays and Sundays. The food leans on local and home-grown produce, and the approach — unhurried, good quality, casual enough that you can come in muddy from a walk — fits the overall tone of the place. Supper clubs and special dining events run throughout the year, and every Sunday there is live music, which gives the vineyard a social rhythm that feels more like a neighbourhood institution than a seasonal attraction. Monday and Tuesday the café-deli is open for walk-ins, so there is no week when Kinsbrook is closed to visitors.
Dogs are welcome throughout the grounds and the venue, which matters more than it might sound for a day out from London. Children are equally welcome. The building is wheelchair accessible, with a lift serving the upstairs facilities. It is the kind of practical, deliberate inclusiveness that makes a place easier to visit with a mixed group, and Kinsbrook seems to have thought about that from the beginning.
What the listing does not flag, but the website confirms, is that on-site camping and glamping is available — worth checking directly if you want to make a weekend of it rather than a day trip.
For the journey, Billingshurst station is approximately five miles away and sits on the Arun Valley line, connecting to London Victoria via Horsham. The journey from Victoria takes just over an hour. From the station, you will need a car, taxi or pre-arranged transfer — the vineyard itself is in open countryside outside Thakeham. That slight distance from the station is a small inconvenience easily solved with a local cab or a driving companion, and it means Kinsbrook has none of the pinch-point crowds that closer-to-London vineyards attract on a summer weekend. The nearest town for overnight stays is Pulborough, three miles south, though many visitors use Horsham as a base. Book tours in advance — the seven-day-a-week opening means there is almost always a slot, but weekends fill quickly, especially around the supper clubs and live music Sundays.
