2026 HARVEST AT TANHURST ESTATE:
A VERY PROMISING YEAR FOR ENGLISH WINE
The 2026 English wine harvest is underway at Tanhurst Estate, and after an exceptionally hot and dry summer, it is already proving to be a very different vintage.
We picked our Chardonnay, Meunier and Précoce grapes last week, bringing in around 7 tonnes of grapes. While the dry conditions have resulted in smaller bunches of grapes, the quality of the grapes picked so far is looking very good. The Chardonnay will be used to make both still wine and our sparkling Cuvée, while the Meunier will become a Blanc de Noirs, a white wine made from red grapes.
FOR LOVERS OF ENGLISH RED WINE
There is also more good news for lovers of English red wine. For the second year running, Tanhurst Estate will be making red wine. The Précoce has already been picked for this, while a whole field of Pinot Noir is still waiting to be harvested. We expect to pick these grapes in another week or two.
It has been a busy time in the vineyard, with plenty of long days for the team, but so far everything is going very well.
SURREY WINE HARVEST 2026
The hot, dry and sunny summer has certainly made its mark on this year’s Surrey wine harvest, bringing forward the timing of the picking and producing beautifully ripe grapes. With the Pinot Noir still to come, we won’t know the full story of the 2026 vintage for a little while yet.
But Colin is feeling very positive about what is coming out of the vineyard and believes 2026 could be the best harvest at the vineyard so far. There is still plenty of work to do before the harvest is complete, but the early signs are looking very promising. We’ll keep you updated as the 2026 harvest at Tanhurst Estate continues.
