Denbies Wine Estate facts for kids
Denbies Wine Estate is a huge vineyard located near Dorking, in Surrey, England. It's the biggest vineyard in England! It covers about 265 acres (1.07 km2) with grapevines. That's more than 10% of all the grapevines planted in the entire United Kingdom. Denbies also has a special visitors' centre. Around 300,000 people visit it every year to learn about wine and explore the estate.
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The Story of Denbies Estate
The name "Denbies" comes from John Denby. He owned the farmhouse here way back in the 1500s. Later, in the mid-1700s, a man named Jonathan Tyers bought the farm buildings. He turned them into a fancy home for a gentleman. Tyers was also famous for owning Vauxhall Gardens in London, which was a fun entertainment spot.
In the 1850s, a very important builder named Thomas Cubitt rebuilt Denbies. He made it much bigger and grander. Even Prince Albert, the husband of Queen Victoria, visited Denbies! He planted a special tree there, which sadly fell during a big storm in 1990.
The house stayed in Cubitt's family for many years. During World War II, the military used it. In the 1950s, Cubitt's great-grandson decided to take down the big house. It was too expensive to fix and keep up. He then turned the old laundry and gardener's house into a smaller, pretty home.
Later, in the 1980s, a company called Biwater bought the main part of the estate. Then, a local businessman named Adrian White developed it further.
How Wine is Made at Denbies
Denbies is built on the North Downs. These are hills made of chalk. The soil on top is very good for growing things. It's a mix of rich earth with small stones called flints.
From 1986 to 1989, Adrian White had grapevines planted on the sunny, south-facing slopes. These vines cover about 265 acres (1.07 km2) of the estate. The whole estate is 627-acre (2.54 km2), with the rest being forests and grassy areas. On average, Denbies produces about 300,000 litres of wine each year!
Most of Denbies' wine, about 65%, is sold right at the visitors' centre. The rest is sold in supermarkets, to other businesses, and through mail order.
In 2010, Denbies won a big award! Their Chalk Ridge Rosé wine won an international Gold award at the IWC competition. This competition is one of the biggest and most important in the world for wine. Denbies' wine beat over 360 other wines from 21 different countries.
Things to Do at Denbies
Visitors' Centre
The visitors' centre is a large building with two courtyards. It looks like traditional local buildings. Inside, you can see a real working winery. Visitors can walk through it, listen to a guide, and ask questions. There are also wine cellars, a special 360-degree cinema, an art gallery, and a room for talks. You can also find two restaurants and a shop. In the summer, you can even take tours of the vineyards themselves!
The Lego House
In 2009, Denbies was chosen for a very cool project: building a house out of Lego! This was part of a BBC TV show called James May's Toy Stories, featuring James May. The Lego House was built here, but it was taken down less than a week after it was finished. This happened because they didn't have official permission to build it, and they couldn't find anyone to buy it.
Denbies Guest House
The estate also has a place where people can stay overnight, called Denbies Guest House. It's in one of the old farmhouses. There's also a kitchen garden centre. Denbies is a popular place for parties, weddings, and business events.
Surrey Performing Arts Library
On the estate, you can find the Surrey Performing Arts Library. This library has huge collections of materials about music, dance, theatre, and movies. You can borrow items from their collection.
