8 min readWant to become a wine aficionado, discover the secrets of local Bristol vineyards, learn about pairing food with your favourite plonk or sip like a pro with friends in aid of wine education? We've put together a list of the best wine tastings in Bristol to keep you watered all year round. Bottom's up!
Bristol Local Wine School
Take your pick from expert-led tastings, wine courses, Saturday tastings with lunch, cheese and wine evenings, or steak and red wine dinners, plus so much more.
Image - Bristol Local Wine School
Aldwick Estate
Aldwick Estate is a 300 acre family-run farm located beneath the northern slopes of the Mendip Hills. They offer 90-minute tours of their 11 acres of grape vines, so you can discover the history behind the largest vineyard in Somerset, learn about English viticulture and see the grapes from which their wine will be made...and judge the produce for yourself by sampling a few! View their upcoming events
Image: Aldwick Estate vineyard
GOOD: Stories in Food
Enjoy a day out among the vineyards south of Bristol on a Wine & Cheese Tasting in the Chew Valley day trip. You'll visit two local vineyards, take a tour of Cheddar Gorge Cheese Company before stopping for lunch. It's a great to see this stunning part of North Somerset, while enjoying some fantastic wines and cheeses!
GOOD: Stories in Food also run a 'Happiest Hour Drinks Tour', where you'll get to sample three wines in a local wine cellar, followed by a visit to a local bar to sample some local beers, then on to a micro distillery to try a Bristol-made gin.
Image - GOOD: Stories in Food
Woodchester Valley Vineyard
This multi award-winning, single estate vineyard and winery in the Cotswolds covers 58 acres of the picturesque Stroud Valley. Grape varieties they grow include Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier, Bacchus, Seyval Blanc and Regent. You can book onto tours, tastings and special events throughout the year, or opt to stay overnight at one of their vineyard barns, or the six-bedroom Woodchester Valley House, perfect for a group getaway.
Image - Woodchester Valley wines
Hotel du Vin & Bistro
If you like your wine accompanied by some tasty morsels, it's worth keeping an eye on Bristol City Centre's Hotel du Vin for their special wining and dining events. However, any day of the week you can enjoy a meal accompanied by a glass or bottle of the finest wines from their extensive menu.
Image: Hotel du Vin
Thornbury Castle
This striking 16th century pile, now a luxury hotel, has an award-winning restaurant, excellent wine selection, expert sommeliers and even its own vineyard in the Tudor gardens. Culinary, cocktail and wine tasting events take place throughout the year. Book yourself a place to learn about some corking wine in exquisite Tudor surroundings. See what's on.
Image: Thornbury Castle
KASK
This cosy wine bar in Bedminster focuses on sustainable, organic, vegan, sometimes biodynamic, sometimes natural, but 'always mind-blowing' wine. As well as regular wine tasting and pairings with cheeses, you can also join their virtual wine tastings or order one of their DIY at-home wine tasting kits.
Image: KASK
Veeno
Based on the waterfront just across the river from Temple Meads station, Veeno are Sicilian winemakers with a range of bars across the UK. Their Bristol bar offers a range of top quality wines, sharing boards and regular tasting events.
Image - Veeno
Yuup
Find food and drink experiences across the city, including weekly wine tasting and pairing events. Sample wine and cheese, indulge in a natural wine flight or enjoy a vegan meal matched with complimentary tipples. The line-up of experiences on Yuup changes every week, so you'll always find something new to try or explore. Browse experiences.
Image - Yuup
Food Tours of Bristol
One of the stops on the Gourmet Food Tour around Wapping Wharf includes wine tasting, with the option to also order glasses of wine at stops along the route.
Image - Food Tours of Bristol
Limeburn Hill Vineyard
Limeburn Hill Vineyard is the only biodynamic vineyard in the South West of England. Perched on a sunny south-facing slope at Chew Magna, just outside Bristol, around 1800 vines have been hand-planted, producing six varieties of grapes. All are certified as organic and biodynamic, meaning the wines have no added sulphites, use no filtering or fining, have no additives, contain no use of animal products and are all fermented with wild yeast from the vineyard. To treat your tastebuds to some of their vino, they run vineyard tours and tasting events, or you can also visit them as part of the Wine & Cheese Tasting in the Chew Valley tour.
Image: Limeburn Hill Vineyard
Averys
Averys Wine Merchants have had a shop in Bristol since 1793! Over the years the family has built its reputation as one of the UK’s most pioneering wine merchants, and shows no signs of slowing down with 5th generation Mimi Avery now at the helm. Wine tastings, wine-derful events and in-depth wine courses take place throughout the year - often in their historic vaulted cellars, for a unique quaffing experience.
Look out for collaborations with Bristol Film Festival, whose clever programming sees movies matched with Bristol settings.
Image - Averys Wine Cellars
Le Vignoble
Located in Finzels Reach, Le Vignoble is a fun and relaxed wine bar with over 60 different wines available by the glass from their self service enomatic machines, so you can sample several wines during your visit! Otherwise wines are also available by the glass and their team are always on hand to offer advice and tasting notes. They also do regular wine tasting events and even a wine-based quiz!
Bristol and Bath Wine School
Bristol Wine School’s classes take place at gastropub, the Kensington Arms in Redland, and offer a fun intro to wine tasting, tips on pairing cheese with wine and advice on buying good ol’ grape juice. Wine pupils taste each wine 'blind' in order to focus on flavour before re-tasting it with a carefully chosen artisan cheese.
Cave
This wine bar, bottle shop and deli on Gloucester Road sells food and wine sourced from small-scale and sustainable producers. Their programme of wine tastings focuses on different regions and types, from Eastern European tipples to volcanic wine regions.
Dunleavy vineyard
Bristol resident Ingrid Bates planted her vineyard in the Chew Valley back in 2008 and since 2012 has been creating and releasing Pinot noir rosé that has won countless awards and been recommended by some of the world’s top wine critics. Group visits are offered by appointment, where visitors can meet Ingrid, see the vines, taste a sample of the wine and take a peek at local artists’ studios.
Native Vine
With a focus on natural wines, as well as cider, beer and spirits, Native Vine has a shop in The Bristol Loaf in Bedminster, and runs regular tasting events there, as well as at The Bristol Loaf in Bristol Beacon. Their aim is to focus on sustainable farming practices, lesser known grape varieties and small-scale producers so we can paint a bigger picture of what wine can be - you're guaranteed to try something new!
Grape and Grind
These guys on Gloucester Road know a thing or two about grapes and host wine tasting evenings in the shop - a fun way to taste your way through eight wines. If you’re after a private tastings, they can also do that on request, either in your home or in the shop, just give them a call.
Other top wine spots
If you're looking for bars or restaurants with a great range of wines for you to sample by the glass (or enjoy by the bottle!), we'd recommend The Architect on the harbourside for their selection of fine wines and cheeseboards that you can enjoy by the water's edge, or Chez Marcel serve a range of excellent French wines to go with their traditional crepes and galettes.
You'll find impressive wine lists to work your way through at COR in Bedminster, Bar 44 in Clifton, littlefrench in Westbury-on-Trym, Box-E in Wapping Wharf, and Marmo in the city centre. Harbour House also offer a great range of wines by the glass, including several locally-made wines.
Boasting both an AA Rosette Award and Notable Wine List Award, the Harvey Nichols Bristol Second Floor Restaurant & Bar is another great place to add to your list.
You might also like:
- Want to see how some of the city's finest local tipples are made? Discover more Brewery, vineyard and distillery tours & tastings in Bristol.
- Hone your skills in a cookery class in these food and drink experiences.
- Bristol is a beer lover's paradise, with over 20 breweries in the city and surrounding countryside and many of them have tap rooms that you can visit. Find out more here: Bristol's Brewery Tap Rooms.
- If gin's more your thing, 6 O'Clock Gin and Chew Valley Disillery offer tasting events and workshops. Enjoy gin flights with a cheeseboard at Spirited, or keep an eye on Milk Thistle calendar for further gin tasting activities.
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