Winning
The
View
A modern venture with sustainable values at its core, Yotes Court produces innovative still and sparkling wines that can be enjoyed in a beautiful, rural setting. Yotes Court Vineyard is home to one of the most spectacular views in Kent.
Yotes Court Vineyard is nestled between Tonbridge and Maidstone, only 30 miles from London. It was established in 2016 by well known national hunt racehorse owner, Susannah Ricci.
Seeking out the best in the industry she transformed a tired fruit farm and orchard into a magnificent 30 hectare vineyard with a Tasting Room overlooking almost the entire Estate.
About us
Yotes Court is an English Heritage Grade 1 Listed manor house on the outskirts of Mereworth village, Kent. It was purchased by Susannah Ricci in 2008. The house was renovated and the 20 acre garden completely re-landscaped by Tom Stuart-Smith, a superstar in the horticulture & garden design world. In need of another project, Susannah bought the fruit farm next door and, on the advice of Stephen Skelton MW, a superstar in the Viticulture world, started planting vines. He has since stated that the vineyard at Yotes Court is the best site he has helped plant in his career.
VIEW OUR GALLERY
In 2016 Tony Purdie was recruited to oversee the planting of the first 97,000 vines - the 3 classic varieties, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier. He was formerly Regional Vineyard Manager at Babich Wines in New Zealand with 25 harvests under his belt and looking for a fresh challenge. The common thread between New Zealand and English viticulture is that to make it successful, you must step out of traditional comfort zones and be pioneering in your approach. So, in 2018 and 2019, Susannah and Tony decided to expand the vineyard with a focus on creating quality English still wines, planting a further 50,000 vines - Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris and Bacchus.
Yotes Court is committed to developing strong, healthy vines and producing top quality fruit using sustainable practices. Tony was heavily involved in helping WineGB to establish the Sustainable Wines of Great Britain Scheme of which Yotes Court is a founder member. As part of our commitment to sustainability and innovation we collaborated with NIAB in 2018 and planted 297 vines of a new red wine grape variety, Divico. It is naturally disease resistant so requires minimal intervention during the growing season and produces a medium to full bodied red wine.
MAGNIFICENT 30 HECTARE VINEYARD
TASTING ROOM WITH A STUNNING VIEW
UNFUSSY, INCLUSIVE & FUN
SUSTAINABLE WINES
Our wine garden tour
Vineyard Tour & Wine Tasting
45 minute tour, 45 minute tasting
Our vineyard tours will take you on a journey from ground to grape to glass.
Take a tour through the vines with our experienced guide to gain a greater understanding of how each vine is nurtured throughout the year, the development of Yotes Court and what makes our site so unique.
The tour is followed by a guided tasting of a selection of Yotes Court wines. We talk you through how to taste the wines, the wine making process and the story behind our brand. Our style is unfussy, inclusive and fun.
Our wines
At Yotes Court we are passionate about protecting our soils, ensuring our viticulture practices respect and enhance the environment. The vineyard is a south facing, sloped site with green sand and seams of Kentish ragstone. Yotes Court concentrates on single vintage, 100% single varietals to reflect its distinctive geology and the unique characteristics of each grape variety. We now have 7 grape varieties growing at Yotes Court giving us the scope, depending on weather conditions during each growing season, to produce a wide range of both still and sparkling, red, white & rosé wines. Yotes Court wines have received recognition on the national and international stage winning Wine GB Best Newcomer Award in 2020 and a Decanter Award for our innovative Traditional Method Early Release Sparkling Pinot Gris.
Yotes Court Bacchus was the first still English wine to fly across the Atlantic having been chosen by Virgin Atlantic as their feature wine for English wine week June 2023.
Meet the owner
SUSANNAH RICCI
get in touch
We would love to hear from you and help you with planning your experience at the Wine Garden of England. Drop us an email and one of our team will get back to you.
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