Leonardslee at Bubbles & Botanicals
Experience our wines at Bubbles & Botanicals
Join us at the Bubbles & Botanicals show on Saturday November 19th at South Lodge, near Horsham, and meet our wine hospitality team.
While Leonardslee’s vines are maturing nicely at our West Sussex estate – ready for the first release of sparkling wine in 2024 - visitors can sample delicious South African wines from the Streeter family’s second vineyard estate - at Benguela Cove, near Hermanus.
Bubbles & Botanicals showcases three of Benguela’s award-winning sparkling wines: Cuvee 58, Cuvee Rosé and probably the estate’s most popular, Joie de Vivre, all of which are available at the estate and online. Visitors can also enjoy Leonardslee’s Botanical Garden Gin; inspired by the estate's exquisite blossoms, this is a smooth, delicate, floral gin with notes of rose, lavender, chamomile and honey.
Benguela Cove Lagoon Wine Estate wines result from the special growing conditions in the Walker Bay region. It is located on the very edge of the Atlantic Ocean, at the lowest height (sea level) and with the longest seaboard of any vineyard in the world, says cellar master Johan Fourie. He is in charge of winemaking at the 170-acre estate, which produces some 500,000 bottles of award-winning wines, as well as the vineyards at Leonardslee.
In the UK, the Streeter family has created a very special Sussex Wine vineyard experience at Leonardslee. This includes vineyard tours and tastings, Michelin Star dining and classic afternoon tea, luxury accommodation - and a year-round programme of entertainment.
The estate was planted by the renowned Victorian plant collector Sir Edmund Loder. 'The Finest Woodland Gardens in England' are Grade I Listed and set within the historic 240-acre site, which features outstanding scenery throughout the year.
The estate will be hosting the highly popular Leonardslee Illuminated over five weeks from November 24th, when the gardens will be awash with colour and sound on the Illuminated after-dark light trail. A limited number of free tickets for selected dates are still available on application to anybody with an annual membership of the gardens or who joins before the event, representing an £18 saving for an adult ticket to Illuminated.
Sussex Vineyard Experience
There are two Sussex Wine vineyards at Leonardsee.
The main site is located alongside the neighbouring Mannings Heath Golf & Wine Estate, three miles from Leonardslee House, which Penny Streeter OBE bought in 2017.
The 37 acres of vines were planted with Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier grape varieties and the first harvest was in 2020. The estate will release wines from 2024, with production estimated at some 70,000 bottles of sparkling Sussex Wine annually.
A second, smaller vineyard is located inside the garden estate, adjacent to Leonardslee House; guests can enjoy spectacular views across the woodland gardens and the South Downs while dining at Restaurant Interlude or sitting down to a classic afternoon tea.
The three-acre plot features pinot noir vines and an experimental planting of pinotage. This is the first in the UK, as Pinotage is typically grown in the warmer climate of South Africa. Barry Anderson is a South African and managing director of Leonardslee’s wine operations in the UK, and reports excellent results.
Guests at the Leonardslee’s harvest lunch on October 8th can enjoy the very first tasting.
Tickets for the lunch include admission to the gardens. Visitors can walk in the woodlands and parkland, explore the seven interlaced lakes in the valley and see the colony of wallabies and outstanding flora and fauna. Many of the plants and trees are endangered in their native habitat.
There are tea rooms, giftshops and a famous Dolls House Museum. Visitors can also see one of the largest sculpture park exhibitions in Europe by a single artist. This results from a collaboration by the Streeter family and South African artist Anton Smit. ‘The Walk of Life’ features over eighty contemporary sculptures. Each id set by the artist in the Grade I Listed gardens to great effect, offering an unmissable experience.
