Three Choirs has been making wine in these hills since 1973. In 2025, Forbes put it among the world’s 50 best wineries
The last stretch of a 30-minute taxi into the countryside toward Newent (after a train from Paddington to Gloucester), is where Three Choirs announces itself. There are rows of vines stretching across south-facing slopes, and as you pull up to the white main building, there are already people on the terrace with glasses in hand.
After a run-down of the self-guided wine tasting, it’s up to the room. The vineyard view rooms are traditionally decorated, warm, and a little time-worn in places, but none of that matters once the double doors are open and you can see the vines rolling into the horizon. The bed is huge with a pile of cushions. There’s a white robe in the wardrobe, no slippers, but cookies next to the tea and coffee station. The bathroom is the room’s most contemporary feature, with a monsoon shower and proper tiles.
Three Choirs was founded in 1973 by local wine retailer Alan McKechnie, on what began as a half-acre experiment on these same slopes. Winemaker Martin Fowke has been here since 1989. That continuity shows in the bottles. The estate now produces around 200,000 a year across Bacchus, Pinot Noir, Siegerrebe, Seyval Blanc, and Phoenix, among others.
The self-guided tasting is better than it sounds. For £20 you get five generous pours rather than the cautious measures you might expect, covering two sparkling wines, a couple of whites, an amber, and a rosé. On a sunny afternoon on the terrace, it’s properly good value.
The brasserie is the hub of the estate and the cooking is elevated without being precious. Standouts include a hash brown with black pudding and fried egg; a crab crumpet served in a bowl of crab soup; aged Herefordshire beef sirloin sitting in peppercorn sauce alongside a cheese rarebit onion; and wild Cornish seabass with cuttlefish and artichokes in a tomato butter sauce. Every dish pairs well with what’s being produced fifty metres away.
Breakfast the following morning (there’s a menu to fill in on arrival and hand back whenever you’re ready) is a decent spread; cafetière coffee, fresh juices, toast, granola and yoghurt alongside cooked options like a full English and smoked salmon with eggs. Early morning, with the vines coming to life in the sun, it’s the best seat in the house.
Walking the grounds is something you should do more than once as the paths through the vines are well-kept and quiet. The lodges sit a ten-minute walk into the valley, more private if that’s what you’re after, and there’s a buggy that makes the transfer easy work. The birds are out there too. Three Choirs has long worked with natural pest control, and you’ll spot sparrowhawks and buzzards working the tree line.
The Forbes listing is well-earned. But it almost undersells it. Three Choirs is the kind of place that takes English wine seriously because it helped shape it.
Key Information
Getting there | Direct train from London Paddington to Gloucester, around 1 hour 45 minutes, then a 25-30 minute taxi to the estate.
Address | Baldwins Farm, Newent, Gloucestershire GL18 1LS
For more information | three-choirs-vineyards.co.uk
