UK - Dorset vineyard tour at Langham Wine Estate
The team at Langham Wine Estate, Dorchester
Wine tasting in Dorset and why visit Langham Wine Estate
It is well-known that Dorset is home to many glorious beaches, geographic landmarks, seaside towns and resorts, castles and a fabulous coastline. However, did you know that Dorset (in the Wessex wine region), is also home to a growing number of top-notch vineyards and new and established wineries that are striving to create exquisite wines to rival the best in the World?
Langham Wine Estate, just 5 miles east of Dorchester is certainly top-notch - it is known for its seriously good English sparkling wine and for championing minimal intervention, natural wines which reflect the terroir where the grapes are grown.
As evidence of Langham’s status in the English wine world, it was awarded the trophy for ‘Sparking Wine Producer of the year’ at the ‘international’ IWSC 2020 - taking the trophy from 2019 winner, Veuve Cliquot!
Good enough reasons to visit? Absolutely!
Background to Langham Wine Estate
The Langham Agricultural Estate comprises approximately 1000 hectares and is owned and managed today by Justin Langham, who planted 30 acres of vines on the estate’s Crawthorne Farm site in 2009. Justin, not just passionate about wine but a trained wine expert, has hands-on involvement in the wine business, supported by his small but passionate team - all of whom are dedicated to producing world-class English sparkling wine.
All of the grapes are grown at their single vineyard site and the wine is made at the on-site winery, allowing vineyard manager and winemaker to take total control of the production process from grape to bottle.
Langham follows a low-intervention approach to both farming the grapes and winemaking, striving to be as environmentally friendly and sustainable as possible.
Langham’s single vineyard site
Langham vineyards
Langham is the largest single vineyard in the south-west of England. All 30 acres are planted with the classic Champagne grape varieties: Chardonnay, Pinot noir and Pinot meunier.
A main reason for Langham’s success is the chalk soil - Dorset and its surrounding counties are dominated by chalk and some limestone soils, resulting in the region's ability to produce high-quality grapes for sparkling wine (similarly found in the famous area of Champagne, France). This chalk soil also brings a fresh, saline character to the wines.
Another reason is also its location and special micro-climate, with a south-facing position and temperatures cool enough to give the wine the right amount of acidity required for a refreshing sparkling wine. The vineyard’s location in rolling hills, protected by hedges and trees, ensures the vines are not harmed by the harsher elements of England’s coastal climate.
All grapes are hand-harvested and wild flowers and grasses are left to grow amongst the vines, encouraging bio-diversity. Rigorous vineyard selection means that only the best quality grapes go into making Langham’s acclaimed wines.
Langham Dorset wines
Langham aims to create wines which reflect the terroir in this special part of Dorset and which are as natural as possible. They are also vegan & vegetarian friendly.
Langham’s winemaker Tommy, is at 25, England’s youngest winemaker and he is widely recognised as a rising star in the wine industry. Tommy is passionate about making the highest quality sparkling wines which are as natural as possible. He tries to add as little as possible to the natural winemaking process and uses stainless steel and oak to develop character and complexity in the wines.
Langham only makes wines by the Traditional Method (as for Champagne), with a second, in bottle fermentation, to produce the sparkle. Each bottle is then aged on yeast lees for a minimum of 18 months before being disgorged and aged further under cork.
Our afternoon Langham vineyard and winery tour
With family being in Devon we have rather neglected the South coast and Dorset and wanted to take the time this year to discover it. We had also decided we would like to try out a motorhome holiday - well there’s a first time for everything!
So we hired a motorhome (we couldn’t fault Hampshire Motorhome Hire if you’re interested!) and planned a trip to Dorset (after several days in West Wales), combining a visit to Langham, with 2-3 days exploring the coast. We had our dog Lottie with us and found Langham very dog friendly! And their car park was large enough for a motorhome!
A visit to Langham is such a relaxing and informative wine experience, made all the more attractive by having the opportunity to combine with visiting beautiful Dorset.
Vineyard & winery tour
The start of our 2 hour tour involved wandering up into the vineyard to hear from Tasting Room Manager, Helen, all about this very special single vineyard, the vines and their grapes. We could then wander amongst the rows of vines, enjoying the fabulous location and the opportunity to be so close to the actual source of the wine!
Langham’s winery is housed in a lovely old barn, just metres from the vineyard. We were able to see the temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks and French oak barriques and learned about all the stages in producing world-class, traditional method sparkling wines. We also had the opportunity to see winemaker Tommy hard at work in the winery!
Wine tasting
The final part of the tour was the all-important tasting - and we weren’t disappointed!
We tasted 3 wines: two non vintage sparkling wines - the Corallian Classic Cuvée, made from a higher proportion of Chardonnay grape and the Culver Classic Cuvée with more Pinot Noir. They were both absolutely delicious, with lots of fruit flavours, slight buttery, yeasty notes and lots of fine mousse bubbles.
We then tasted the stunning Langham Rosé Brut 2017 - a really classy wine, also recognised by winning top awards including for 2021, gold from the IWSC, silver from Decanter and gold from WineGB. In our view a wine worthy of such accolades.
Langham wine stockists:
Direct from Langham’s website and cellar door of course, The Wine Society and see here for local stockists.
Useful information for your Langham Vineyard tour
Wine tours and wine tasting options
Our 2 hour guided tour cost £20 which included the tasting of 3 wines. For an additional £20pp you can also enjoy a picnic lunch and glass of fizz in the lovely cafe and outdoor barn. See here for details.
The barn seating area was developed in response to Covid-19 but will likely remain as it adds a great space to relax and enjoy some Langham fizz and snacks.
In addition to vineyard tours and tastings, Langham also run some great events including wine, food and music - see their website for details!
What to see and do in Dorset
Dorset is home to many glorious attractions: Durlston Country Park, Swanage Pier, Old Harry Rocks, Swanage Railway, Corfe Castle, Lulworth Cove, Durdle Door, Chesil Beach and of course the famous Jurassic Coast.
We had a fabulous walk on a visit to Swanage, through Durlston Park and up to Durlston Castle. We also enjoyed a visit to nearby Corfe Castle and a 26 mile Poole Harbour cycle ride, taking in Wareham, Studland Bay and Sandbanks. Exhausted after it, but it was well worth the effort!
Visit here for more ideas and inspiration to plan a trip to Dorset.
Where to stay and where to eat near Dorchester
See here for some accommodation options.
We had a lovely lunch at a pub called The Blue Vinny just 2 miles from the Langham Wine Estate in Puddletown (great name!)
The Thimble Inn at Piddlehinton was also recommended (another great name!!)
Transport
Langham is just 10 minutes outside of the town of Dorchester, served by the A354 and good rail links.
Address: Langham Wine Estate, Crawthorne, Dorchester, Dorset DT2 7NG
Other UK vineyards to visit in the area:
If you are planning a Dorset wine tour and would like to visit more than the one vineyard, we would recommend also visiting:
Conclusion
Nestled amongst the rolling hills of rural Dorset with the coastal attractions close by, Langham really is a special place to visit. Add to that the quality of the vineyard tour and the quality of Langham’s wines, then it’s a no-brainer - you need to go!
We were really impressed with what Langham is doing to innovate and to champion English sparkling wines. They are certainly putting English wines on the world map.
We believe some of their success, aside from the natural qualities of their site, is down to their razor-sharp focus on the highest possible quality sparkling wine, on quality and not quantity, on minimum intervention and as natural as possible farming and winemaking processes. They also have an impressive and passionate team with a very exciting winemaker who is winning respect across the industry.
Visit Langham’s website for information and to book your visit.
Refer to our web pages for more information about UK wines and the Wessex wine region of the UK
