Wales' oldest vineyard, Llanerch, has been named as Britain's most beautiful vineyard out of 268 locations throughout the UK, new research has shown.
And it's easy to see why. With the Welsh rolling hills providing an incredible backdrop, what better activity is there to do during the British summer months than see exactly how this truly delightful tipple is made, from the gorgeously grown grape to the glass. Though if you're more into wine bars than vineyards, Cardiff has a few good'uns - discover some of them here.
With the production of wine in the UK having increased over the last ten years by 921%, it seems we're a nation who loves a glass of locally and lovingly-made vino (and if you're a connoisseur, there's even an international wine fair coming to Cardiff this June).
Read More 11 beautiful Welsh vineyards that offer so much more than just fine wine
The research, conducted by South Western Railway, analysed the contending vineyards against the number of 5-star TripAdvisor reviews and, within them, the number of times ‘beautiful’, ‘stunning’ and ‘gorgeous’ were mentioned in reviews as well as the number of Instagram hashtags it has.
And once these were put in a weighted ranking out of 100, it comes as no surprise to us as to which one came out top trumps with the public at 69/100 - and the only one in Wales to do so, too.
Having recently introduced a brand new rooftop terrace and stunning permanent wine tasting lodge (read more on that here), which features some of Llanerch's own award-winning Cariad (meaning love in Welsh) wines, the beautiful vineyard - which is located in Hensol, Pontyclun and also boasts an enchanting hotel and award-winning restaurant - is nestled so deep in the Welsh countryside you wouldn't believe it is only a 20-minute drive from the city centre.
No wonder it received a plethora of glowing reviews which included those glistening buzzwords, beautiful, stunning and gorgeous, because it is exactly that. One TripAdvisor visitor said: "The hotel has soooo many wow factors! [The] location is beautiful! Set in the countryside with beautiful views of rolling fields and the vineyard."
The full list is ranked as follows:
Llanerch Vineyard, Pontyclun
Chapel Down, Kent
Lympstone Manor, Devon
Denbies Wine Estate, Surrey
Chiltern Valley Winery & Brewery, Oxfordshire
Nyetimber Manor Vineyard, West Sussex
Holmfirth Vineyard, West Yorkshire
Camel Valley Vineyard, Cornwall
Woodchester Valley Vineyard, Gloucestershire
The Vineyard Leonardslee Gardens, West Sussex
