Watching the morning mist rise over the vines while enjoying a cup of tea, I could feel my breath stretch a little longer as my body released some of life’s tension. I’d just woken up from a deeply peaceful night in a shepherd’s hut located in the vineyards of Oxney Organic Estate. Oxney is one of seven award-winning vineyards that are part of the newly launched Rother Wine Triangle, which I’d been exploring the day before. I was brimming with the boundless energy of the passionate growers and owners who make up this newly formed wine route nestled in the Rother Valley region of East Sussex.
Just a short drive from London (but also accessible by train and then via bike, taxi or foot), you might be struck first that you seldom actually see any vines. They’re hidden, waiting to be discovered, within a landscape of deep, ancient country lanes, weaving their way through oak forests and fields divided with hawthorn and blackthorn dense hedgerows.
