About

New Wine Tasting & Steam Train Experience

The Spa Valley Railway in Tunbridge Wells has teamed up with family owned picture-perfect Birchden Vineyards in Groombridge. The combination of a nostalgic steam train ride through the Wealden countryside with a vineyard tour and wine tasting experience will be a day out to remember.

Birchden Vineyards’ delectable English wines are made with love by a small family and community-run team. The limited-edition wines are sold via the cellar door, known as ‘The Tasting Den’, and each bottle is a time capsule, carrying you straight back to that particular season. Birchden Vineyards also make hand-jarred unfiltered honey and home-grown apple juice that must be tasted to be believed.

The experience starts when you travel by steam or heritage diesel train from Tunbridge Wells West or Eridge to Groombridge.  Passengers will alight at Groombridge Station and take the 30-40 minute scenic walk to the Vineyard to enjoy a vineyard tour and wine tasting flight before returning to Groombridge Station to make the journey home.

The wine tasting includes 3 x 75ml glasses:

-The Gregarious Goose - Still Bacchus white

-The Foxy Vixen - Still Pinot Noir rosé

-The Charmed Finch - Sparkling Pinot Noir rosé

The experience will require a booking to be made separately for the train journey and the vineyard experience.