Sussex vineyards with restaurants turn an afternoon tasting into a wonderful day out. Eating at a vineyard is a different proposition to eating anywhere else: the wine list is about eight bottles long, all of it made roughly two hundred metres from your table, and the vine views make the experience.
Sussex has more of vineyards than anywhere else in England now, and they range from a converted barn doing a very serious Sunday roast to a van on a hillside selling toasties. We’ve eaten at several, and in this guide share our favourites.
This is our guide to Sussex vineyards with restaurants — what the food is like, what it costs, and, because we’re vegetarian, how well each of them caters for us veggies.
If you want the full picture of the estates themselves, we’ve covered all twelve in our guide to the vineyards near Brighton.
Best Sussex Vineyards With Restaurants
1. Rathfinny Wine Estate, Alfriston
Rathfinny is the only one on this list with two completely different places to eat.
Flint Barns is the proper restaurant. Sunday lunch and dinner, inside, warm and considerably more upmarket than anywhere else here. I had the vegetarian Sunday roast and it was lovely, but this is a very fancy Sunday roast. It’s the kind of place you’d take your grandparents for a treat, or book for a birthday. We had a nice red with it and it was a lovely afternoon, but it’s a special-occasion price. Because it’s indoors, toasty and warm, Flint Barns is better in winter — and it’s lovely around Christmas.
The Hut is the opposite and, for us, the better everyday option. It’s a van up on the hillside with a big view over the vines. Toasties, coffee, a glass of something cold, sitting outside looking down the grape rows. We’ve been multiple times, sometimes just for a coffee. It’s relaxed in a way the restaurant isn’t, and you could easily come here for a glass of wine on a summer evening after work.
Update: Rathfinny’s Tasting Room restaurant closed permanently on 14th January 2026. Flint Barns and The Hut are open.
Details: Flint Barns closed Monday–Tuesday; dinner Wednesday–Saturday 6–8pm, Sunday lunch 12–3.30pm. The Hut daily 10am–5pm, March to October only — it shuts for winter. Hut plates run £2.70–£13.50, sparkling by the glass £12.25–£18, walk-ins only, card only. Dogs on leads welcome at The Hut.
Google Maps: Alfriston, BN26 5TU
2. Ridgeview Wine Estate, Ditchling Common
If you’re coming to a Sussex vineyard looking for a very lovely, al fresco lunch, this is the one. The Rows & Vine is Ridgeview‘s outdoor restaurant and we had one of our best vineyard afternoons here. We sat on the terrace in the shade with a flight of three sparkling wines — two whites and a rosé — and worked through them slowly over lunch.
The food was very good and we created a vegetarian tapas from the menu of roast heritage tomatoes, camembert, and a lemon posset for pudding. The wine flight is the thing that makes it. Being able to taste three of their sparklings side by side, with food, on a terrace overlooking the vines they came from, is the experience you want at a vineyard!
It’s alfresco, so it’s spring and summer only.
Details: Fragbarrow Lane, Ditchling Common BN6 8TP. The Rows & Vine Monday–Saturday 10am–9pm (last sitting 7pm), Sunday 10am–7pm (last sitting 5pm), brunch from 10am. Wine Bar & Shop Sunday–Thursday 10.30am–4pm, Friday–Saturday to 5pm. Reservations recommended. No dogs other than assistance dogs.
Google Maps: Fragbarrow Lane, Ditchling Common BN6 8TP
3. Tillingham, Peasmarsh
The most serious food on this list, and the one with a Michelin Green Star for sustainability. Tillingham is the name in English natural wine, and the restaurant is properly good — à la carte from estate produce and local fish, Sunday roast at £40–£45.
There’s also a Pizza Barn, open daily 12–8pm, if you don’t want to commit to the restaurant. We ate there, and it was fine, but the vegetarian offering was poor. There was one vegan pizza with vegan cheese that doubled as the vegetarian option. We asked for normal mozzarella, and they charged us extra for it, making our veg pizza more experience than all meat options!
The wine, though, is why you come. We had a whole bottle of white for my birthday evening and it was delicious. We sat in the snug, on a dark orange velvet sofa with some olives and table snacks and nattered into the night.
If you stay, breakfast is even better! Think freshly baked bread, spreads, pastries, fruits, yogurt, granola, eggs and all.
Details: Open 11am–10pm, bar until 11pm, Pizza Barn daily 12–8pm. Restaurant dinner Wednesday–Sunday, lunch Friday–Saturday. No children under 12 in the restaurant. Nearest station Rye, about 11 minutes by taxi.
Google Maps: Dew Lane, Peasmarsh TN31 6XD
4. Artelium Wine Estate, Streat
Our favourite vineyard full stop. Artelium Kitchen does a seasonal menu Thursday to Sunday, and there’s flame-cooked dining on summer Friday and Saturday evenings.
We order the cheese board. It’s very good and generously loaded, and it’s exactly the right food for sitting outside for two hours doing nothing, unwinding for a whole afternoon at Artelium. Get it with the Pinot Gris — their whites are the best thing they make and it’s the bottle we buy to take home.
The whole place is relaxed. You order at the bar, you sit outside among the sculptures and the vines.
Details: Kitchen serves lunch Thursday–Sunday; Friday 12–10pm, Saturday 12–9pm, Sunday 12–6pm. Dogs welcome — “well-behaved dogs and little people” is their own wording. Under 30 minutes’ walk from Plumpton station.
Google Maps: Streat Lane, Hassocks BN6 8SA
5. Wiston Estate, Washington
Chalk is the most ambitious restaurant attached to any vineyard in Sussex — a set six-course Estate Menu at dinner, lunch through the week, and coffee and pastries from 9.30am. We haven’t eaten here yet, so treat this as planning guidance rather than a review, but it’s the one at the top of our list.
The estate has been farmed by the same family for over 275 years, and the winery tour is unusually good value at £30pp and runs year-round, fully indoors — which makes this the rare Sussex vineyard that works on a wet January afternoon.
Details: Chalk: coffee and pastries Wednesday–Sunday 9.30–11.30am, lunch Wednesday–Sunday, dinner Friday and Saturday only. The Courtyard Friday–Sunday 12–5pm. Book well ahead — there’s a no-show charge. Dogs allowed at outdoor Chalk seating, not indoors.
Google Maps: North Farm, Washington RH20 4BB
6. Bolney Wine Estate, Bolney
The easiest one on this list, and useful for exactly that reason. The Café & Wine Bar is walk-in only, no reservations, open every day — so if you want to eat at a vineyard without booking anything three weeks in advance, this is your answer. Coffee, breakfast, brunch, light lunch and cake, with South Downs views.
There’s a proper restaurant upstairs too, the Eighteen Acre, doing seasonal wine-paired food. Closed Mondays and Tuesdays. Bolney has been growing wine since 1972, which in English wine terms makes it practically ancient.
Details: Estate daily 9am–5pm, restaurant Fridays until 10pm. Step-free access via a lift. Dog owners, note this one: dogs are welcome in the Café & Wine Bar and on its downstairs terrace, but not on tours or in the upstairs restaurant.
Google Maps: Foxhole Lane, Bolney RH17 5NB
7. Kinsbrook Vineyard, Thakeham
Modern European food using local produce, plus a farm shop and deli. They completed their first harvest at a brand-new on-site winery this year.
Details: Monday–Tuesday 10am–2.30pm walk-in counter service only; Wednesday–Thursday 10am–3pm; Friday 10am–10pm; Saturday 9am–10pm; Sunday 9am–3pm. Bookings recommended Wednesday–Sunday.
Google Maps: West Chiltington Road, Thakeham RH20 2LU
8. Leonardslee Wine Estate, Mannings Heath
The wine estate is at Mannings Heath, whilst Leonardslee‘s Grade I listed gardens and the Michelin-starred Restaurant Interlude are at Lower Beeding, about three miles away.
At the wine estate, the Vineyard Kitchen opens from 8.30am for brunch and does dinner 5–7.30pm. The drop-in wine flight at £15pp — three wines, no booking, daily from 11am.
Details: Wine Lounge Wednesday–Sunday 11am–5pm. Vineyard Kitchen brunch from 8.30am Wednesday–Sunday.
Google Maps: Hammerpond Road, Mannings Heath RH13 6PG
Eating Vegetarian at a Sussex Vineyard
Artelium’s cheese board is reliably good and always vegetarian-friendly — worth knowing you can build a whole afternoon around it. They often have breads, spreads, hummus, olives and other similar veggie dishes.
Ridgeview for a tapas lunch. The vegetarian food at The Rows & Vine offers a build-you-own-tapas style menu.
Rathfinny’s Flint Barns does a full vegetarian Sunday roast.
Tillingham was a bit disappointing. You can get a vegetarian and vegan pizza at the Pizza Barn, but vegetarian options aren’t part of the menu, were expensive and were nowhere near the quality of good pizza restaurants like Fatto a Mano.
General advice: ring ahead. Vineyard kitchens are small and seasonal, menus change regularly, and they are like to be able to accommodate you if you let them know in advance.
Which Sussex Vineyard Restaurant Should You Choose?
- Best food — Artelium
- Best for vegetarians — Artelium
- Best value — The Hut at Rathfinny
- Best in summer — The Rows & Vine at Ridgeview
- Best in winter — Flint Barns at Rathfinny, warm, indoors, lovely at Christmas
- Best without booking — Bolney’s Café & Wine Bar
- Most interesting wine — Tillingham
Staying the Night After Lunch
Several of these estates have rooms, and a long lunch with a wine flight is a much better idea if you are not driving home afterwards. Here is what is bookable around them:
Keep Exploring Sussex
- The full list? All twelve vineyards near Brighton, including which you can reach by train.
- Want to stay the night? The best vineyard stays in Sussex, including the one we got wrong.
- Drinking in the city instead? Where to go for best wine bars in Brighton.
- Eating in Brighton? Here are the best vegetarian restaurants in Brighton.
Sussex Vineyard Restaurants FAQ
Eight Sussex vineyards serve food on site: Rathfinny has both Flint Barns and The Hut, Ridgeview has The Rows & Vine, and Tillingham, Artelium, Wiston (at Chalk), Bolney, Kinsbrook and Leonardslee all have their own kitchens. They range from a toastie at a hatch to a six-course tasting menu.
Usually yes, you do need to book, especially at weekends and anywhere serving dinner, because most of these are small dining rooms in rural places that fill up. The exceptions are Bolney’s café, The Hut at Rathfinny and Leonardslee’s drop-in wine flight, which all take walk-ins.
Fewer than you’d hope. The Hut at Rathfinny shuts from October to March and The Rows & Vine at Ridgeview is spring and summer only. Flint Barns, Tillingham, Bolney, Kinsbrook and Wiston’s Chalk all run year-round, so those are the ones to aim for between November and Easter.
Some are and some very much aren’t, so it’s worth checking before you drive out. Kinsbrook allows dogs in the restaurant and Bolney allows them in the café and on the downstairs terrace. Artelium and The Hut at Rathfinny welcome them outdoors. Ridgeview does not allow dogs at all.
Lunch at a Sussex vineyard can cost anything from £2.70 for a plate at The Hut to well over £100 for the tasting menu at Chalk. A typical sit-down lunch with a glass of wine works out at around £30 to £50 per person.