South Lodge's Maiden Vintage

Home | News | The First Cut: South Lodge Vineyard’s Maiden Vintage

Clusters of grapes, now ripe for the picking, hang on the vines at South Lodge – Sussex’s renowned luxury country house hotel, part of Exclusive Collection’s award-winning family of properties. For Ridgeview and Exclusive, it’s the culmination of three years of passion since the first vines were planted. Hand-picked fruit will be pressed and blended at Ridgeview to craft Exclusive Collection’s first bespoke wine. More than a harvest, it’s a milestone celebrating the land, vision and belief that English wine belongs at the heart of world-class hospitality.

Visions of a Vineyard

Exclusive’s ambition was bold and brilliant: to match their award-winning hospitality with bottles as unique as the places they’re poured.

How? By growing grapes on the South Lodge estate and crafting exceptional English wines to delight guests across their celebrated portfolio of properties. So, Ridgeview’s Head Viticulturist, Matt Strugnell, was brought in to advise on two potential parcels of land.

That first walk across the fields set the tone: south-facing slopes, well-shaped and easy to work, and crucially, not waterlogged even in the depths of winter. “You can tell a lot by walking a field at that time of year,” Matt says.

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Visions of a Vineyard

By spring 2021 he was back, spade in hand, digging pits to see what lay beneath. “The soil looked great – really crumbly and earthy,” he remembers. Planting went ahead in 2022, though that summer brought challenges: drought and hungry deer.

“They nibbled almost all the Chardonnay back to the guard tubes,” Matt says. “Curiously, they left the Pinot alone.” With careful work and support from the South Lodge gardening team, the vines regained their strength and resilience.

“Establishing vines is a long game, never losing sight of the bigger vision,” Matt reflects. “Now, in 2025, I’m pleased with how the vineyard has responded. The vines look strong and healthy, and we can take the first, small but mighty crop.”

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Partners in Wine

Ridgeview wines have long been the house pour across Exclusive Collection’s hotels and restaurants – a partnership built on shared values and a passion for creating exceptional experiences. The vineyard at South Lodge takes that connection a step further.

“South Lodge vineyard is in such a beautiful setting,” says Ridgeview’s Head Winemaker, Simon Roberts. “It’s exciting to see what the fruit produced from here will be like. You never really know how the wine will evolve until you taste the first juice, and it can take a few harvests for the vineyard to find its true voice. But after walking the vineyards last week, I think the Pinot Noir and Meunier, in particular, look amazing.”

The wines will be made with Ridgeview’s hallmark philosophy – fruit-forward, complex, minimal intervention. “I think South Lodge wine will fit very well into the Ridgeview fold,” Simon explains. “Each wine should have its own voice, letting the vineyard and the fruit speak for themselves.”

That individuality will reveal itself from the very first press. “I’m most excited about tasting the first juice,” Simon admits. “With the ripeness we’ve seen this summer, I’m looking forward to expressive and complex flavour profiles. That first taste will give us a glimpse of how the finished wine might evolve.”

Then comes blending – a moment of both craft and creativity. “The first time we blend South Lodge wine will be really exciting,” Simon adds. “That session will shape the style and character of the wine for years to come.”

Vinotherapy: Spa Skincare Harnessed from the Vines

The vines at South Lodge aren’t only being nurtured for wine – they’re also at the heart of a growing vinotherapy story. Working with British skincare brand Pelegrims, South Lodge Spa is harnessing the natural power of the vineyard to create treatments and products using the very leaves and sap of the vines.

“Seeing the vineyard contribute beyond the winery is really special,” says Ridgeview’s Head Viticulturist, Matt Strugnell. “It’s great to know the work we put into the vines is also creating something unique for guests to enjoy in the spa.”

This autumn, the Pelegrims partnership expands with new treatments and products to mark the vineyard’s first harvest. At the centre is the Young Vine Leaf Wrap, which uses antioxidant-rich leaves removed during spring pruning. Dried and blended with botanicals, they are applied as a body mask before nourishing oils are massaged into the skin – transforming part of the winemaking process into a restorative treatment.

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Tears of the Vine

The innovation doesn’t stop there. A new South Lodge candle, mineral mud mask and a range of body oils join the line-up, alongside Pelegrims favourites already in use across The South Lodge Spa. Even the sap collected during pruning has a role: sometimes called the “tears of the vine”, it’s used in Pelegrims’ Rewards of Patience facial serum, known for its restorative and anti-ageing benefits.

From vineyard to glass, from vine to spa, every part of the plant is celebrated – turning the South Lodge estate into an experience that goes far beyond wine.

“The South East of England is at the centre of gravity of English wine tourism” says Jerome Moisan, Pelegrims co-founder, “and British Vinotherapy treatments at South Lodge are a unique and innovative development. As we work with single vineyard and single vintage extracts, each treatment is truly a “never before, never again” experience rooted in time and place.”

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Great Wine Takes Time

After years of planning, planting and patience, the first grapes are ready to be picked – a small but significant and symbolic crop, signalling the beginning of a new chapter.

“It’s taken a lot of care to get here,” says Ridgeview’s Head Viticulturist, Matt Strugnell. “Now the vines look strong and healthy, and this is the moment it all starts to come together.”

Once the fruit is gathered, the journey moves to Ridgeview’s winery. There, the grapes will be pressed, tasted and blended for the very first time. But patience is still part of the story. The wine must rest and age before it’s ready to pour, with the maiden vintage not expected to be released for a few years yet.

The foundations are set, the anticipation is building, and a new English wine story has begun – one that will be celebrated in glasses across the Exclusive Collection for years to come.

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