A visit to Southsea’s closest vineyard!
Sit back with a wine glass on a sunny day, squint a little, and you might just believe you’re in the Napa Valley. But Quob Park is probably Southsea’s nearest – and Hampshire’s newest – vineyard.
Nestled in the rolling Hampshire countryside, you’ll find its 170 acres just outside the village of Wickham. The estate opened to the public around 18 months ago and combines the feel of a luxury mountain retreat with a cosy members’ club, making a great destination for a day out.
The Wine
Today, England is increasingly recognised as one of the world’s quality wine-growing regions. In fact, French champagne houses have even been buying up English vineyards lately to get in on the act – including here in Hampshire.
Quob Park focuses on sparkling wine, made with the ‘traditional method’ and using only blends of Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Pinot Meunier. Thanks to the chalky soil, and the higher-than-average temperatures of its location, its terroir is similar to that you might find in the Champagne region.
Its wines include white and rosé and range from extra dry to semi-sweet, so there’s something for every palate. These include the Classic Rosé Cuvée Brut, which was recently favourably compared to a champagne costing twice the price by one of the UK’s best-known wine critics.
Yet there is more to Quob Park than English fizz. There’s also a series of sampling machines, where you can try dozens of international wines using a card that you pre-load with cash. Sampling is great fun, and an opportunity to taste something that you couldn’t normally buy (or afford!) by the glass. But it’s not all expensive stuff: I love to put a tenner on the card and see how many wines I can sample – and with tasters priced from £1 you might even get to try ten.
Thanks to Quob’s wine club, you can also buy some 3,000 international wines by the bottle. These are priced from a very affordable £6-ish to a fantasy-land £20,000 – and at least 250 of them cost under a tenner.
Food And Events
Quob Park is also a great place to eat at any time of day. Its food menus offer classic comfort food with a creative twist, and the locally-sourced produce is fresh and bursting with flavour. Dietary requirements are also well looked after.
The all-day grazing menu offers a nice range of lighter bites such as truffle and parmesan chips (£5.50), soup of the day (£6.95) and cheese or charcuterie sharing boards (£15).
Most recently, a few of us tried the excellent set menu (£33 for members, £38 for non-members). A generous selection of canapes was followed by three high-quality courses, including options of chalk stream trout, braised lamb shoulder and chocolate ganache tart.
Afternoon tea and bottomless brunch are also available, along with special food and wine events. We particularly enjoyed the ‘Introduction to Wine Tasting and Your Palate’ workshop recently – a fun 3-hour experience which we left feeling more knowledgeable and a little merry!
There’s a growing range of other activities on offer too – from yoga and reiki among the vines, to chocolate and wine pairings. Soon to be added is a boutique hotel and spa based in a historic 16th-century building in nearby Wickham village.
Planning Your Visit
Everyone is welcome at Quob Park – including four-legged friends who we’ve found love it here too! Despite the high-end feel, this isn’t a snooty place and staff are chatty and warm.
For a first-time visit, I’d recommend booking a vineyard tour, which gives a great overview of the estate and the wines, before hitting the sampling machines. You can buy tickets direct from the Quob park website. However, it’s worth hunting down discounted tickets on Groupon too – at time of writing, the vineyard tour was on offer at £6.50 per person and cellar door tasting (which includes the sampling machines) at £10 – making a great afternoon out for under 20 quid a head.
Quob’s objective is to grow its 2000+ wine club members and visitors will be offered the opportunity to join, though there’s no pressure to do so. These range from a straightforward £35 annual Wine & Dining Membership, to monthly subscriptions from £20 upwards – which can make sense if you buy wine regularly. In all cases, you’ll get access to the estate as well as the opportunity to purchase wine at discounted prices. As a monthly subscriber, I like the fact that your fee builds up as a credit that you’re free to use when and how you want – there’s no commitment to buy wine every month.
To reach Quob Park from Southsea, you can travel by car with a designated driver in around 25 minutes. But taking an Uber is surprisingly affordable – especially when splitting the cost between a few of you – and ensures everyone can make the most of this special place.
