Jane's Midlife Journey

English Oak Vineyard is located in the heart of the Dorset countryside, just 6 miles north of Poole. The 23 acre vineyard has been named the sixth most beautiful vineyard in Europe. Here, they grow grapes to produce Méthode Champenoise wines. During the summer, they offer vineyard tours culminating in sampling of the sparkling produce. We visited recently to celebrate my nephew’s 18th birthday.

How to get to English Oak Vineyard

The vineyard is 12 miles north east of Bournemouth. Take the A3049/A350 past Poole. The farm is just off the A350 along Castle Farm Road and then Flowers Drove. It is well signposted.

By Bus

Not the easiest place to reach by public transport. Buses No 10 and X8 from Poole stops at Purbeck Road, around a 13 minute walk from the vineyard.

Parking

There is a small, free car park on site. Get a lift and drink wine…

Opening Times

The vineyard is only open for organised tours. Group tours take place on Fridays and Saturdays between June and September. Private tours are also available. Check with the website for booking details.

Price

A place on a group tour costs £25. This includes a tour of the vineyard and a tasting of four sparkling wines.

Details

The two hour tour is conducted by the couple who own the vineyard, Andrew and Sarah, and divided into four sections:

First up, guests assemble in a small amphitheatre in the vineyard’s beautifully manicured gardens. Here, Andrew tells you all about how he and his wife morphed from early retirement to running their own vineyard.

Next, Sarah takes over and escorts visitors to the the vineyard itself, whilst explaining the process of growing and harvesting the grapes.

We also got to see the ancient oak tree after which the vineyard is named.

Then, it’s back to the Visitor Centre, where Sarah explains the wine making process in detail.

Finally, the wine tasting. The vineyard produces a range of sparkling wines. We got to try four different wines including white (single grape and blended), rosé and oak aged. All delicious, but the Engelmann – a blend of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier grapes – was our favourite.

We had a thoroughly interesting and educational couple of hours, rounded off with some excellent wine tasting.

At the end, there was an opportunity to purchase wines, although there was no hard sell. So if you don’t want to buy, there’s no pressure. We couldn’t resist purchasing a cheeky little bottle (or two).

Note: The tasting is right at the end of the tour and no other refreshments are available. Beforehand, there is 90 minutes of talking, including around 30 in a field with no shelter. When we visited, it was a very hot day and we got extremely hot and thirsty. If I went again, I would take a bottle of water, rather than down £75 a bottle wine in record speed to quench my thirst. Note also that you should wear footwear appropriate for walking round a field. On our tour, there were women in stilettos who struggled.

English Oak Vineyard for Children

Not one for children.

• Updated: June 2025

I hope you found this information useful. For more inspiration on things to do in and around Bournemouth, check out my 101 Things to do in Bournemouth here.