Our 100 acre vineyard is located on one single hill in the beautiful village of Burton Bradstock. Chalk and sand soils across the entire site are banked by our very own fresh water stream, which feeds into the River Bride and a wooded reservoir. This unique combination creates the most perfect conditions for growing vines and produces wines of the very best quality. The south facing slopes enable our vines to absorb the most of the English sunshine , this together with optimum levels of watering and delicately controlled nutrition allows us to finely tune the leisurely ripening of our grapes, thus achieving the very finest balance of sweetness and acidity that some of the worlds most famous wines can only hope to achieve.
Our winery is based in the center of our vineyard, alongside the home of Bradstock Estates owners Paula Lewis and her husband Michael. Living among the vines gives Paula (a lifelong gardener and viticulturist) the unique chance to walk among them daily, choosing when to start the handpicking process and passing them onto the winery for the process of transformation from perfect grape to perfect glass of sparkling wine.
Bradstock Estates wines are created using both the traditional method for our more complex wines and also using the Italian Method for more lively, exciting and also using the Italian Charmat technique for more lively, exciting and fresh sparkling wines.
The History
The village of burton bradstock is steeped in history. Traditionally, the coastline of South West England has lent itself to piracy. Ships and boats could be easily hidden in the many coves and inlets, which also made for great hiding places for pirated and smuggled goods.
The place was first recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Bridetone and in In 1286 land in the village was acquired by Bradenstoke Priory in Wiltshire. Bradenstoke, sometimes pronounced Bradstock, gave its name to the suffix “Bradstock”
The cliffs were used for training before the Normandy landings in 1943.
The Location
Burton Bradstock was the Winner of the most beautiful village in the U.K 2016 – it is the perfect location for our vineyard and winery.
The site was originally a paddocks where horses could roam before returning to their stables for the night, and was converted to a vineyard in 2020.
With access from the coastal road our visitor center and shop provide views across the Jurassic coast. Wine tourists from across the globe can visit our coffee shop , peruse our fine wines and take a walk through our truly beautiful Vineyards.
The People
Married couple Paula and michael lewis first imagined a truly fine English Sparkling Wine after their extensive travels through France and the Tuscany region of Italy in 2010. After returning to England and raising a family they set their hearts on finding the very best land the UK had to offer and after a long search – they found and purchased The Paddocks – 90 acres of south facing , gently sloping sandy soil , perfect for Vines and perfect for producing fine wine.
Michael and Paula spend every day among the vines along with their children, the love and commitment shines through in every bottle and they dream of producing fine wines that rival the best in the world.
Science Meets Passion
Head Winemaker Paula Lewis assesses every handpicked parcel of grapes for quality, ripeness and character. The fruit is then gently pressed and vinified separately, so Paula can distinguish the subtle yet distinctive differences between each area of the vineyard. Every year, this provides a varied selection from which Paula will create the stunning and delicious range of wines we produce.
With our own pressing centre and winery, we guide each step of the journey from vine to bottle.
