An English vineyard which could earn its owners up to £800,000-per-year and comes with a five-bedroom Grade-II listed farmhouse has gone on the market for £6.75million.
The 152-acre Kingscote Estate, in East Grinstead in the Sussex Weald, features the impressive property alongside a two-bedroom holiday cottage and 60 acres of vines on south facing slopes.
The property also comes with a winery equipped with the latest technology needed to produce premium sparkling and still wine using stainless steel and temperature control.
Extensive vineyards include varieties of Pinot Meunier, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Bacchus, Pinot Blanc and Regent, which yield approximately 100,000 litres of wine for sale each year.
With the Kingscote Estate’s average price at £18.45 a bottle and wine producers taking roughly a third of their bottle price in profit after paying costs and taxes, profit from the on-site winery could net the owners around £800,000 per year. The estate also produces premium sparkling cider from its two acres of apple orchards.
The 152-acre Kingscote Estate, in East Grinstead in the Sussex Weald, features an impressive five-bedroom farmhouse alongside a two-bedroom holiday cottage and 60 acres of vines across south facing slopes
Vineyards include varieties of Pinot Meunier, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Bacchus, Pinot Blanc and Regent, which yield approximately 1000 litres of wine for sale each year
With the Kingscote Estate’s average price at £18.45 a bottle, profit from the on-site winery could net the owners as much as £800,000 per year. Pictured: Views across the vineyards on the estate
Mark Dixon, who founded Regus in 1989, bought the Kingscote estate for around £3.25million in 2017, investing in expanding the vineyard after suggesting the South of England could be a ‘new frontier for wine’
Kingscote, which is being marketed by Savills, was the brainchild of top ad man Christen Monge who quit his career in communications to create an English winery on the estate he bought in 1999.
The first vines were planted in 2010, followed by further additions in 2011 and 2013. The vineyard was ‘expanded considerably’ from 15 to 60 acres by the current owner following Mr Monge’s death from a stroke in 2015.
Millionaire Mark Dixon, who made his fortune after founding the Regus offices company in 1989, purchased the land in 2017 for an estimated £3.25million.
The entrepreneur is part of Provence and English wine group MDCV UK, owns the Chateau de Berne wine estate in South East France.
One of the largest wine producers in France, the 298-acre vineyard, produces around five million bottles of wine a year and is also home to a five star hotel, spa.
Mr Dixon also runs an organic vineyard in Sedlescombe, East Sussex and another site in Luddesdown, North Kent, where the company is based.
In 2017, Mr Dixon told The Evening Standard the South of England could be a ‘new frontier for wine,’ after admitting he got into the industry ‘by accident’.
During the three years Mr Dixon has owned the Kingscote estate, its understood he has expanded its operations with extensive planting, which new owners will reap the rewards of in the next two years.
At the centre of the estate is a plush 14th-century farmhouse, which has over 4,000 sq ft of living space with a kitchen/breakfast room, dining room, sitting room, drawing room, study, family room, conservatory, cellar, five bedrooms and two bathrooms.
Kingscote also features 22 acres of woodland and a 15th century tithe barn which has been converted into an idyllic wedding venue. The estate boasts a shop and fishing lakes stocked with coarse fish.
The 152 acres are nestled in the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and are close to Ashdown Forest in Sussex, the setting for A. A. Milne’s Winnie-the-Pooh stories.
At the centre of the estate is a plush 14th-century farmhouse, which has over 4,000 sq ft of living space. Pictured: A sitting room inside the property
Kingscote also features 22 acres of woodland and a 15th century tithe barn which has been converted into an idyllic wedding venue
Pictured: Inside the tithe barn, which can currently be rented out for use as a beautiful wedding venue
Chris Spofforth, from Savills, said: ‘The current owner has expanded the vineyard considerably. They’ve done lots of new planting that will start to come to fruition in the next year or two.
‘The circumstances of the last sale, the business was fragile but now it is a much more robust business model. It’s got a fully-equipped winery which it didn’t have before.
‘They’re making a lot of wine there. The owner has really boosted the hospitality and wine tourism business, although obviously that has not been happening with recent circumstances.
The property also comes with a winery equipped with the latest technology needed to produce premium sparkling and still wine using stainless steel and temperature control
The impressive estate in the Sussex Weald also boasts fishing lakes (pictured) which are stocked with schools of coarse fish
The first vines were planted in 2010, followed by further additions in 2011 and 2013. The vineyard was ‘expanded considerably’ from 15 to 60 acres by the current owner
Kingscote, which is being marketed by Savills, was the brainchild of top ad man Christen Monge who quit his career in communications to create an English winery on the estate he bought in 1999
Pictured: Some of the vineyards at the extensive Kingscote Estate, which is currently on the market for £6.75million
‘But their cellar door sales have been doing amazingly.
‘And it still has opportunity to grow. The owner is really only selling because it’s simply not geographically compatible with their other interests in the sector.
‘They’ve refreshed the brand and are producing some pretty decent wines.
‘I think it will appeal to a new entrant to the sector, but someone who has real ambition.
‘This is more than a lifestyle hobby. It has the potential to be a really good vineyard and it’s in a very popular spot.’
The famous Bluebell Railway heritage steam trains run through the estate, which boasts 152 acres of stunning countryside
The 152 acres are nestled in the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and are close to Ashdown Forest in Sussex, the setting for A. A. Milne’s Winnie-the-Pooh stories