Walking and Wine at Kentchurch Court

I'm one of a group of wine disciples who walk together each year somewhere in Europe's vineyards, usually in October. The group met twelve years ago in Tuscany and immediately bonded, united in their disappointment at the poor organisation of Winetrails. Over the years, we've now covered all the main wine areas of France, Spain ,Portugal and Italy which we will revisit this October. To keep us topped up we do organise occasional weekend trips which last weekend brought us to Kentchurch Court, a charming stately home in Herefordshire. Sitting in a 5,000 acre estate, including an impressive deer park, the house has been in the Scudamore family for over 1,000years and boasts a room said to have been slept in by legendary Welsh freedom fighter, Owain Glendower.  

Local wine expert and writer, Jon Hurley, led the tastings before and during dinner. We tasted more than 20 wines from Europe and the new World. The blind tastings were particularly humbling especially for those suffering from colds, for whom all whites tasted like Pinot Gris!
Jan's cooking was excellent and her dining room provided the perfect backdrop for the tastings, reminding everyone of Chanel 4's Regency House Party, which was filmed in the house, without the period dress in our case.

The walk was led by Jon's wife and local historian, Heather, through the beautiful rolling Herefordshire countryside across the Monnow River into Wales with the Black Montains hovering to the west. Our objective was the community owned Angel Inn at Grosmont which provided an excellent lunch.

Altogether a walk and wine  encounter to savour: bring on Tuscany in October.

The Stuart Agenda by Alan Calder published by Willow Moon. E-book at amazon.com and www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B005BJ3GNI. Paperback at amazon.com and for UK and worldwide customers at www.bookdepository.co.uk, ISBN 9781468055900