WINE
FizzFest, Hampshire
FizzFest is the Vineyards of Hampshire’s annual festival, held at a different vineyard each year – this year, for the first time, it is at Exton Park. Visitors can taste 16 still and sparkling wines from eight Hampshire vineyards (Exton Park, Hambledon, Hattingley Valley, Cottonworth, Jenkyn Place, Danebury, Raimes and Black Chalk), book a wine and food-pairing masterclass, and take a tractor ride around the 55-acre vineyard, which isn’t usually open to the public. Food comes from local producers and there is a live band.
• 21 July, from £15, extonparkvineyard.com
New wine region, Surrey
Five vineyards have united to form a new English wine region, called Vineyards of the Surrey Hills. All are open for tours and tastings, and run special events. Denbies now opens for brunch at weekends, and has a host of events including regular vineyard train tours with sparkling wine and canapes, and there’ll be live jazz with wine, beer and a barbecueon 16 June. Albury has a wine, cheese and gin tasting day on 7 July, and a “dine between the vines” event on 18 July. At Greyfriars, there is a summer solstice tasting with local cheese and charcuterie on 21 June, sunset yoga and wine tasting on 22 June, and a free open day on 14 September. The other two vineyards to visit are Chilworth Manor and High Clandon.
• surreyhillsvineyards.co.uk
Vineyards tour by ebike, Kent
The UK Electric Bike Centre in Bibbenden rents ebikes for riding on suggested routes through the Kent countryside. One of the most popular is the Kent Vineyards route, taking in wineries including Chapel Down near Tenterden – a good stop for lunch or wine tasting (and panniers are provided for those who want to stock up). Another is the Brewery route, which includes a microbrewery tour and a pub lunch a few miles on. More itineraries are being developed this year, including off-road routes for e-mountain bikes. The company supplies maps, or cyclists can navigate using a new app.
• Half day £35, full day £45, ukelectricbiketours.co.uk
Stay in a vineyard hobbit house, East Sussex
Oastbrook is a new vineyard, planted last year near the village of Bodiam. At the same time, the owners built a “hobbit house” into a grassy bank next to the vines. The living room has a vaulted and beamed ceiling and a woodburner, there are two double bedrooms and a garden with a hot tub – a nice spot to sip Oastbrook’s first vintage, a sparkling rosé (which, until their own vines grow to maturity, is being made in partnership with another vineyard). Guests can walk down to the river and use the kayaks, or continue to Bodiam Castle, a 15-minute walk away.
• Sleeps four, from £735 for three nights or from £980 for a week, originalcottages.co.uk
BEER
Brewery sportives, nationwide
Toby Fellows of LetsGoVelo launched a series of brewery cycle sportives in 2016. The idea was to create non-competitive, sociable cycling events with a place to relax afterwards – so where better than a brewery? That first started and finished at the Wye Valley Brewery in Herefordshire and is still an annual fixture, but the schedule has grown to 11 sportives at breweries including Thornbridge in the Peak District, BrewDog in Aberdeenshire and Purity in Warwickshire, plus cider mills and distilleries. New locations for 2019 include the Chase Distillery in Herefordshire (with post-race gin and vodka), the Towcester Mill Brewery in Northamptonshire and the Dartmoor Brewery in Devon. Cyclists can opt for the half-pint sportive (usually 23-35 miles) or the full pint (usually 50-60 miles) – plus as many pints as they like when they cross the finish line.
• Next event 23 June, near Ledbury, last event 7 September, Dartmoor, from £20pp, letsgovelo.co.uk
Canoe pub crawls, Norwich
You can’t beat meandering along the river in a canoe, then mooring at a waterside pub. Pub and Paddle in Norwich offers just that along four routes, with suggested pub stops along the way. It hires out canoes and also collects them from your final watering hole, so there’s no danger of paddling under the influence. The shortest trip is a two-hour evening paddle into the city centre, calling at the Ribs of Beef pub (nine real ales, pie night on Wednesdays). The longest is seven hours to Surlingham, with six possible pub stops en route. There are new activities each summer, such as late-night solstice canoeing and pizza – check the website for upcoming events.
• Daily, £12.50 to £30, pubandpaddle.com
GIN
Paddleboarding, foraging and gin-making, Highlands
Daffy’s Gin is made at Strathmashie Distillery, a Victorian shooting lodge in the Cairngorms. Its “gin school” opened last year and offers gin-making with a twist – pupils go out foraging for their own botanicals, either on foot in the hills or by paddleboard on Loch Insh. The price includes three 20cl bottles of foraged gin to take home and a G&T in the bar. Guests who fancy another drink or two can stay over in the Distillery Cottage or the Butler’s Flat, and go hiking, biking, fishing or wild swimming the next day.
• From £95, next foraging trips 12-16 September, or by arrangement for groups of five or more, daffysgin.com
Gin garden tours, Edinburgh
The Secret Herb Garden, a 7½-acre site at the foot of the Pentland Hills just outside Edinburgh, is the UK’s first working gin botanical garden. More than 1,000 juniper bushes and 500 herbs are grown and dried here, then used to make Old Curiosity gin. Now visitors can go on a guided tour of the garden, visit the drying room and distillery, and taste the Secret Garden range (lemon verbena, chamomile and cornflower, apothecary rose, and lavender and echinacea) in the gin lounge.
• Three tours on Saturdays and Sundays year-round, one on Thursdays and Fridays from 1 June to 21 September, £15, theoldcuriosity.co.uk
WHISKY
Raft to a distillery, Perthshire
Not in the Guidebooks, a travel company offering unusual experiences, has a whisky tour with a difference. Intrepid tipplers can now reach Dewar’s Distillery by raft. The six-mile journey from Aberfeldy to Grandtully in the Perthshire highlands is a scenic one, traversing the waters that go into the whisky. After lunch, visitors take a blender’s tour and make their own whisky from a blend of cask-strength single malt and grain whisky. The price includes rafting, tour and tasting, a glass and a 500ml bottle.
• £65, notintheguidebooks.com
Whisky Trail sailing, western Scotland
If rafting to one whisky distillery sounds good, sailing to several must be even better. This holiday starts in Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis and finishes at Oban in Argyll and Bute, island-hopping Jura, Islay, Mull and Skye along the way. There is plenty of shore time to tour the distilleries – there are eight to visit on Islay alone. Depending on the weather, there may be visits to other islands such as Colonsay, which has a brewery. No sailing experience is necessary – the first full day is a training day, and there are daily lessons from two instructors.
• Next available trip 2-13 October, from £1,499 for 12 days, including all meals and equipment, rubicon3.co.uk
MIX IT UP
Aperol and Campari, Manchester, Edinburgh and London
Two Italian aperitifs, Aperol and Campari, are celebrating centenaries this year. Aperol was created in 1919 – as was the negroni, the classic Campari, gin and vermouth cocktail. In Manchester, the Oast House has an Aperol terrace until the end of August, plus a Big Birthday Social with a revolving Aperol carousel bar, live music and DJs (19-23 June, lineupnow.com). There are seven parties to celebrate Negroni Week – in London, Manchester and Edinburgh (20-27 June, lavitacampari.com). Drinkup London runs Negroni Experiments, where drinkers can sample various gins and vermouths before making their perfect cocktail (next event 4 September, drinkup.london). The Applebee’s Fish pop-up on the Southbank has Aperol spritz and negronis on tap (until 15 September, applebeesfish.com).
Great British booze break, Gloucestershire
The Tudor Farmhouse, a boutique hotel in the Forest of Dean, has a two-night Great British booze break celebrating the area’s breweries, orchards, vineyards and distilleries. The package includes bed and breakfast, a minibar stocked with local beers and ciders, pre-dinner cocktails and three-course dinners. Guests also receive a copy of the hotel’s Great British booze trail, a guide to nine producers in Gloucestershire, Herefordshire and Monmouthshire. At the Hillside Brewery, for example, visitors can brew their own beer, while the Apple County Cider Co has orchard walks and picnics.
• From £235 a night for two, tudorfarmhousehotel.co.uk
Unusual tastings, London
The capital has some interesting alternative tasting tours. The Distillery in Notting Hill holds Agave Sessions, with tastings of tequila, mezcal and other lesser-known Mexican spirits. The session also includes four cocktails and a Mexican lunch, plus a bottle and small barrel of tequila to take home (£100, next events 6 and 20 July, the-distillery.london). At Laki Kane, a tiki bar in Islington, there are 20 mini pot stills for tipplers to make their own rum (from £45, daily, lakikane.com). TT Liquor in Shoreditch runs a range of tastings and masterclasses, including a molecular cocktail-making class (£70, next event 5 July, ttliquor.co.uk). And the Capital hotel in Knightsbridge runs vermouth sessions, with tastings and charcuterie (£45, Sunday-Thursday, capitalhotel.co.uk).
Looking for a holiday with a difference? Browse Guardian Holidays to see a range of fantastic trips
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