Many thanks for taking the trouble write your review and sorry that some aspects of the visit did not live up to your expectations. We take customer comments very seriously and always endeavour to correct any negative aspects of the visitor experience. For example recent comments have been made about old household items seen around the place, so I am happy to say that these have now been removed (today!). I am not sure which voucher you used for your visit and I am unfortunately not able to go back and check because you do not seem to use your real name on Trip Advisor. However, the voucher companies we work with all know that the vineyard part of the experience is 'Self-guided' and as far as I know they all describe it as such. The only part of the experience which is guided is the Winery. From what you say that did not happen during your visit, and I apologise for that. Occasionally customers tell staff they would prefer not to do the Winery Tour. It is not correct that the Self-guided Vineyard & Woodland Nature Trail + Wine Tasting is 'free to anyone who turns up' as you claim. In fact, as you can see from the Self-guided tour page of our website, there is a charge of £6 per person for this. Only persons under the age of 18 and not taking part in the wine tasting are admitted free of charge. Unless a customer makes a specific request we do not normally offer a clean wine glass for each separate wine that is tasted. The tastings are not glasses of wine, but just a taste, about 50ml to 100ml or so of each wine. We have found that is about the right amount for most people. If a customer asks for another tasting they can have more. Or, if they would like to purchase a glass that is also an option. Regarding the toilet facilities, which many reviewers have picked up on, we are planning a purpose built toilet for next year. In the meantime customers use the facility in the house which is also used by staff. We have tried to de-personalize this room as much as possible so that it is more like the public facility that it has now become. We take your point about the towels and have removed them. The paper towel dispenser will be kept full and we have added a note that people make us aware when the facility needs any attention. Thanks again for taking the trouble to write your review and thanks for pointing out that "the afternoon tea was good, tea, sandwiches and scones with cream and jam and some cakes."

Many thanks for taking the time and trouble to write your review. I am sorry that some aspects of the visit did not live up to your expectations. We take customer comments very seriously and always endeavour to correct any negative aspects of the visitor experience. For example recent comments have been made about old household items seen around the place, so I am happy to say that these have now been removed as of today. Regarding the toilet facilities, which many reviewers have picked up on, we are planning a purpose built toilet for next year. In the meantime customers use the facility in the house which is also used by staff. You are quite right that staff should not be showering during our opening hours, and we have now made them aware of that, since that ocurrance during your visit. We have also tried to de-personalize this room as much as possible so that it is more like the public facility that it has now become. We take your point about the towels and have removed them. The paper towel dispenser will be kept full and we have added a note that people make us aware when the facility needs any attention. Sedlescombe Organic Vineyard is no Nyetimber, Denbies or Chapel Down. We do not have their corporate millions. We are a one man, one woman band, with a team of very dedicated staff! Apparently, on the day you were here there was an unusually high number of casual visitors which meant staff were under more time pressure than normal trying to look after everyone. We have taken on board your valued comments about general tidiness, but this is sometimes not easy given that we are a working farm and 'industrial' facility. There is always a conflict between the needs of production and the visual amenety visitors rightly expect. Hopefully we can do better going forward. We are of course very pleased that you are in general supportive of organic principles and we thank you for that as well ás for writing your review.

Thank you so much for taking the trouble to write your review. We were getting a bit down with so many less than positive reviews just lately - shows how important it is to take time to write a review even if you had a great time! And you clearly did, and we are delighted that you did, too! Makes our team's job seem so much more worthwhile. We take your point about 'The tour could have been better sign posted' and we have more signs ordered. We are pleased that you noticed the 'ample picnic areas', a facility that could also get more use. Come on all you picnickers! Where are you? We also take your very good point about a 'bottle of water' and I think we should include a complimentary one on arrival, especially when it's hot weather. Delighted that you enjoyed your lunch and that "the girls were great and couldn't do enough". And you wrote "The wine's...Well they were all lovely. All in all a great day. I would recommend this day out to anyone." Thanks again for writing your review. Hope to see you again soon.

Many thanks for taking the time to write your review. Delighted to hear that you enjoyed the vineyard & Woodland Nature Trail and that the person conducting the wine tasting knew their wines. Yes, unfortunately, we were out of sparkling wines for just a couple of days in early August due to a disgorging delay. They are both available for taste and purchase now again, so please do call in again and take us up on the promise of a complimentary tasting any time you are in this area. I apologize that you had to wait so long for your lunch due to someone disappearing for their lunch which I agree is not going to win us any fans. We are working on better tidiness, which seems to be a common theme of these reviews. However, there is inevitably a conflict between industrial production and visitor amenity, but we take your point. Hope to see you again soon.

Many thanks for your valued and kind comments, and for going to the trouble of writing your review. Many thanks for your recommendation too! and "support for us local producers too!" See you again soon.

Many thanks for writing your review and very sorry that some of your experience did not meet your expectations. We are working on the general tidiness but there is inevitably a conflict between industrial processes and customer amenity. Hopefully we can get this area improved. We now have handouts for both biodynamics and the wine making process for those that would like a bit more information. We also have plans for new signs about the green manures and the 'mystery of Cripps Corner anti-tank blocks' that are on the site. Its a work in progress as I write this. Delighted that you enjoyed the Cream Tea.

Thank you for taking the time and trouble to write your review. Reviews are very useful in helping us improve. Several visitors have commented on the 'rubbish' since your visit and that has at last been removed. Organic or biodynamic vineyards often appear to non-specialists as 'unkempt' largely because of the vegetation growing under the vines which in chemical vineyards is removed by weedkiller. Even having growth in the alleyways used to be so frowned on by vineyards in Germany that there was a saying that 'Eine begrünter Weinberg ist wie ein Mann der nicht wäscht', which means 'a vineyard with green cover crops is like a man that doesn't wash!'. So you can see where we are coming from and what a struggle it is to get people to accept that a certain degree of weed growth has to be acceptable in an organic system. I would also like to take issue with you about our prices and French wines. We believe our wines stand comparison with the best biodynamic wines of France (and we now have the international medals to prove it). For example if you look at the founding father of biodynamic vineyards in France N. Joly (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicolas_Joly), whose wine's quality and prices ours are comparable with, especially when you consider that about £2.50 in UK goes to alcohol duty. Stephen Skelton in his latest book 'Wine Growing in Great Britain' refers to me as 'the Grandfather of organic wine in the UK'. Hope you find the above of interest and perhaps visit again one day.

Hi, Glad your friend enjoyed the day. Hopefully you will be able to visit yourself very soon. Best regards