Best Wine Tasting Experiences in Exeter and Devon 2026

Where can you go wine tasting near Exeter?

Closer than most people expect. Several working vineyards sit within about half an hour of the city centre, and others (Sandridge Barton on the Dart and Lyme Bay Winery near Axminster, plus Lympstone Manor and Lily Farm on the East Devon side) are worth building a day out around. Between them they cover every kind of afternoon: a free-and-easy wine flight on a terrace, a guided walk through the vines with the winemaker, a long lunch, or a cheese-and-wine pairing where both came off the same estate.

Our short verdict, by occasion:

• Easiest last-minute plan: Swanaford. You can turn up without a booking and do a self-guided flight.
• Closest to the city: Pebblebed at Clyst St George, run from Darts Farm.
• Best for a group celebration: Kenton Park Estate, with a menu of bookable wine experiences and a café on site.
• Best wine and cheese in one place: Sandridge Barton, home of Sharpham wine and cheese.
• Best for a special occasion: Lympstone Manor's vineyard tour with lunch.
• Best for learning properly: a WSET course with Rebecca Mitchell.

Every vineyard, school and venue in this guide was checked in September 2026 against its own website and, where it serves food or drink, the Food Standards Agency register at its address. We have taken out two names that appeared in our earlier version, explained further down, and we have not quoted tour prices: they change each season, and each vineyard's booking page has the current figure.

Which vineyards near Exeter offer tours and tastings?

Swanaford Estate, Bridford — the best all-rounder

Swanaford Estate is a family-run vineyard at Bridford in the Teign Valley, on slopes looking towards Dartmoor. Its guided tours and tastings run every Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, and on other days you can drop in, take a self-guided wander with a wine flight, visit the shop, or sit down with a glass and a cheese or charcuterie board. The estate says it is open most days and asks you to ring ahead on 07956 306 872 if you want to know what is on.

Our verdict: this is the one we would suggest to a friend who says "let's do a vineyard on Saturday" on Thursday night. The drop-in option takes the planning out of it, and it works for a mixed group where only some people want the full tour.

Pebblebed, Clyst St George — the closest vineyard tour to Exeter

Pebblebed is the single-estate vineyard run by Darts Farm, and its tours start from Marianne Pool Farm, Clyst St George, EX3 0NZ, just outside Topsham. Darts Farm lists the season as May to September, with tours on Thursdays at 4pm and Saturdays at 11:30am and 3pm. Winemaker Alex greets you with a glass of sparkling wine, walks you round the vines, then takes you into the winery for a guided tasting of the sparkling and still wines, finishing with farmhouse cheese and charcuterie. Book through the Darts Farm online shop.

Our verdict: the best short tour for anyone without a car to spare for the day, because it pairs so easily with lunch in Topsham or a walk along the estuary. The season ends with September, so if you are reading this in autumn, it is one for next year's diary.

Kenton Park Estate, Kenton — best for a group celebration

Kenton Park Estate near Powderham has turned its vineyard into a set of bookable experiences rather than a single tour. Its booking page lists a Wine and Cheese Experience (billed as its most popular tour), a longer Wine Safari Experience, a wine-tasting canapé session, a "tipsy" afternoon tea, garden tours, and corporate bookings. There is also a café-restaurant serving breakfast and lunch from Tuesday to Saturday, where booking is advised.

Our verdict: pick Kenton Park when the tasting is the excuse and the occasion is the point, such as a birthday or a hen do that wants to be civilised. For a quieter, wine-first visit, Swanaford suits better.

Huxbear Vineyard, Chudleigh — worth watching, not currently touring

Huxbear is a family-run vineyard and winery near Chudleigh making low-intervention wines. It is still trading, with sales by appointment from Wednesday to Sunday, but its tour page currently says it is closed for tours. When tours run they last about an hour with a tasting, dogs are welcome, and a seated, non-walking version is available for people with limited mobility. Use the enquiry form on its site to ask about future dates.

Which Devon vineyards are worth a day trip from Exeter?

Sandridge Barton (Sharpham Wine), Stoke Gabriel — best for wine and cheese

Sandridge Barton at Stoke Gabriel, above the River Dart near Totnes, is where Sharpham wine is now made, and Sharpham cheese is produced on the same estate. It offers three levels of visit: a self-guided tasting, a guided tasting of three wines with a look round the winery and a sampling of cheese, and a full vineyard safari from vines to winery. Dogs on leads are welcome. There is an on-site restaurant, ROAM, for lunch. The estate announced a change of head winemaker in September 2026, with Charlie Brown taking over after sixteen years under Duncan Schwab.

Our verdict: the most complete day out on this list. Book the guided tasting if you want the cheese, and pair it with an afternoon in Totnes.

Lyme Bay Winery, near Axminster — best for variety

Lyme Bay Winery at Seaton Junction, near Axminster (EX13 7PW), makes English still and sparkling wine alongside country fruit wines, mead, liqueurs and spirits. Its cellar door is open Monday to Saturday from 10am to 4:30pm (closed for lunch from 12:30 to 1:15), and it runs guided tastings that need booking. During the Taste East Devon Festival in September 2026 it hosted a pairing of four of its wines with Quicke's cheese.

Our verdict: the one to choose if your group includes people who are not wine drinkers, because the mead and fruit wines give them something to taste too. Combine it with the Jurassic Coast.

Lympstone Manor, near Exmouth — best for a special occasion

Lympstone Manor planted its own vineyard on the estate above the Exe Estuary. Tours run every Tuesday and Friday from May to September for resident guests, with lunch packages for non-residents, including a four-course Michelin-starred lunch in the main house. Because of the warm summer the hotel is harvesting early: its final 2026 tour is on Tuesday 22 September, followed by a Harvest Celebration on Friday 2 October.

Our verdict: a treat rather than a tasting. Save it for an anniversary or a date night that deserves the occasion.

Lily Farm Vineyard, Budleigh Salterton — cellar door open, tours back in 2027

Lily Farm is a small family vineyard on Dalditch Lane, a short walk from Budleigh Salterton. Its 2026 tour season has finished and its site says tours start again in May 2027 and run to September. In the meantime the cellar door is open on Fridays and Saturdays from 10:30am to 3pm for buying wine.

Our verdict: a cellar-door stop rather than a destination this autumn. Pair it with a Budleigh Salterton seafront day and pick up a bottle on the way home.

Where can you do a wine tasting in Exeter city centre?

There is no vineyard inside the city, so wine tasting in Exeter itself means one of three things: a course, a hosted tasting, or a good wine bar with staff who will talk you through the list.

Rebecca Mitchell — WSET courses and hosted tastings

Rebecca Mitchell is a WSET educator and wine consultant based near Exeter. She teaches WSET Level 1, 2 and 3 Awards in Wines and Levels 1 and 2 in Spirits, both in a classroom and online, and publishes current course dates and fees on her site. She also hosts private and corporate tastings at a venue of your choice or over Zoom, in three formats: an informal tutored tasting of six wines, a comparative blind tasting, and a wine pairing over dinner, with themes from English wine to Old World against New World.

Our verdict: the best option in Exeter for anyone who wants to actually learn, and the easiest way to turn a dinner at home into a wine-tasting evening for friends. WSET Level 1 is the sensible first step.

Rendezvous Wine Bar, Southernhay

Rendezvous at 38 Southernhay East is Exeter's long-standing wine bar, still on the FSA register at that address with an inspection in June 2026. It is a good place to try wines by the glass; ask the bar whether any tasting evenings are planned. Our guide to Exeter's wine bars covers it and the alternatives in more detail.

Our verdict: the city-centre choice when you want wine by the glass with friends rather than a formal tasting, and the easiest option with no driving involved.

Also worth knowing: Hotel du Vin and Majestic

Hotel du Vin on Magdalen Street is built around its wine list, and Majestic has an Exeter store on Bridford Road. Both are trading. We could not confirm a published 2026 programme of tasting events for either, so ask at the bar or in store rather than relying on a schedule.

What wine tasting events are coming up in Devon?

English Wine Week runs every June, with open days and special tastings at vineyards across the county. WineGB publishes each year's dates.

The Taste East Devon Festival ran from 12 to 20 September 2026. Its programme included a Pebblebed tour and tasting with the winemaker, a Lympstone Manor vineyard tour with lunch, and the Lyme Bay Winery and Quicke's cheese pairing. Watch the same site for 2027.

For everything else happening in the city, our events and festivals guide keeps the calendar.

What changed in this update?

Two names from our earlier version are no longer recommended. The Devon Local Wine School page currently says it has no events scheduled, so we have removed it until courses return. We could not reach the Exeter College wine appreciation course page to confirm a current intake, so we have taken it out rather than send you to a course that may not run. Huxbear and Lily Farm are still trading but not touring this autumn, and their entries now say so.

How to plan a vineyard day out with friends

Sort the driving first. Every vineyard here is rural and public transport is thin. Choose a designated driver, book a taxi, or pick Pebblebed, which is close enough to Topsham to make a short trip practical.

Book guided tours ahead. Weekend tours fill first. Swanaford and Sandridge Barton's self-guided options are the fallback when you have left it late.

Dress for a field. Tours involve grass and uneven ground. Flat shoes and a layer, even in summer.

Pair it with food. Wine and Devon cheese is the obvious match, and our food and drink pairing guide explains why it works. For a two-stop day, add a Devon cider farm.

New to wine? Nobody on these tours expects you to know anything. Our beginner's guide to wine tasting covers what to look for, smell and say.

Why wine tasting makes a good night with friends

A wine tasting gives a group something to talk about that is not work, and nobody has to be an expert for it to work: the whole point is that everyone's palate is different. It is also one of the easier day trips from Exeter to organise for a mixed group. If you would rather bring the tasting to the table, our guide to building a monthly supper club shows how to make it a regular thing, and our pick of the best restaurants in Exeter will find you somewhere with a good Devon list.