Saturday 29 June 2019

Yorkshire Heart Vineyard in Nun Monkton

Grape to glass
The second of two minibreaks near York saw Sally and I nestled in the jigsaw-puzzle-picture village of Nun Monkton near York. We stayed in a cosy AirBnB Garden Cottage – a tucked-away paradise for two with luscious gardens to enjoy. Nun Monkton is a village with a Maypole on The Green and a sense that Agatha Christie's Miss Marple could be living in one of the houses overlooking the main road. Our “main event” was a tour and wine tasting at a successful local business – Yorkshire Heart Vineyard and Brewery. Who knew that a grape to glass vineyard was operating so close to home? The bluff host affably took us through his family’s journey to where they are now and illustrated some of the processes involved from the complexities of vine growing to the personalised bottling. We were with a friendly group and needed a lie down after the generous samplings of fizz, white, red and rosé.
Alice Hawthorn Inn and Beningbrough Hall
A delicious meal (or two) at the Alice Hawthorn Inn (walkable from our AirBnB) meant we were geared up to wander round the miles of walks at nearby Beninbrough Hall and enjoy both the house and the exhibition of portraits of “Yorkshire Achievers”, including folk as various as Simon Armitage, Alan Bennett, Charlotte Brontë, Nicola Adams, Patrick Stewart and Jodie Whitaker.

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