Kingscote Estate is a new vineyard and country pursuits destination offering a food and drink education experience. It is set in the beautiful Kingscote Valley near East Grinstead between the historic Bluebell Steam Railway and Weir Wood Reservoir. The estate provides a quintessential English country experience in a valley steeped in history. It has a vineyard, orchard, winery, shop and 15th century tithe barn visitor centre open for cookery school and corporate hire. Activities available on-site include vineyard tours, cookery classes, clay pigeon shooting, fishing, foraging and birds of prey experience events.

Cookery School

'Kitchen Academy at Kingscote' is an exciting new cookery school located at the heart of Kingscote Estate in the magnificent oak barn visitor centre. The cookery school offers cookery classes, wine matching, corporate events, chef's table events and family days out. With plenty of space and a specially designed kitchen, the cookery school provides the perfect venue for unwinding, learning, inspiring and creating.

Jethro Carr from Kitchen Academy has pulled together a team of talented chefs to lead classes including Peter Bayless, BBC MasterChef Champion 2006, and Italian cooking experts Valentina Harris and Ursula Ferrigno. The food experience will be supported by the wine education provided by Kingscote Estate's executive winemaker, Owen Elias, and vineyard manager, Andy Cooper.

Jethro Carr built up Kitchen Academy over the past 13 years and regularly gets involved in events at prestigious locations such as Blenheim Palace, Kew Gardens and the Abergavenny Food Festival. Jethro said 'the facilities and the setting at Kingscote Estate makes the perfect venue for a new cookery school in Sussex. Having worked alongside many top chefs, I am excited to be bringing the Kitchen Academy experience to a new area and a new audience in its first permanent base, developing a wide range of cookery experiences'.

The cookery courses are designed to be accessible to all levels of ability from complete novice to accomplished and experienced cooks. Class options include regional French cuisine, traditional Greek cooking, cucina Italiana, game cookery, Italian cookery for children and sushi masterclass. Foraging for truffles and fungi and then learning to cook with them is another option.

The state-of-the-art kitchens have been designed by the team from the Forest Row showroom of the luxury design house Clive Christian, and also include '5 Oven Total Control' and Rangemaster cookers sponsored by AGA. The purpose-built workstations are mobile and therefore provide a flexible opportunity for small groups to larger corporate events.

Chef's Table events, showcasing talented chefs, will bring together the worlds of food, wine and the arts.

Vineyard Tours

Vineyard tours and wine tasting can be booked and a voucher makes the perfect gift.

Shop

Kingscote Estate wines and 'cyder' are on sale in the Kingscote Estate shop along with many other brands of sparkling and English wines and local artisan foods. Kingscote Estate white wines available to purchase are: Bacchus Chardonnay, Fat Fumé and The Bacchus. Kingscote premium sparkling 'Cyder' is made using Champagne techniques. Local produce includes Kingscote coffee; the blend is by winemaker Owen Elias.

Corporate Days

The visitor centre barn and cookery school is available for corporate hire and events. The stunning tithe barn provides a flexible space suited to a number of different uses such as exhibitions, meetings, parties, conferences and team building events.

Family Days

Train children to be master chefs whilst enjoying a tour of the vineyard and winery. At the end of the cookery class, children and parents can sit and enjoy the food together either out on the lawns or inside the barn.

School Trips

A schedule of activities can be arranged for school trips which can include a tour of the vineyard and winery, time with a chef in the cookery school, and other activities on-site or in the Kingscote Valley such as horse riding, falconry, fly fishing, mountain-biking, canoeing, camping, ultimate laser and a ride on the Bluebell Railway.

Art Courses

Wilde Art @ Kingscote day courses offer a unique combination of high quality art tuition and wine tasting for all ability levels. Kingscote Estate provides a rich diversity of stimuli to further or discover creative talents. Choose to study landscape, architecture, plants, horses, trains or more.

Country Pursuits

Kingscote Estate has two picturesque fishing lakes, offering a very high standard of coarse fishing and fly-fishing under instruction. Fishing is available on a day-pass. Birds of prey experience events can be arranged on-site, teamed with Huxley's Birds of Prey Centre. Ray Ward Guns-tutored clay shooting can be booked for all capability levels.

The Estate and Vineyards

The 150-acre Kingscote Estate previously formed part of the 1000-acre Gravetye Estate owned by the 'Father of the English country garden', horticulturist and author William Robinson.

Fifteen-acres of vines were initially planted between 2010 and 2013, including Pinot Meunier, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Bacchus, Pinot Blanc and Regent grapes. The vineyards have been planted on south facing slopes in the land of the original English country garden established by William Robinson and set within the picturesque backdrop of the Kingscote Valley. The vineyards have been established to produce more than 100,000 bottles of still and sparkling wine per annum. 2014 saw Kingscote Estate's first harvest. A two-acre apple orchard was planted in 2011 with 14 different varieties of classic English apples including Bramley, Jonagold, Cox and Spartan.

Kingscote Estate Winery contains all the latest technology for producing premium sparkling and still wine. All the stages of wine production from vine to the shop can be undertaken on-site. In development is a new range of still wines and a sparkling wine. Award-winning executive winemaker, Owen Elias, oversees the establishment of vines and wine production at Kingscote Estate.

Public footpaths and a bridle path run through the estate and connect it to the Gravetye Woods and local attractions in Kingscote Valley, with the River Medway meandering through the estate and valley. The Bluebell Railway steam trains can be viewed from the estate and you can even travel by steam train to get to the Kingscote Valley area. Mountain bikes can now be hired from Kingscote Station.

Kingscote Estate is proud to be part of 'Experience Mid Sussex' – a group of attractions, hotels and venues providing the best experiences Mid Sussex has to offer.

http://www.kitchenacademy.co.uk/kingscote-cookery-school/

http://kingscotevineyards.com/

http://www.experiencemidsussex.co.uk/kingscote-estate-and-vineyard/

ENDS

For further information, please contact Jethro Carr at info@kitchenacademy.co.uk, or telephone +44 (0) 7796 105 364